Page 4 of Mountain Man's Secret Crush

There is no way I’ll be able to handle that day after day as he brings his kids into the bakery every day for a special treat while I’m living alone. Maybe Iclyn will lend me some of her foster cats.

Brooks and Molly walk up to the counter as I plaster on a fake smile, ready to take their order. “Welcome to Mountain Morsels. What can I get you?”

Brooks runs his free hand through his thick, dark hair. I wish I could run my fingers through his hair. “Um, we’re here for the unicorn cookies.”

“Right.” I reach for the little pink box, with the sparkly white bow I took such care in tying earlier today, from under the counter, and the weight of everything I just witnessed between Cassi and Brooks sits heavy on my chest.

Suddenly, I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend that he’s only a customer and I’m just a baker. “If you’ll excuse me.” I set the boxon the counter and walked into the kitchen, leaving Brynnlee to finish ringing Brooks up.

A confused-looking Brynnlee rushes to the cash register. “That will be seven dollars," she says, never missing a beat as she replaces me.

Escaping Brooks is the only thing on my mind as I rush into the kitchen, only to see my two big sisters looking concerned.

“Junie, what’s wrong? You’re shaking. What happened?” Iclyn asks first, her gaze scanning my body as if searching for the cause of my pain.

“I’m fine.” I manage to stop shaking long enough to get those two words out of my mouth.

Autumn and Iclyn exchange that look—the look when someone doesn’t believe what another person is saying.

“You don’t look fine.” Iclyn takes my hand and guides me to a chair in the corner of the kitchen, helping me sit down. “You need to tell us what happened so we can fix it.”

It’s moments like these that I truly love my big sisters. We might have our differences, but if anyone tries to hurt their baby sister, Iclyn and Autumn are prepared to fight.

There’s no point fighting them when they become so focused like this. “Cassi asked Brooks to the summer festival before I could, and he said yes.” I blink back the tears. There’s no use crying over something I never had.

“Do you want me to hold him down while Iclyn beats him up?”

“No, Autumn. That won’t be necessary. He made his decision, and now I have to accept it. Besides, I'll be too busy at the bakery tomorrow. I don’t know what I was thinking wanting to spend the day with Brooks.”

“Well, you’re not sticking around here tomorrow with those sad puppy dog eyes. You’ll scare away all our customers. What you’re going to do tomorrow is throw on that sexy little sundress I saw hiding in your closet, spend the day at the festival, and find some guy who will get your mind off Brooks and what he’s doing with Cassi. It’s time you take charge of your life and have a little fun.”

“But...” I try to argue, but Iclyn cuts me off with a stern look.

“No buts, Junie. You’re a sweet, funny, beautiful woman. You need a man who will appreciate you, not some mountain man who loves your unicorn cookies more than he loves you.”

Iclyn and Autumn are right. It’s time I put Brooks behind me and move forward. “I’ll do it.”

“That a girl. Strut your stuff tomorrow in front of all the single guys and show Brooks what he missed out on.” Autumn’s enthusiasm is contagious as I start planning for tomorrow.

“Or you could spend the day doing whatever you want without worrying about some man who broke your heart. You deserve better than that.”

“Yeah, but hooking up with some hot stranger sounds like more fun.”

Iclyn scowls at Autumn, and I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing. These two are complete opposites; one is spicy, and the other is icy.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I’m not going to actively search for some guy to take home and sleep with.” Autumn laughs at my words while Iclyn rolls her eyes. “But I promise to keep my options open—just not my legs.” Autumn bursts out laughing at my declaration, and a faint smile even tugs at the corners of Iclyn’s mouth.

“Okay, now that we've settled that, it’s time to get back to the lemon quilt squares.” Autumn and I both groan at the same time. The last thing we want to do is spend the rest of the day making treats for the ladies' quilting club.

At least it'll distract me from Brooks and his date tomorrow.

four

Brooks

“Couldn’t you find ababysitter for her?” Cassi hisses for the fifth time since Molly and I picked her up twenty minutes ago. “This was supposed to be a date, not a field trip for kindergartens.”

“I’m a first grader,” Molly says through gritted teeth, looking as irritated as I feel.

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