“This cat, I swear,” Juliet said. “The only one she loves is Tessa.”

As he stopped for a second to let Juliet’s words sink in, the way his gut clenched told him everything. There was only one scholarship. The scholarship that had allowed him to leave this town and experience the world and get a great education and jumpstart his life and his dreams.

That scholarship.

“I’m not saying she did it for you,” Juliet said. “She did it for me. For me and Viv, actually, but especially for me.” Juliet was staring at him like he was clueless. Which, actually, he sort of was. “You really don’t know what happened, do you?” she asked. “You’ll have to ask Tessa. But Leo, if you treat her wrong, or if you let her actually fall in love with you, I swear, I will unleash all of the Montgomery wrath on you like a curse for the rest of your life. You may have everyone else fooled, but not me. And I will come after you if you hurt my sister. Capisce?”

“Capisce,” he said quietly. He had no idea what Juliet knew or didn’t know. But he respected fidelity. And sisterly love.

Of course he didn’t tell her this, but he was excellent at maintaining boundaries. And he would never lead Tessa on. Well, at least he thought he knew his boundaries—until last night, anyway.

But now he’d be sure to make them more secure than ever. Which he could do, because Leo always maintained control. His heart was never in jeopardy.

That didn’t scare him nearly as much as thinking about Tessa throwing that scholarship.

They’d both wanted that scholarship more than anything. They’d both believed anything was possible with hard work and grit. But he’d been the winner. He’d left town and hadn’t looked back.

Yet, judging by how hard she was working on perfecting those desserts, she was still as driven and determined as she’d ever been. So why on earth would she have thrown the thing she’d wanted more than anything?

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

“I’m starving,” Gia said as she sat down across from Tessa at the Pancake Express that morning. The cutest breakfast place in town used to be a train station that got moved from a mile down the road, and it was filled with sepia-toned photos and railroad memorabilia like old signs and a road pick and signal lights. “Thanks for inviting me to breakfast.”

“I’m starving, too,” Tessa said. Being outside on a sunny Saturday morning instead of inside the bakery working felt…freeing. Also, the fun outing didn’t allow her to think of the shock of waking up this morning curled against Leo’s warm muscled body…too much. Or those kisses. Those huge-mistake kisses.