by Avery Ford
Blake had to smile. As much as he wanted to be irritated by her unapologetic matchmaking, he knew she only wanted what was best for him.
And how could he be upset about that?
If he was being completely honest, Blake had wondered more than once over the years what life would have been like if he’d stayed with Toby after high school. If he’d stayed here in Cottonwood Falls instead of running off to L.A. to chase his dreams of being an actor.
A dream that, ten years later, still wasn’t any closer to coming true.
Still, he wasn’t going to share all of those details with his mom. She’d never let him hear the end of it if she thought for a moment that he was actually willing to admit that he’d made a mistake by breaking up with Toby all those years ago.
“I appreciate it, Mom,” he said, finally. “I really do. But maybe I’m just not meant to settle down with someone. Maybe I’m…” He shrugged, not wanting to admit out loud that maybe he really had blown it with Toby and every guy since then.
If only there were second chances when it came to falling in love.
But what if Blake really had used up all of his chances? What if this was as good as it would ever get? What if he had to be alone… forever?
Okay, maybe that was a little dramatic. Still, it wasn’t like everyone was lucky enough to settle down and marry the person of their dreams like Blake’s parents had done right after graduation.
“There is someone out there for you, dear,” Sharon said, sounding a lot more confident about it than Blake was feeling. “I know for sure there is. And even though I would be overjoyed if it was Toby Carver, I could probably learn to like someone else almost as much, as long as they treated you right.” She tossed him a wink, though he knew she wasn’t really joking at all. “I do think it would be nice if you went back to the vet’s office tomorrow and offered them some of my holiday cookies, though. Toby did squeeze your emergency appointment in at the last minute, after all. It’s only right to thank him for that. And he always did love my baking.”
Blake considered it for a moment. He knew this was just another attempt to get him and Toby in the same room together again, but she also had a point.
He really did appreciate the fact that Toby had made the time to see him and that he seemed genuinely concerned for Cooper. Just another reason why Toby was and always had been a great guy.
The very least Blake could do was take him some cookies. And besides, Blake thought, it’s not like he had anything else to do while he was in Cottonwood Falls passing the few days left before Christmas.
“Okay,” Blake said. “I’ll take him the cookies.”
“And invite him over for dinner tomorrow if he’s not doing anything. I don’t know if his parents are coming back from Florida this year or not, but they haven’t bothered the past couple of years.”
Blake stifled an eye roll. Because of course it couldn’t be as simple as just taking Toby cookies. He should have known better. He did know better than to argue, though.
“Fine,” he sighed. “You win. I’ll invite him. But don’t get your hopes up, okay? He’s probably busy.”
He didn’t know why he bothered wasting his breath, though. He could tell from the look on his mother’s face that she was already mentally adding another place setting to the table.
He just hoped she wouldn’t be disappointed if Toby decided he didn’t want anything to do with Blake anymore.
He’d have to remind himself not to be disappointed if that was the case, too.
Because secretly? At least in the privacy of his own thoughts?
Blake kind of hoped Toby would say yes.
Toby
Toby sat at his cluttered desk in the small, cramped office that had belonged to his dad for decades and took a sip of the too-hot, too-strong coffee that tasted like it also might have been around for decades.
He’d been meaning to switch brands at the office but Nina seemed to like the strong stuff that Toby’s dad had lived on since as long as Toby could remember.
Like so many other things in his life, it felt like Toby had stepped into his father’s shoes but still hadn’t managed to find his own way yet.
Even after two years of being on his own—both here at the vet clinic and back home in the farmhouse they’d left him to fix up—he felt like he was struggling against his parents’ way of doing things every time he turned around.
But at the same time, he was afraid to change too much at once. Afraid it might start to erase his parents from his life completely. They were still very much alive and well in Florida, of course, so it wasn’t like he couldn’t make new memories with them, but…
Things were different now.
He was happy where he was and they were happy someplace else.
He could still talk to them on the phone and see them if he flew down to Florida—not something he could just do on a whim while the people in Cottonwood Falls needed him—but they weren’t coming back.
Not even for Christmas.
And as if Toby wasn’t already questioning all of his life choices up to this point, who did fate send to his door?
Blake Rivers.
Because of course seeing the only person Toby had ever been in love with in his life—and the only person to ever break his heart—was exactly what he needed right now, right?
Yeah, no.
It also didn’t help that Blake looked… amazing.
Hot and tanned and muscular and just really, really good.
Toby took another sip of coffee and grimaced, both from his burnt tongue and the fact that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about Blake ever since he’d left the office yesterday.
He knew he shouldn’t torture himself with old memories and thoughts of what might have been. That had all happened a long time ago and Blake no doubt had some super hot supermodel boyfriend waiting for him naked by a pool in L.A.
And while Toby had plenty of self-confidence—just as much as any normal guy approaching thirty, at least—he really couldn’t compete with whatever awesome life Blake had been living back in California.
If Toby had been everything he needed, Blake wouldn’t have left in the first place.
