Page 46 of The Best Friend's Billionaire Brother
She shot him a glance over her shoulder. “No, you’re fine. It’s…it’s just this headache.” With that, she pulled free, and it looked to Wyatt like she nearly ran to the bathroom inside the station.
Why didn’t he believe that? They didn’t keep secrets from one another, or at least they hadn’t until now. What had he said that could have upset her? Offering to buy the paper so she could stay in Caprock Canyon wasn’t for her; it was for him. It kept her close. In between rodeo events, he could come home, and she’d be there. He kinda liked the idea of seeing her in between events. It was for purely selfish reasons. Maybe if he explained it like that, she’d understand.
Besides, if she and Bandit were serious, wouldn’t she want to come home? This worked out for all of them. She got to be home with Bandit, and Wyatt got…nothing. If her relationship with Bandit was serious, even if she was close, she’d be with Bandit and not spending time with him.
The idea of her being with Bandit bugged him worse than a thousand flies at a picnic. He lightly punched the steering wheel. What was wrong with him lately? It was like he was looking for his glasses while they were right on top of his head. He let out a frustrated sigh. It seemed, as of late, he just couldn’t think straight.
How was he going to fare when Gabby could no longer be the person he turned to? If problem-solving was hard now, it would be even harder without her. It sure had been this past five years without her.
Maybe he’d just buy the paper and surprise her. He’d talk to Carrie Anne and come up with a plan to keep Gabby home. If anyone could scheme, it was his sister. She and Gabby were best friends too, so there was a chance she’d be just as desperate as he was. At least he had the start of an idea. When he got back home, he’d work out the details with his sister. Together, they’d figure out something.
Chapter 18
The pretend headache Gabby suffered from earlier was no longer fake. Holding back her tears as best as she could had caused a tension headache. After getting a drink at the gas station, they’d continued on to the bakery. She’d purchased some aspirin and taken it, but if anything, her head hurt worse. That’s what she got for lying. Wyatt had been sweet, apologizing for whatever he’d done to hurt her. She should have been used to being called family at this point, but he’d said it, and it had been an arrow to the heart.
It wasn’t just how he saw her. Him wanting to buy the paper was a sweet gesture, but that’s not what she wanted. Taking money from him would only make it worse. Every time she walked into the newspaper office, she’d think of him. And if this plan of Carrie Anne’s didn’t work, how could she ever really move on if all she ever did was think of Wyatt?
Closing her eyes, Gabby cleared her thoughts. This wasn’t the time to think about all of that. She had a job to do for Carrie Anne, and that meant sitting in a bakery, tasting cake, and hoping the headache would dissipate soon.
None of the cake tasted great, and Gabby was sure it wasn’t the cake’s fault. The headache was making it hard to like anything.
“This lemon is sure good,” Wyatt said as he finished the bite. “Man, all of it is good.”
So far, they’d tried half a dozen flavors, and with every sample, the headache slowly worsened, making her stomach turn. It made her glad they’d started with the chocolate. It had been all right, which probably meant it would’ve been fantastic if she didn’t feel so bad.
The woman, Jasmine Green, owner of This Takes the Cake, smiled. “Thank you.”
It was a cute place. Large display cases were filled with fresh offerings of cupcakes, cake pops, whole cakes to go, cookies, and truffles. Of course, there were also offerings of drinks for those looking to make use of the dozen or so tables and chairs. The decorations were cute with little signs and sayings written on the walls. Normally, Gabby would have been excited to try such a place.
She took a small bite of the pistachio and tried to think about the flavor. “Yeah, I think they’re all good.”
“That strawberry was the best, I think.” Wyatt cut another piece off the sample. “This is what I’d want, but it’s not my wedding.”
“She wanted three tiers, is that correct?” Jasmine asked. She was maybe in her late twenties, early thirties.
“Yes, three,” Gabby replied. “And the groom’s cake.”
They tried a few more flavors ranging from red velvet to spice. If her head didn’t hurt so badly, she’d actually enjoy trying all the flavors. They were incredibly moist with intense flavor. The different flavored fillings weren’t overly sweet. In all, if Gabby were to get married, she’d most likely want to use the same bakery as Carrie Anne.
Wyatt’s gaze roamed the table. “But how do we choose?”
Rubbing her temple, Gabby tried to concentrate on the actual wedding cake and picture it in her mind. She knew Carrie Anne well enough that she’d want mostly chocolate. “Israel’s favorite flavor is red velvet, so we’ll go with that for his,” Gabby said. “And for the wedding cake, how about this: the first layer will be chocolate with vanilla icing, and the second will be another chocolate one with white raspberry frosting. This way she has her white wedding cake and also the chocolate she loves.”
Wyatt grinned. “Those both sound good to me. What about the third layer? We could do strawberry for that one.”
“That would be for us.”
“We did drive several hours to test cake. I think that should be worth one layer of cake,” Wyatt teased.
Gabby lightly slapped him on the arm. “No, but can you do a lemon cake with coconut and pineapple frosting? Like a piña colada cake? She loves those. Well, the virgin ones.”
“Actually, we can,” the baker replied. “We’ve done a couple of those.”
“Then that’ll be a good surprise for her.” Gabby rubbed her temple and winced. The headache was moving from the back of her head and settling behind her eyes.
While Jasmine scribbled down the cake flavors, Wyatt leaned over. “You okay?”
“It’s just this headache.”
