Brooke doesn’t miss a beat.
“Grace is a better fit for the lodge. She's friendly, and everyone already loves her.”
Which is exactly why I want to keep someone like her from finding out the truth. If I had it my way, no one would ever know what Henry has done.
“Grace is an amazing sister, and she would be great, but Brooke, I need your help. I need to make this happen. Please.”
She hesitates again.
I might have her where I need her.
“Just tell me what you need from me and I’ll make it happen, Brooke.”
Her eyes lock onto mine as she bites her bottom lip, clearly thinking it over.
You could hear a pin drop in this bakery.
Just when I think she’s going to agree, her chin drops to her chest and she shakes her head.
“Sorry, Dutton, I can’t help you.”
My brain tells me to keep pushing, but the defeat in her voice hits me in the chest, so I keep my mouth shut.
They say timing is everything, and it seems I picked the wrong time to ask her for this.
I step back toward the door.
“Well, you know where to find me if you change your mind.”
“I won’t,” she says quickly, keeping her head down.
She lifts a hand to brush against her cheek, and I have a suspicion that she’s crying again.
It makes me want to stay.
It makes me want to … to … make her life easier, even if just for a moment.
So, I leave before she asks me to.
How I’m going to win this town over should be at the front of my mind as I drive back to the lodge to finish my day.
Nope. Instead, all I can think about is finding out who made Brooke cry and how in hell I can fix it.
Chapter
Six
BROOKE
I spentmy entire night last night crying over the position my mother put me in, and if I wasn’t crying, I was spending entirely way too much time thinking about Dutton's little visit to the bakery.
Was there anything I wanted more than anything else in this world? My first thought had been to own the storefront so that all parts of the bakery were officially mine. But then I thought,is that really it?It was weird. I think what I want most is for people to never compare me to my mother. A woman who tried so hard to make something of her life and when it didn’t work, she just left. And for some reason, I've connected that to the bakery. And my need to own it outright. And be successful with it. And then my brain said,in order to do this, you need money so that you can expand it and get the shop and the store.If I can’t make it happen, then what? Would I leave because I don’t want this town to see my failure?
I would do just about anything right now to ensure that doesn’t happen.
But fake being friends with Dutton Richford?
Could I do that?
