Graham speeds in this direction with Sabrina by his side. The look on his face looks more like a warning of dire things to come rather than that swoony love-struck look I’ve grown accustomed to.
“No, no, no,” I say as I bolt to the kitchen. Look busy.Staybusy. And for God’s sake, avoid, avoid,AVOIDthose people out there tonight!
And I do, for the most part. Every now and again, I spot Graham scouring the crowd, but Sabrina has him on lockdown pretty much. Once dinner is through, and I’m pretty sure Graham didn’t eat a single bite—Sabrina links her arm through his and locks him in like a vise. Every time I look over at him, he’s trying to tear that crown off his head, but the wicked queen won’t let him.
Bodies are circulating the side tables where the hundreds of auction items are laid out for display. I can’t help but note that my gingerbread dollhouse is brimming with admirers. Let’s hope at least one of them feels the need for four feet of gingerbread to take over their living room. It’s so heavy, it took all of the staff at the bakery to move it. I hope someone with a very strong husband is willing to purchase it tonight.
“Boo!” someone whispers directly in my ear from behind, and I jump three feet in the air, only to turn to find my deviant of a sister laughing maniacally.
“It’s Christmas!” Her eyes round out as if delivering earth-shattering news. “What are you doing holed up here? Savy’s been asking about you all night. She’s worried sick that you got lost. You’ve got to get back out there. You don’t want to ruin her Christmas, do you?”
When the going gets tough, Holly often invokes Savanah. It’s the ace in her deck for many a situation. And after witnessing how expertly she wields a hand, it almost makes me want a baby so I can play the very same game. The thought of Graham and me adding a human addition to our brood one day makes me dizzy with glee, but then I remember he probably won’t be speaking to me after tonight’s royal fiasco, and therefore, all talks of procreation are swiftly wiped off the table. I bet he or she would be beautiful, though, bright blue eyes, dimples, his dark hair. I wouldn’t mind if that child looked nothing like me, so long as I could cuddle with that miniature version of Graham every single day.
Holly grunts as if reading my mind. “Stop your daydreaming. We’ve got reality to tend to,” she says, speeding me back into the crowd.
The lights have dimmed just a notch, and couples are dancing on the makeshift dance floor. Then I see them—Sabrina and Graham swaying to the rhythm like a real couple. Her arms are latched over his back, and she’s looking lovingly into his eyes. He laughs at something she tells him, and my stomach takes a nosedive. Nobody instructed him to have a good time. Apostate.
Sabrina yanks him down by the back of the neck and plants a firm kiss right over his lips.
I suck in a quick breath. “No!” I whimper. Those lips belong to me, and she’s gone too far. I take a step in that direction and then recall the fact the land beneath the bakery belongs to the Jarretts, and everything in me sags. It looks as if I’m in for a lifetime of watching those two lock lips, unless of course…
Graham pulls away abruptly, and from the looks of it, he’s exchanging curt yet gentle words with her. Sabrina takes a staggering step back, her eyes bulging unnaturally. It’s clear she’s repulsed and highly ticked off at the small dose of reality he just fed her.
“Oh no,” Holly moans. “I think he just popped that airheaded balloon you’ve been trying to keep in the air all month. You’d better go over and straighten this out.” She does her best to transport me there herself just as Nick pops up between Sabrina and Graham.
“What’s going on?” he asks as if it were any of his business. He narrows his eyes on me as if what was happening between the two of them were somehow my fault. It is, but that’s not the point.
Sabrina lets out a harrowing shriek. “I’ll tell you what’s going on. This lunatic”—she gives Graham such a violent shove to the chest half the dance floor clears out—“has professed his undying affection for that idiot!” She points a finger hard in my direction.
“No.” I shake my head, trying to refute it, and I’m pretty sure I’m just making things worse by doing so.
Sabrina takes a few stomping steps in my direction, and the band quiets down a notch before stopping the music altogether. “You promised you’d give me Graham Holiday’s head on a platter! You swore you were the premier matchmaker of all of Gingerbread, and I believed you! Once that gorgeous man waltzed into town, you said we were a match made in heaven.”
I give a nervous glance to Graham, and our eyes lock in one horrific moment. “That’s not exactly how it went.” It is, but once again, that is not the point.
She tosses her hands in the air. “And then you said he would be mine by Christmas! You promised me that! I had your word.” She growls out that last part as if she has suddenly morphed into a lion. “And now I find out the two of you are inlove?” She saysloveas if it were the vilest concept known to all of man.
A light gasp breaks out around us.
Nick steps forward, pinching his eyes shut a moment. “They’re not in love. Graham told me so himself. They’re just friends. He assured me himself that he could never see himself ending up with my sister.”
My mouth falls open as I look to Graham. He shakes his head slightly, but judging by that sheepish grin, I bet he used that line on my brother. He doesn’t mean it, does he?
“Well”—Sabrina digs those daggers she calls eyes into mine—“what says you, Miss Pâtisserie?” She bears into me with her fangs, and I know exactly what her twisted little heart is getting at. “Do you love Graham Holiday?”
I give a quick glance to Holly, Tom, and little Savy who have all gathered around with long faces, trying to understand what this disruption is about. If I say yes, it will be the end of many things, starting with the bakery. And just like that, our lives will unravel one unpaid bill at a time. I glance to Graham who looks just as confused as anyone else here. His brows are doing that vexingly sexy hard V, and it’s all I can do to not burst into tears. He’s always been far too handsome for someone like me. I’m sure once this nightmare is over—once his vacation in Gingerbread is over, he’ll forget me as soon as his plane hits the stratosphere. Can I really risk losing the bakery over something that’s not even a sure thing?
Graham takes a deep breath. “I’ll answer for her.”
My lips press white as I try to keep from vomiting up the truth.
He clears his throat as he looks to Sabrina. “Missy isn’t in love with me. The truth is, she’s out of my league. Always has been.” He gives a sad glance my way before reverting back to the queen of mean. “In fact, I’m leaving day after next. And I don’t think either of you has to worry about seeing me again.”
Sabrina looks to me with venom shooting out of her eyes. “Is it true? You don’t love him?” Her jowls move from side to side. I’m sure she’ll have that nipped and tucked once she reviews the footage from this evening. The entire night is recorded for posterity. Or in my case, to commemorate my spectacular downfall. “Say it!” she shouts so loud the entire room reverberates with the sound of her voice.
Nick steps in and nods for me to do it. I glance to Holly who shakes her head no, and lastly I look to Graham.
“Come on, Sprig.” He nods my way, the look of hurt hiding out in his eyes. “You know we were just fooling around. I’ve got an entire harem waiting for me back home. You’ll always be Nick Winters’ kid sister to me.” He swallows hard as if he wanted to say more, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. “That’s it.”
That’s it?
“Well?” Sabrina gives a slow blink as if she’s losing patience with me.
“I don’t.” I shake my head as if refuting the claim. “There. I said it.” I glare at Graham for taking it down a notch when he didn’t have to. That is, unless he meant it. And if he did, I hate him for it. “I guess I don’t love you after all,” I say it first because with Graham I always did like to draw first blood. It’s a protective mechanism I’m used to around him. And just like that, my heart shatters all over the room, and all I see is red.
I run out of the community center, hop into my car, and just start driving.
I can’t go home. I’m in too close of a proximity to the enemy.
And oddly enough, it’s not Sabrina Jarrett.