“Dr. Carver?” Nina cleared her throat as she stood in his office doorway and gave him a concerned look. “Are you okay? Did you hear me?”
Toby felt his eyebrows knit together as she startled him from his thoughts. God, how long had she been standing there?
He was definitely going to need some more coffee.
And maybe a nap.
Definitely a nap.
“Sorry, Nina,” he said, sighing. “I was, um… distracted. What can I do for you?”
“I was just saying you have a patient waiting out front…”
“Already?” Toby looked at the clock on his wall. “I thought we didn’t have anyone scheduled for another half-hour?”
“We didn’t.” She gave a half-shrug. “He said you told him he could come back today, though. It’s Blake Rivers.”
Toby was pretty sure his heart either jumped into his throat or stopped beating completely.
Maybe both.
“His puppy?” Toby asked, already up and moving around his desk toward the door. “Did he say whether the medicine worked? Did he seem—”
Toby cut himself off. Not only because he had already walked past Nina and was already almost to the end of the short corridor that led to the front waiting area, but because he had been about to ask something that had nothing to do with Blake’s puppy.
Did he seem happy?
Did he seem upset?
Did he seem like he wanted to see me?
Toby opened the door and stepped into the waiting room with Nina right behind him. His eyes met Blake’s immediately, and Toby couldn’t help the smile that instinctively appeared on his lips.
Even after all these years. Even after a break-up that had left Toby feeling like it really might have been the end of the world.
Even after
just seeing the guy yesterday, for God’s sake.
There was still something about Blake that made Toby get that fluttery, floaty feeling in his stomach.
Every.
Single.
Time.
“You came back,” Toby said, then felt his cheeks flush as he realized how weird that probably sounded. “I mean… what brings you back?” Toby looked down at the puppy sitting by Blake’s feet. His tail was wagging so hard and fast that Toby wasn’t sure how he was still sitting at all—definitely a far cry from the lethargic, pitiful puppy Blake had brought in the day before. “Looks like Cooper is feeling better, at least.”
Blake smiled and glanced down at his pup before turning his attention back to Toby. “Much better, thanks. That’s why I’m here, actually.” He reached down to the chair next to him and lifted a plate of cookies. “Special delivery from my mom. Just a way to say thank you for everything you did yesterday. Cooper and I owe you.”
“Oh, wow,” Toby said, taking the tray of cookies as his smile grew even wider. “You shouldn’t have done all of this. I didn’t do anything special yesterday. But thank you. I really appreciate it. And I’m glad to hear that you and Cooper are both doing well today.”
Toby wasn’t sure why he’d thrown that last part in. He could have just left it at being glad that Cooper was feeling better.
But… he was glad that Blake seemed to be doing well, too. Just because they had dated a million years ago didn’t mean they had to dislike each other, right? Toby could still want the best for Blake without it being weird… right?
“Well, I technically didn’t do much of anything, either,” Blake confessed. “My mom made the cookies. I’m just the delivery guy today. But I did want to say thank you, regardless. You’ve always been—” He stopped and cleared his throat, leaving Toby wondering what he’d been about to say. Always been what? “Anyway,” Blake continued, maddeningly skipping over the part that literally had Toby waiting with bated breath. “I know you’re probably busy so I won’t take up any more of your time today. But uh… I also wanted to ask you one more quick question.”
“Anything,” Toby said, feeling breathless and light-headed all at once. God, did he sound pathetic? Nina had moved to her desk on the other side of the room and was watching with what could only be described as a very amused expression on her face. Was Toby making a fool out of himself? “I mean… sure? Anything you need to know?” Yeah, he wasn’t making it better, was he?
Blake grinned. “I was just, uh… just wondering if you had any plans later? For dinner, I mean.”
Toby blinked.
Was Blake asking him out? Like… a date?
After all this time, he wanted to just ride into town and pick up where they left off?
“I don’t have any plans,” Toby said, trying to sound nonchalant but definitely failing at that. Because honestly? If Blake was asking him on a date?
Toby wasn’t going to turn him down.
They might have history together, but it had been a hell of a dry spell lately.
“My mom is cooking later and you know how she always makes way too much food,” Blake was saying. Toby blinked again. Wait, what? Why was he talking about his mom? “She wanted—I mean, I was hoping you might want to come over? Just for dinner.”
Right.
So… not a date.
Not a date at Blake’s parents’ house.
Just dinner.
With Blake. And his parents.
“That sounds great,” Toby said, even managing a smile. Because what was he going to do? He’d never been able to say no to Blake in his life, and old habits died hard.
Besides, Blake’s mom had always been an amazing cook. And even with Blake’s parents, it was still the closest thing to being asked on a date that Toby had experienced in… well, in a really long time.
“Great,” Blake nodded, still smiling. “You remember where they live, right? Same place as always.”
“I remember,” Toby answered. As if he could have forgotten. Even if Toby hadn’t lived in the tiny town for his entire life, he had spent way too many summer nights in high school at the Rivers’ house to ever forget.
