Page 85 of Break My Heart
‘G’s. I’m doing a new promotion to get people to come in.’ I pull a flyer from my pocket and hand it to him. ‘The rest are in my truck. Do you think your parents would be okay with me handing them out?’
‘I don’t know, Gina,’ he says, giving me the flyer back. ‘It seems kind of .?.?. strange.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘This is Kanfield Orchard and I own Kanfield Brewery. Why would we hand out flyers telling people to go somewhere else? It doesn’t seem right.’
‘Theorchard sells baked goods and you’re still letting people from town sell baked goods here.’
‘That’s different. Those are fundraisers. They’re church groups and moms raising money for their kids’ sports teams. They aren’t businesses.’
‘Sawyer, what’s the big deal? It’s just a few flyers. I won’t even hand them out. I’ll just put them on one of the tables.’
‘I don’t even have flyers promoting my own place. Don’t you think it’d look odd if we promoted yours and not mine?’
‘No, because yours doesn’t need to be promoted. You’ve got people lined up down the block. I can’t even get people in the door.’ I walk away as the band starts warming up. It’s loud and I’m angry and need some fresh air.
‘Gina, wait!’ Sawyer yells.
I keep going, through the crowds of people until I’m out front where I came in. Brody’s there with his golf cart, dropping people off.
He sees me and smiles. ‘Did the band start yet?’
‘No, they’re warming up. Hey, could I get a ride?’
‘Sure.’
‘Gina.’ Sawyer grabs my hand before I get on the golf cart. He comes around in front of me. ‘Don’t leave. Let’s go talk in the house.’
‘We’ll talk tomorrow. I need to get back to G’s. And you need to help with the festival.’
‘You coming?’ Brody asks me. ‘If not, I need to go pick up more people.’
‘She’s staying,’ Sawyer says, his eyes on mine.
Brody drives forward.
‘No, wait!’ I tell Brody. He stops.
‘Gina, please,’ Sawyer says. ‘Don’t do this. We’ve both been looking forward to this all week.’
‘I need a decision here,’ Brody says. ‘I’ve got a lot of people waiting.’
I want to stay with Sawyer, but I’m angry he won’t let me promote G’s. Almost every business in town is promoting itself at the festival, so why can’t I? I know G’s competes with Kanfield Brewery, but Sawyer’s place is doing great. Putting out a few of my flyers isn’t going to hurt his business.
The real question is if I’m willing to let this get between us. I like Sawyer more than any guy I’ve dated. I don’t want to lose him, but I also don’t want to lose G’s.
Chapter 19
Gina
‘Go ahead,’ I tell Brody.
He nods and drives off.
Sawyer and I walk to his parents’ house and go inside to the kitchen. It’s a big farmhouse kitchen decorated with orange and white pumpkins, fall leaf garlands, and big bowls of apples everywhere. It’s like something you’d see in a movie, one of those cozy, feel-good movies you watch under a blanket when it’s cold and rainy outside.
‘I overreacted,’ Sawyer says, putting his arms around me. ‘When you asked to promote G’s, I panicked. I saw it as a threat to my brewery.’
