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them.
    ***
    Ellie sat in a booth at Ginger Snaps, eating snickerdoodles. She’d half expected Jacob to follow her to the diner. But after the third cookie was only crumbs on her plate, she figured it was safe to assume he wasn’t coming after her. She sighed. Good. She was on sugar overload. Even though she hadn’t eaten as many sweets as Jacob had, the three cookies put her over her limit.
    “Ellie Oliver! Is that you?” Ginger, the owner, walked over to her, grinning.
    Swallowing down her thoughts of Jacob, Ellie wiped her fingers on a folded napkin. “Ginger, how are you?”
    She put her hands on her hips. In seven years, Ginger still looked pretty much the same. Same poofy, white hair. Same motherly tone. Maybe a few more wrinkles.
    “I’m great, honey.” She sat down across from Ellie and frowned. “A little surprised you didn’t come by the diner sooner.”
    Ellie placed her folded napkin over the plate. “I’m sorry. I’ve just had so much going on.”
    Ginger eyed her. “Mmm hmm. Too much going on for a long time, huh?” She placed a hand over Ellie’s, showing off her perfectly manicured, pink nails and squeezed. “Good to have you home.”
    She should have picked up the phone to call her. The only mom-like figure she’d ever had, and she was disappointed in her. “I heard you have quite a lot going on yourself. Aren’t you only in the diner part of the year now so you can travel?”
    Ginger laughed. “Well, it didn’t take you long to find that out, did it? Your father?”
    “Yep. Told me all about that rich guy leaving you a huge check.” Ellie grinned.
    “Paid off the house and still had plenty left to travel all over the U.S.” She pursed her lips.
    “That’s great.” Ellie placed her napkin on the plate.
    Ginger studied her face. “You ever need to talk you know where to find me.”
    Ellie swallowed and twirled her earring. “No. I’m good.” She forced a smile. “I’ve never been better.”
    ***
    After half a bottle of Pepto, Jacob’s stomach finally calmed down. He knew better than to go after Ellie. He was done running after women. He sat on his sofa and flicked on the TV. After five minutes of channel surfing, he turned the TV back off. There was something about Ellie that he just couldn’t let go of. His head and his heart were in a battle. The woman had obviously been hurt, just as he had.
    How could two hurt and distrustful people start a relationship? Life was never easy. Never had been. Why should this be any different? Jacob grew up without knowing who his dad was. His mom had been sort of wild in her younger days and had given new meaning to backpacking through Europe. She’d kept him, though, and done the best she could. God rest her soul. He roamed around the apartment, checking for dirty laundry.
    Jacob gave up moping around and went to bed. He lay there in the dark, trying to think of a way to make it literally rain jelly beans.
    ***
    Ellie looked at her reflection in the mirror. What was she doing? What if this was one of those moments in life she looked back and regretted her stupid decisions? Jacob had embraced her, so sweet and gentle. His puppy-dog eyes reminded her of a small child begging for a new toy. Or just one more piece of candy. She giggled. He did eat a lot of candy.
    Her love of the sweet stuff had started when she was four when her father bought her a board game called Candy Land. The colorful game had made quite an impression that stuck with her to this day. Bryce hated candy. She should’ve known right then that something had to be wrong with him. Jacob was different.
    Enough thinking about Jacob and his puppy-dog eyes. Ellie walked out the door and got into her car. With her grand opening only being a couple days away, she had to focus. She couldn’t open the shop all by herself. Anxious to find the right person to help her in the shop, Ellie parked her car.
    The first interview was a flop. The mean old lady didn’t even like children.