“I’m not ready to go back,” Brayden said gently. “I have so much here.”
“Mallory’s done quite the job of showing me that,” Mom admitted, perfecting the circles of cookie dough on their second pan. “Brayden, I have a confession.”
He swallowed, uncertain whether he’d like what she had to say. With the mayor two stations away, he waited.
“I was only going to retire now because I wanted you to move home.”
“What?”
Mom turned and looked him in the eyes. It was then he saw the glistening tears threatening to escape. “You’re my son, Brayden, and I almost lost you. You’re not the only one the accident rattled. Letting you drive all the way to Alaska, in the winter no less, after almost losing you was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
Ignoring the mayor and the timer, Brayden pulled Mom into a tight hug. “I never knew you felt that way.”
“I’ve gone two decades without being driven by emotion,” she said with a weak laugh. “Why would I start now?”
The mayor interrupted the moment, asking them a few questions about the recipe and how they expected the cookies to turn out. It was then, as he answered questions, that Brayden noticed the crowd gathering in the center. Hardly a seat remained empty.
“Good luck to you both!” Lee said with a nod, moving on to Ava’s station.
Brayden pulled the first batch from the oven and slipped in the second pan. “I don’t think I want to move back to Texas, Mom. Not now. Not in two years.”
Mom nodded, but wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I know. But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t break my heart. Your father always envisioned the company staying in the family. When you were born, he used to talk about how proud he’d be to watch you run something he built from the ground up.”
Guilt twisted inside him, but not enough to change his mind. “I think I might love her, Mom.”
Mom patted his arm. “Maybe you should tell her. Your grandma was right. Time goes by faster than you think, and you never know when yours is up. If you don’t want to run the company, I’ll stay on a couple more years. Figure something out.” She shoved at his arm. “Go tell her how you feel.”
“Here?”
“They just put their cookies in the oven.”
Brayden’s heart thundered in his ears. It was time for this fake relationship to turn into a real one. “Okay.”
ChapterThirteen
Ava
“Can I talk to you for a second?” Brayden asked. From the corner of her eye, Ava’d watched him move from his station to their counter, her heart beating a little quicker with each step of his approach. Ava could hardly explain why this moment was any different than the hundreds of others they’d shared.
“Sure. What’s up?”
Mom, knowing smile on her lips, nodded. “I need to chat with Pam for a moment. Mind that timer, Ava dear. We can’t win with burned cookies, you know.” She patted Ava on the arm, abandoning their station to give Ava some rare privacy.
Admittedly, Ava’d snuck a few too many glances at Brayden during the competition, something many audience members no doubt caught from their seats. It warmed her heart to see him getting along so well with his mom, but that wasn’t why she was stealing peeks.
She liked him.Reallyliked him.
There was no point in lying to herself about it anymore. If she wasn’t mistaken, he liked her, too. The whole running a company in Texas thing added a slight snafu. She couldn’t sell the Forget Me Not and leave her hometown. She wouldn’t. But maybe they could figure something out. Some sort of compromise where they could try out arealrelationship.Maybe he’ll stay.
For the first time in a while, she felt . . . hope.
“We should’ve teamed them up together,” Brayden said with a nervous laugh, nodding at their mothers. “They seem to have become unexpected best friends.”
“They have, haven’t they?” Ava wiped her hands on a towel, though they weren’t wet. “It’s nice to see you and your mom getting along. Seems you two worked through some things.” Yes, she was fishing. No, she didn’t care.
“We did.” Brayden’s answer trailed off with his vacant stare, but Ava couldn’t even be upset about his vague answer. She was much too distracted by his presence.
“What did you want to talk to me about?” Ava asked, feeling like a nervous teenager hoping her crush might ask her to the prom. She welcomed the feeling over fear and anxiety about the store, even if it was only a brief distraction. “Brayden?”
