“Need help?” he asked.
“Nope.” She whisked out of the kitchen, dropping one plate in front of him, then set another at her catty-corner spot. She grabbed her laptop and made room by pushing the pile of stuffed snowmen as far as they would go. One dropped off. Once she made enough space for the laptop, she recovered the fallen snowman before Elsie could get any ideas about a new toy. “I’m curious what you came up with.”
Brayden cut into his omelet with a fork to hide nerves he shouldn’t feel. He didn’t get this jittery around multi-million-dollar clients. But Ava’s approval felt like the most important pitch of his life. “I sent a few different options. They’ll look best printed on glossy cardstock, but it’s not necessary.”
Fork clattering against the plate, Ava lost sight of her breakfast and became enamored with her screen. “Brayden, these are . . . holy jingle bells!” She spun the laptop toward him as if he hadn’t seen his own work. “These are ten times better than mine. Maybe a hundred.”
Her praise warmed his heart in way it hadn’t been warmed in years. “Glad you like them.”
“You might’ve just saved Christmas.” Her eyes doubled in size and she pushed the laptop closed. “I didn’t mean that. I just meant—”
Brayden placed his hand on top of hers and braced for her rejection. But when two seconds passed, then three, and she didn’t shimmy away, he decided now was the moment to be brave. Even if she hated him for it. “I know, Ava.”
She stared at their joined hands. “What are you talking about?” But her question came out weak and quiet.
“I didn’tmeanto read the letter, but I did.”
As expected, Ava yanked her hand away and stomped off toward the kitchen with her still-full plate. “You tell me thatnow?” she snapped over the breakfast bar. She wanted to be mad, that much he could tell, but her usual fire wasn’t as strong.
“You’ve suspected it all along.”
“And still you pretended like you never saw the notice.”
“I didn’t want to embarrass you, not in front of Kinley.” But the truth was more complicated than that. He and Ava might not have been as close as he wanted, but he was good at reading people. Figuring them out. It was the quality that helped him please their toughest marketing clients. Had he admitted the truth that day, Ava’s pride would’ve suffered immensely. The Christmas basket idea might never have been born. “I haven’t told anyone.”
“And that makes it better?” Tears dotted the corners of her eyes and Brayden pushed out of his seat.
He posted himself in the narrow walkway into the kitchen, giving her space if she wanted it, but offering comfort if she preferred that instead. It was a dangerous tango they were playing at. He couldn’t allow himself to get close to her. Not when he might uproot his entire cozy life in days. Yet he couldn’t seem to stay away.
“No, it doesn’t make it better.”
She swiped hastily at a tear.
Bravely, Brayden took a step into the kitchen, then two. He reached out both hands and rested them on her arms. “I want to help you turn this around,” he said gently, unsettled by the electricity that hummed in the air between them. “I can help. Please let me.”
“It’s not your problem.”
“Kind of is now.”
Ava let out an exasperated laugh. “Do explain that one.”
“Your mom.” He shuffled forward an inch, and tipped her chin up with his knuckle. “You don’t want her to know how serious this situation has gotten. I’m willing to bet no one else knows. Not even your best friend. But like it or not, we’re Facebook official to this town. Your burdens are mine now, especially while your mom is around, and I won’t let you face her alone. That’s not what a fake boyfriend would do.”
“What would a fake boyfriend do?” she asked, her words hardly a whisper. The space between them seemed to evaporate. Brayden needed to turn around and run before something happened he couldn’t take back. If he had to leave for Texas, he wanted to part friends. Not with Ava hating him for leading her on.
So why weren’t his feet shuffling backward or his hands dropping?
A shrill ring accompanied with a bark from Elsie severed the intense moment. Brayden released an audible sigh of relief as Ava pushed around him and lunged for her phone on the table. He’d never dated anyone else in Sunset Ridge, and now he remembered why. “Your mom?” he guessed, hiding his face behind the kitchen pillar.
“Kinley.” Ava’s tone held apology. “I’ll just be a minute.”
He nodded as Ava disappeared down the hall and closed her bedroom door, clearing his plate from the table and joining Elsie at the window. His breathing was still heavy and unpredictable. He’d almostkissedher. He could laugh off a lot of things, but that one would be hard. A kiss could change everything. Until he figured out what to do about Mom retiring ahead of schedule, he couldn’t let feelings get in the way. He didn’t want to hurt Ava. Or himself.
Elsie leaned against his leg, demanding head scratches. “What a mess, huh, girl?”
Brayden liked Ava. That had never changed.
But his mom’s insistence that he had an obligation to take over thefamilycompany and needed to be home to learn how had grown stronger and more insistent each week he stayed in Sunset Ridge without plans of moving home. Tomorrow she’d no doubt drop the bomb that she moved up her retirement date and backed him into a corner.
