Page 12 of Hers to Marry
“Yeah, what happened to that? You said you opened one.”
Kat sighed heavily. “I did. With the help of my…ex.”
“Here it comes.”
“I’m sure you can guess. Not a good investment.”
“The bakery or your ex?”
They had since left their neighborhood and were on the path heading toward private property connected to a park they used to play in as kids. Kat sliced through the grass with her foot. “Both. He picked the property, and I was able to get a bank loan with the money he was going to provide as a partial investment. Well, the place was terrible. Not a bad location, but he bought it sight unseen, and—”
“Without telling you.” Drew’s blood pressure began to mount. Flipping houses was one of his businesses. He had a healthy expectation for what one could find in homes and businesses that had been on the market for days or in areas that were not in the nicest parts of town. Unless you were prepared for extensive repairs, people usually had no idea what they were getting into.
“Yes. But…I guess I felt grateful that I had a place.”
“You guess?” Drew asked. “You didn’t know?”
“Well…I didn’t want to appear ungrateful since we used his credit to buy the place. Anyway, it had to be condemned for many issues, and it took the bank some convincing, but I was able to get on a payment plan for the loan they’d provided.”
“What about your ex? He didn’t help pay for the repairs?”
“Once he realized how much it was going to be, he foreclosed and…skipped town. And since I was a co-signer…”
“Katrina!” He grasped her elbow. “Wow…I’m so sorry that happened.”
“Now I’m stuck with a loan for about one hundred and twenty thousand dollars, no bakery, and…no boyfriend.”
Drew gulped at the loan amount. On a baker’s salary? Kat couldn’t be making much. “The no boyfriend part is the best part of that story. You’re better off without him.”
“Thanks, Drew. It’s been a little hard being able to trust someone after that. And there’s no way a bank will trustmewith another loan. Susie’s been great. She’s paying me a little more than what she can afford so I can pay the loan off faster. I’ve been trying to bring in as much business as we can with a more eclectic menu.”
“The menu is fantastic. I’ve already eaten seven of the dozen cupcakes I ordered today.”
Kat fell into his side while laughing. “Seven! Drew…don’t you have a tux fitting this week?”
His eyes narrowed on her. “Please don’t echo Parker.”
“Why is she so concerned? You look…”
He briefly caught her gaze before she looked away. “I look like what?” he urged. He didn’t know why her opinion mattered, other than he rarely got a nice word from Parker. It was usually, “Why are you wearing that old thing?” or “Haven’t you gone shopping yet?” and, of course, “If you’re going to be seen in public with me, then you’ve got to at least look like you care.”
She shyly looked up at him. “You look very handsome. Very fit.”
His insides warmed at the compliment. “Thank you. You can thank the military for it too.”
“You were in the military? Like your father?”
“I was. Marine.”
She grinned up at him, her eyes shining with fascination. “Andrew… I don’t really know what to say other than thank you for serving. And I don’t mean that flippantly. I can only imagine what you’ve had to sacrifice.”
She couldn’t, but he wouldn’t tell her. They were having too nice of a walk. Hearing one bad story between them was enough for one night.
“Did you see combat?”
“In Afghanistan.” He didn’t really want to talk about it and kept his eyes forward. “This place I’m going to show you, I’m sure you’ll remember it.”
She touched his arm, and that drew his gaze. Her brown eyes held concern. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m here if… You don’t have to say anything, but I’m happy to listen.”
