Brooke & Ben: Before Fate Interrupted (30 page)

Her heart sank
with her jaw as a wave of dizziness washed over her. She rested a hand on the island
for support, trying to take it all in.

“I want something
we can do together.”

When she finally
pulled herself (almost) back together, she raised her voice. “Are you insane?
We can’t open a bakery!”

“Why not?”

She searched the
room for an answer, her mouth gaping, mind bending. “Because!”

He took her
hands in his. “Brooke, you know that your baking is second to none. Hell, it’s so
good you made me love sweets!”

She laughed
sharply. “That wasn’t my baking! That was you hitting your head.”

He shrugged. “I
can also read minds now but that’s not important. What is important is that we
realize our dreams
together
. Not just
me and my dream.”

Her chest
undulated so fast she could barely find her voice. “Your dream is not to open a
bakery, Benjamin Kramer!”

“Well, I’ve got
an idea on how we can shake things up a little.”

“Like what?”

“Ever heard of a
dessert lounge?”

She shook her
head, which only made the spinning worse.

“It’s a place
you can go to pick up a dozen cupcakes for work, or somewhere you can stop by
for after dinner drinks and dessert.”

“Drinks?”

He nodded with a
wide grin. “Full bar, sassafrass.”

The rose slipped
from her cheeks. “Oh my God,” she said dully. “I love it!”

He exhaled on
his knuckles and rubbed them on his shirt. “I got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

“But how can we
afford this without other investors?”

“We’re leasing
the space,” Ben answered, studying the dingy walls and floors. “We’ll brighten
it up, get her running and promote the hell out of it.”

Brooke looked
around, her palms sweating. It wasn’t like the place was in
that
bad of shape but tables and chairs
alone could cost a fortune, not to mention mixers and cookware. As she had
learned at Randall’s Catering, it wouldn’t take long for things to start adding
up. Even straws and napkins in bulk were crazy expensive. She opened her mouth
to tell him all of this, to let him know what they would be up against but he
beat her to the punch.

“I sold the
bike.”

Her eyes bulged
from her sockets. “You what?”

“And the
trailer.”

She stared at him
incredulously, frozen in place. “Why would you do that?” she cried, guilt gnawing
at her from the inside out.

Ben stepped closer
and took her cold cheek in his warm palm. “Because I love you and this feels
right. My gut says so.”

“Your
gut
?”

He nodded.

“But you loved
that bike!”

“Yeah well,
can’t be riding a Triumph in Harley country now, can we? I’ll get a new one
after this place takes off.”

She turned away
from him and leaned against the sink, hanging her head between her shoulders and
trying to come to grips with this sinking curve ball. “Ben, you should have
discussed this with…”

“This is the
only way!” he barked, pounding the island table and making her flinch. “I know
what you would’ve said, and I refuse to spend the rest of our lives living
paycheck to paycheck!” He paused to lower his voice. “We will never get
anywhere without taking a chance and I, for one, am ready to start taking some.”
His Adam’s apple rose and fell. “Are you?”

Brooke’s watery
eyes roamed the spacious kitchen. “You’re serious about this,” she muttered
faintly.

“Listen, it’ll
be a challenge at first – I’m not going to lie - but we’re good at scrimping.
We know how to cut costs.” He stared gravely at her. “But I’m tired of
scrimping by. This is our chance to change that, for us and the family we will
soon have.”

Brooke let his
words sink in for a little longer and then rushed into his arms and lowered the
dam. Teardrops soaked his shoulder as they hugged long and hard, holding each
other in what would become the first page in a new chapter of their lives.

“I love you so
much,” she sobbed. “No one has ever done anything like this for me.” She looked
up into his face, a slight smile lifting one corner of her mouth. “I thank God
you came into my life when you did.”

He smiled back,
his arms around her waist.

“Even if you
forever ruined Halloween for me.”

Ben laughed. “I
know you will make Halloween better than ever this year.” He looked around the
kitchen and turned back to her. “They will come from miles around for a slice
of this place. I guarantee it.”

She took a step
back. “Oh my God, the holidays will be so much fun! We can host parties and
have holiday specials.”

Ben pointed to
the dusty floor. “We can create our own foods and drinks that will be exclusive
to this place and this place only.” He paused, his face hardening as an idea
bloomed. “Cupcake ATMs!”

Brooke frowned.
“Cupcake ATMs?”

“The
possibilities are endless with a place like this.”

Her eyes hovered
on a large dishwasher for a second or two before she burst through the swinging
door and went back up front. He followed and stopped next to her behind the
counter. The sunlight cut through the large front window, leaving a bright
stripe across the floor.

Brooke rested her
hands on her hips. “What do we call it?”

“I was thinking
about that when I was on my way to the airport.”

“Yeah?”

Ben waved a hand
through the air like he was unveiling a brightly lit marquee. “How about…
The Muffin Top
?”

She turned to
him, her nose crinkling. “
The Muffin Top
?”

He nodded
rapidly.

“You had all
that time and that’s what you came up with?”

“What’s wrong
with
The Muffin Top
?”

“First of all,
it’s a derogatory term for women wearing tiny little shirts. And second of all…it’s
a derogatory term for women wearing tiny little shirts!”

“Okay, okay, what
about…
Brooke’s Bakery
?”

“Aw, that’s
sweet, honey, but we need a one word title that will capture their attention
and says it all.”

Ben snapped his
fingers. “I got it!” He spread his hands through the air again. “
Sugar-Tits
.”

