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“I was referring to the cake.” She slid past him and grabbed the second layer from the oven. “I have a lot to do.” She set the second pan on the cooling rack. “With the holiday weekend, the schedule’s been off, but tomorrow, it’s back to business as usual.” She tested the spring on the second cake. Somehow her apron was still bright white, despite the cooling racks full of baked goods.
He held out a hand. “Please. Give me five minutes. I can’t go to the appointment without talking to you.”
She looked up at him, her lips pressed into a thin line. “You’re listing it? Today?”
“I’m supposed to sign the paperwork tonight. It’ll take a few days for Nathan to get it listed.” He looked away from the tight lines that had drawn across her face. The hurt in her eyes. He’d spent hours wrestling it in his own mind.
The bakery’s back door opened and Sammy appeared. He set a backpack down on the desk chair and looked from Robin to Grayson.
Back to Robin.
He scrubbed a hand through his blond hair. “Should I come back later?”
Yes.
“No, I’ll need your help with a few things,” Robin said.
Great. Because if the conversation wasn’t already hard enough, now Robin had an ally.
Sammy reached over and gave Robin’s hand a squeeze. “I’ll, uh…be…right over there.” He pointed to the desk, only five feet away.
Yeah, too bad the bakery wasn’t a little bigger.
Robin turned back to Grayson. “I’ve heard your reasons. You want to buy your own place.” She grabbed a rag and furiously scrubbed an invisible spot on the countertop. “What about our parents’ plans? What about the fact that they bought that land for us to have our family home on?”
He blinked. “It was their dream. It was. And I don’t want to let that go any more than you do.”
“And yet you are.”
Her words slapped him in the face. “Robin—”
“You’re going to sell their dreams. Everyone is going to forget them.” This time, her tears overflowed, and she hiccupped a little sob.
And Grayson stood there like a clod, unable to move, unable to comfort her, because it was his fault.
Sammy’s chair scraped across the floor. He pulled Robin to him.
Grayson looked away. Because this wasn’t awkward. Nope. Not awkward at all.
“Hey, you’re okay,” Sammy said.
Robin sniffed and wiped her eyes.
Grayson slid his wrist onto the countertop to sneak a peek at the time. He had fifteen minutes until his appointment, and he was losing ground.
“It’s none of my business,” Sammy offered, “but there’s got to be a solution in here.” He released Robin and she stomped to the storage room.
Grayson followed her.
“There is. Grayson shouldn’t sell.” Robin hefted a large bag of baking flour onto the shelf. Sammy held out his hand to stop her before she lifted the second one.
“Seriously?” Grayson asked. “You don’t think this is hard for me too?”
“It doesn’t seem hard enough. You’re the one who bailed out of town as soon as you could.”
“Does Oliver get a free pass here?”
Robin cut him a look. “He’s got his own issues—we both know that.”