And tonight was just going to be a walk down memory lane.
Just as friends, of course.
Blake
“Blake Mitchell Rivers, I swear if you don’t sit down and stop fidgeting,” Sharon scolded him from the kitchen as Blake moved from the living room to the dining room to the window that looked out onto the street in front of their house. Again. For the tenth time in as many minutes. “At least finish setting the table if you’re going to keep going in there.”
“Good idea,” Blake nodded, walking past her into the kitchen to get the plates and silverware they’d all need for dinner. “I’m just… I mean, I’m not nervous. Why would I be nervous? It’s just dinner, right?”
He wasn’t sure what kind of reassurance he was looking for—and he was keenly aware that his mother was all but laughing at him as she smirked and said something under her breath.
Something about how she hadn’t been the one to mention his nerves…
But whatever.
And maybe he was a little nervous, but not because he was having second thoughts or anything like that. He still wanted to see Toby again, to have dinner and talk and laugh and find out how he’s been doing all these years.
Blake just wished he hadn’t invited Toby here. With both of his parents looking on—or butting in, more likely.
“Is he running late?” Blake’s dad asked from the living room. “It isn’t like Toby to be late for anything.”
“He’s not late, Dad,” Blake answered, leaving the place settings to look out the window again. “I didn’t tell him to be here until…” He checked his watch. “Another fifteen minutes, at least.”
“Are we late?” His dad asked, craning his neck to see Blake from the recliner in front of the TV. “The way you’re running around in there is making me nervous. Is there something going on I don’t know about? It’s been years since I’ve heard mention of Toby Carver in this house.”
“Nobody’s late, Richard,” Blake’s mom called. “Stop giving Blake a hard time. He just wants everything to be nice for his… for Toby.”
Oh, Jesus.
Was it too late to call it off? Or at least make a change of plans? Someplace different, maybe?
Preferably anywhere but here.
Just as Blake was reaching for his phone to text Toby and see if they could come up with some kind of excuse—bird flu or black plague or hayfever or something—to avoid this dinner and sneak off to do something else, he saw an old familiar truck pull up in the driveway.
Had Toby seriously kept that beat up pickup since graduation? It had been in rough shape even back then.
Now, it was… very Toby.
Blake smiled. Practical and comfortable and completely unpretentious. A far cry from what Blake had become accustomed to back in L.A.
And even though he wasn’t sure how that pickup could possibly still be running after all these years, it was kind of comforting to see it there in the driveway, to see Toby getting out and smoothing his hands over the button-down shirt that fit him perfectly and clung to his tight, toned chest and arms.
There was no backing out now. No changing plans. Toby was here. This was happening.
And even though Blake still felt like it could go wrong in so, so many ways…
He still couldn’t stop himself from smiling.
“Toby, I’m so glad you came over tonight, dear,” Sharon said, smiling warmly from across the table. “It’s been way too long since you’ve visited with us. Isn’t that right, Richard?”
Blake stifled a groan and gave a quick glance to his right where Toby was sitting. Was he feeling as nervous as Blake had been? Did he feel put on the spot right now?
They were most of the way through dinner and while there had been a few awkward moments, nothing particularly catastrophic had happened.
Yet.
With Blake’s parents around, though, there was still time.
“You know you’re welcome over here anytime, Toby,” Richard Rivers said, nodding in agreement with Sharon. “Lord knows Blake is too busy for us most of the time, so we might as well put all these extra dishes to use for someone…” He leaned in over the table and stage-whispered, “And you’re the only person Blake has ever brought home that we’ve liked, so we definitely wouldn’t mind seeing more of you.”
“Dad,” Blake’s mouth dropped open as he looked from his dad to his mom and back again. Had those words seriously just come out of his father’s mouth. “You’re… you’re probably embarrassing Toby.”
He looked over at Toby, unsure of what reaction to expect. Was he embarrassed? Upset? Silently vowing never to step foot in the Rivers’ house ever again?
But no.
He was smiling. Almost laughing, really. And aside from a slight pink flush to his cheeks—no doubt from being at least a little caught off guard by Richard’s truth bomb—he looked like he might actually be enjoying himself.
Which was… good? Right?
“I appreciate the invitation,” Toby said, grinning as he turned his attention to Sharon. “And you know I can’t ever pass up an opportunity to get a serving of your famous lasagna, Mrs. Rivers.”
“Anytime, Toby,” she replied, beaming. “Even if Blake isn’t in town, you know you’re always welcome here.”
Blake snorted, then turned his head to try and disguise the noise as a cough. He didn’t even want to imagine the well-meaning-but-still-way-too-intense grilling his parents would no doubt subject Toby to if Blake wasn’t here to deflect their questions.
“Did you want to stay for coffee, Toby?” Richard asked. “It will only take a few minutes to brew.”
“And we have tons more of those cookies that I sent you,” Sharon added. “I can go get some if you’re all ready for dessert.”
