Chapter 3

Sam

I eyed the bottle of wine on my counter, glaring at it. It was beyond tempting to drown my sorrows until I forgot about blogs and followers and recipes. But that was what had gotten me into this mess in the first place. That and it wasn't even noon yet.

When I went to my blog and looked at what I had written in what I had thought was just a draft, but actually ended up being the post that was published today, I knew what had happened.

I had written that post the day Graham had come into the bakery to let me know he was leaving for his next trip to San Antonio. He had told me how much he enjoyed the nightlife at the place he was going to and all the hot guys he had seen there the last time he went several years ago. The smile on his face when he told me about it had been heartbreaking. And I knew then, just as I knew now, those hot guys were not me. Graham was not for me.

I might as well be a little brother to him. That was how he saw me.

So I had grabbed a bottle of wine and written a blog post. And apparently, my good sense had left the building with each swig of wine.

I had thought I deleted that blog and published a different one, but I now saw that was not the case. There was no way I could take it down now. It was my most popular blog post in history, with thousands of comments in less than five hours since it had gone live. People were sharing it all over social media. There were so many hopeful commenters telling me how brave I was to put myself out there. And how lucky Graham would be if he would just realize how great I was.

There was nothing wrong with Graham. It was not his fault that the attraction was one-sided. This was why I kept my feelings to myself.

Except, now my heart was out there, splayed out for the world to see, and I'd dragged Graham into the mess.

I loved the supportive readers, but I didn't need the drama that went with putting myself out there this way.

Dammit. This was not what I had wanted for today.

Rather than grabbing the bottle of wine, I went for a glass of water and retreated to my comfy sofa. I would have to explain to Graham that it was a stunt, something to gain followers. Not a big deal. Never mind the fact that he knew I didn't work like that. I was sure he would be the gentleman and let me down nicely. He didn't wish there to be any awkwardness between us.

I covered my face with my hands and let out a muffled scream. Just take it one day at a time. That was what I needed to do.

It would all blow over. Something would happen somewhere that would draw attention to someone else, and I just had to power through. I collapsed back on the sofa just as the doorbell chimed. This was the part that sucked about being a baker and an early riser, my day was over and everybody else was just midway through theirs.

I pulled up the app on my phone to see who was at the door, thankful to see that it was just my brother and not anyone else. Of course Gavin would want to know what the hell I had been thinking. I knew that their travel agency blog run by Graham had been overrun with comments from eager readers after my post today.

"Come in," I said through the app, and I heard the door click open.

He came in the house and sat down next to me without saying a word, just giving me that raised-eyebrow look. Gavin was four years older than me. We'd always gotten along, even though I had been slightly annoying, chasing him and his friends around when we were kids. Mostly when it involved Graham, I wanted to be wherever they were.

"I know, I know. I don't want to hear it."

"I'm not going to say anything."

I snorted. "There's nothing to say. I said all of it."

He grimaced. "I had a feeling that your feelings for Graham had surpassed childhood crush and had gone into a more dangerous territory."

"Yeah?" I said. "I wasn't sure you'd realized I had a dumb crush on him."

Gavin put his arm around me and pulled me into a side-hug. "It's not dumb. It's just that Graham plays his cards pretty close to his chest. As close as I am to him, I've never heard him express any interest in anything long-term with anyone. And I know you want long-term. You're a white picket fence and a house type of person who comes home every night. I'm afraid you're gonna get hurt thinking that's going to come from Graham."

He knew me too well. "Graham doesn't like me that way. I'm sure that when this all calms down, he'll come over and let me down gently."

Gavin patted my knee. "I'm sorry, Brother. I do wish things would be different."

"Oh yeah? You wouldn't have a problem with me dating your best friend and business partner?" I was half-joking. It would never come to that anyway.

"Are you kidding me? That would be awesome. He's a great guy, and I already know I get along with him. What if you meet a guy and I don't like him? That would suck."

Not for the first time that day, I almost burst into tears. "Thanks, Gavin. That means a lot to me. Even though I know nothing is going to happen between Graham and me."

He gave me another hug, then moved over so there was some space between us. "Well, since your feelings are all out in the open and you do have feelings for my best friend, I think you should know that I have feelings for your barista."

I shot him a look "Who? Jane?"

Gavin nodded. "Would you mind if I asked her out?"

"I'm not her keeper," I said.

"But it's awkward. I'm your brother, and if things went sideways or you needed to fire her…"

"She's worked for me for five years. I'm pretty sure it's safe. And I wouldn't fire her if the two of you didn't work out."

"Not even to defend my honor?"

I pushed at his shoulder playfully. I appreciated the shift in focus.

"Cool. Now I just need to actually muster up the courage to ask her out. She can be intimidating."

"Yes, I suppose that's true."

"Any advice?"

"A bottle of wine is all you need, apparently," I joked.

He laughed.

After a little more chitchat, Gavin left me alone.

The house was too quiet for me to be there alone with my thoughts, but I had little choice. I most certainly wasn't going back to work, and I feared I'd be bombarded by helpful townsfolk if I left.

So, instead, I threw myself into cleaning. With my earbuds in, I hit play on my favorite true crime podcast and got lost in other people's problems. Mine could wait.