Brooke rolled
her eyes. “Now, you’re just being stupid.” He said something else but she didn’t
hear it. She was too preoccupied with an idea clubbing her over the head with
the weight of a sledgehammer. She turned to him with saucers for eyes. “What
about…
Sugars
?”

His brow dipped.
“
Sugars
?”

“Oh my God, I
love it!” She looked out over the lounge, imagining the place two months down
the road, fully painted and open for business. “
Sugars
,” she whispered.

“Yeah, it’s not
bad.”

“Not bad? It’s
great!”

His grin set off
his white teeth. “It’ll work.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her behind
the counter for the first of many more times to come. “I love it.”

“I love you,” she
said softly, tracing his lips with a finger. “Thank you for this.”

“Anything for
you, baby girl. You know that.”

“No, I mean it.
This is…just so…”

He saved her the
trouble of finding the right words and kissed her again with the sun setting in
the distance. Brooke lifted a heel into the air, the place twirling around her
like they were on a merry-go-round.

She pulled away
and held up a finger. “I just have one condition.”

He laughed. “Oh
okay, I sold my bike and
you
have a
condition?”

“This is
serious, Ben. I can’t do it without it.”

He pressed his
lips together and ran his fingers through her hair. “And what is this
condition
?”

Chapter
Thirty-Three

Brooke spun the
pen on the hotel desk, her eyes straying from focus, blurring the pen into a
tiny propeller. As soon as she realized she was holding her breath she let it
out. The quiet was so thick she was certain the call had dropped. “Hello?”

“That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard! He did
not do that?”

“He did.”

“Shut. Up!”

“I’m not kidding,
Ev, this thang is goin down.” She flicked the pen again, taking another moment
to fantasize what it was going to be like. Baking tasty treats and waiting on
happy customers, some of whom would be funny regulars just like on TV. Maybe
Sugars would do so well they could open another location, maybe start a chain
that would sweep across the nation in a tidal wave of addictive sweets that no
one could live without.

“He sold his bike?”

Her eyes dialed
back into focus. She stopped the pen with her finger. “Sold. His. Bike. He’s on
his way back from the leasing office right now.”

Evy inhaled a
deep breath.
“I just can’t believe this.”

“Join the club,
sister.”

“Oh my God, I have to sit down.”

Another round of
silence took the line and Brooke flicked the pen again.

“You’re really opening your own bakery?”

 
She got up from the desk and went to a window
overlooking a street below. Party lights outlined patios filled with smiling
faces enjoying a warm Saturday night out on the town. “
We
are, but, here’s the catch: I can’t do it without you.”

More stunned
silence oozed from the line in gooey droplets.

“Will you come
and help us?”

Evy took a few
seconds to answer.
“And what? Move
there?”

Brooke laughed.
“Yes, move here. And trust me, you will love it. I’m looking at a patio right
now filled with hot guys.”

When Evy didn’t
reply, Brooke’s heart stopped what it was doing. She watched the world below
carry on without her, her heart lodged in her throat. Evy was the hinge. It
would never work without her.

“It’s just so far away,”
Evy finally
said.

Brooke shut her
eyes and grimaced. “It’s not. And what exactly do you have keeping you there
again? Your job that you don’t even like?”

“It’s not that bad.”

“Richie?”

Evy grunted into
the line.
“I told you never to mention
that little prick’s name around me again.”

“See? You should
have listened to me about that, too. I told you something was off with that
idiot.”

“If you go down that road again I swear to God I’m
hanging up.”

“Do you want to
run into him all over town? The grocery store? The mall? The strip clubs?”

“Not funny, Brooke.”

Brooke leaned
her forehead against the cool window and let out a sigh that fogged up the
glass. “Evy, this is your chance to start over doing something you are not only
great at, but love doing as well. How many people can say that about their
job?” She watched a cab drop off a long blond haired girl and her man in front
of a bar with a flashing palm tree above it. “You’ve spent the last year moping
around and pushing everyone away since the
Richie
incident
. This is a clean slate. Besides, do you want your sister to lose
her ass on this and end up broke the rest of her life with a shitty credit
score?”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“It will without
your help, because we’re doing this with or without you!” She turned from the
window and took a calming breath. “I need you on this, Ev. You taught me how to
bake almost everything I know. Everyone always comments on how I’m such a good
cook but really I just copied you.”

Evy exhaled into
the phone.
“You better stop or you’re
going to ruin my mascara.”

The light
brightened at the end of the tunnel and Brooke kept digging. “You know we would
have so much fun! It’d be just like when we lived at home but we’d be getting
paid for baking this time.” She bit on her pinkie and softened her tone. “There
are great things waiting for you here, Evy. Great – things.”

“Yeah?”

Brooke took a
sip of the red wine she had commandeered from the hotel bar downstairs and
kicked off her heels. “My gut is never wrong.” She set the glass on the desk and
spun the pen again. “Besides…what’s the worst that could happen?”

The
end

Find out what
happens next in
Fate Interrupted 1
(now available along with
Fate
Interrupted 2
):
http://www.amazon.com/Fate-Interrupted-Book-ebook/dp/B00AIF3QD0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369860789&sr=8-2&keywords=fate+interrupted+2

About
Kaitlyn Cross:

When not scoring
great deals on purses and shoes, I enjoy drinking red wine, spending way too
much time on Pinterest, and denying that I watch
The Vampire Diaries
religiously. For future release dates and
secret recipes (stolen from Pinterest), like my Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Author-Kaitlyn-Cross/176038785868539?ref=hl

Thank you so
much for reading
Brooke & Ben: Before
Fate Interrupted
!

Coming this
winter:
Fate Interrupted 3
.

Life is short,
buy the shoes!