“It’s not like that.”

Lily arched a brow. “It’s not? Are you sure? Because it sure looks like you’re into him as much as he’s into you. And if you don’t do something soon, he’s going to be gone and he’ll never know how you feel about him.”

Her heart grew heavy as she thought of her life without Ethan in it, but she’d already made her decision. “I can’t do it.”

“What if he wasn’t leaving? Would you take the chance then?” While Hannah quietly debated the answer, Lily continued. “Maybe he likes it here in Bluestar and he just needs a little extra incentive to stay.”

She shook her head. “I can’t do it.”

She didn’t know if it was because she was afraid to put her heart on the line again and have it get broken or if she didn’t want to put him in the position of choosing between her and his firefighting career in New York. Or perhaps it was a bit of both. Either way, she intended to keep her feelings to herself—even though every time she looked in his eyes, it got harder and harder.

“Suit yourself, but I, for one, think you’re making the biggest mistake of your life if you let him walk away.” Lily gave her a pointed look. “Anyway, I came over to get you because we have a small problem outside.”

With a smothered groan, Hannah followed her friend outside. All the while, she was busy thinking of every excuse for not revealing her feelings for Ethan. After all, she had the bakery to open and turn into a successful business. That wasn’t going to happen overnight. Nor would it be easy.

But being around Ethan made her see that even a successful bakery wouldn’t make her life complete—not without him in it. Over the past several weeks he’d become not just a friend but one of her best friends.

He was the person she wanted to tell when things went right.

And he was the shoulder she wanted to lean on when things went wrong.

Where was she?

Ethan stood off to the side of the community center. He scanned the growing crowd of now-familiar faces, searching for Hannah. No such luck.

Maybe she’d slept in. After all, she had been pushing herself to make sure everyone had a good time. He grabbed his phone from his back pocket. When he went to text her, he found his phone was dead. He inwardly groaned. He’d been so tired from working on the bakery that he’d forgotten to put his phone on the charger before falling asleep.

Oh, well, he had everything covered, didn’t he…

“Ethan, just the person I was hoping to talk to.”

He turned to find his father standing there. “Hey, Dad, what do you need?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to tell you how proud I am of you. I know you went through a lot with that accident. And then you stepped up to help your aunt. But you don’t have to worry. Your mother and I are back now. You can go back to the city and get back to work. We’ll look after Aunt Birdie.”