Page 33 of Emma and the Grumpy Baker

When I walked into the fast food restaurant, I immediately spotted Liam sitting in the back of the dining room, facing the room. He stood up as I approached, pulling me into a hug.

“I’m so sorry, Liam,” I said instantly, not wanting to miss my chance to apologize profusely. “His behavior was so unacceptable and I can’t believe he spoke to you that way.”

Liam brushed his hand over my hair, pulling away slightly to look at me. “It’s not your job to apologize for him.”

“I know, but I just—”

“Really, Emma. You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s fine.” He put a hand under my chin and tilted it slightly upward.

I nodded as best as I could in his grip, and a number was called out behind me. Liam dropped his hold on me, stepped around me, and walked up to the counter.

“I assumed you are still obsessed with the Crunchwraps,” Liam said as he brought the food back. I grinned, the drama of earlier forgotten.

“Of course I am.” We sat at the table and he pushed my food towards me. I nearly moaned at the sight of the Doritos taco. He remembered after all this time.

“I’ve been thinking,” Liam started, looking up from his food at me. We’d both been fairly silent as we ate, obviously both hungry. I put my wrap down and held his gaze. “Our father’s ruined everything for us.”

My heart dropped into my stomach. Every worry and fear I’d been having the past few months was now in my throat, and I wasn’t entirely sure I wouldn’t throw up. I didn’t know where he would take this conversation, but I knew that if he was about to tell me we needed to distance ourselves, I would definitely be throwing up.

After the events of today, I couldn’t blame him if that’s what he wanted.

“Don’t look at me like that, Emma. Let me finish.” He reached across the table and lifted my chin again. Apparently, I couldn’t hide my thoughts from my face.

“I hate that I allowed our fathers to force us apart. They had no right to do such a thing, and there hasn’t been a day since then that I didn’t regret it.” He was speaking faster than usual, but his eyes were still locked on mine. My stomach was turning and hope clawed its way through my chest. “I left the island because of you. I knew I couldn’t see you around town without a burning hatred for my family. Turns out that I have that hatred for them anyway, because they took what I loved most away from me. And quite frankly, I am too old to let my father’s wishes have any bearing on my decisions. Seeing your father today just reminded me of all this. I’m sorry, Emma. I’m sorry that I was a coward and let our fathers’ issues tear us apart. I’m sorry that I didn’t fight for you in the way that I should have.”

“It’s okay, Liam. That was so long ago.” I still couldn’t gauge where he was going, but my heart twinged at his words.

“It was, but we’re here now. Together. And if today showed me anything, it was that I won’t let anyone tell us what to do with our relationship ever again. Not even our parents.” He looked down at the table for a second, and my heart nearly stopped beating. This seemed to be going exactly where I wanted it to go, and I so desperately wanted to hear him confirm my thoughts. “I’ve never stopped thinking about you Emma. And you’re just as perfect today as you were eight years ago, and I would be a fool if I didn’t tell you how I felt.”

He looked at me again, as if waiting for me to stop him. But I wouldn’t speak a word until he was finished.

“I’m sorry if this ruins the friendship we’ve been building the last few months, but I want us to try again. And I don’t want anything to come between us ever again.” His blue eyes landed on mine again, and I could see the weight of his words in their depths.

My nose burned as tears welled up in my eyes. I had hoped he felt this way, but I never imagined he would give such a proclamation. His words would be forever seared into my memory, and I would treasure them as gold.

“Emma, I didn’t want to make you cry. I’m sorry if I—”

“They’re happy tears, Liam,” I whispered, and his eyebrows rose in surprise. As if he’d expected me to reject him. Instantly, he moved out of his seat in the booth and slid next to me, wrapping his arms around me. My head laid on his chest and I just listened to the sound of his heartbeat for a few seconds before I could finally pull away.

Liam wiped my tears and cupped my face with both hands.

“You opening a bakery next to mine was a blessing in disguise, wasn’t it?.” I knew it was cheesy, but I didn’t care. It felt as though the last eight years were nothing but vapors on the wind and that we were right back where we were before we broke up. The feelings I had for him then were nothing compared to how I felt now, because I had watched him sacrifice himself and his time for my sake so often in the last few months. I had no doubt of the feelings that he had for me when he was willing to do such things for me.

Liam’s lips turned up into a smile, and he wasted no more time before finally bringing his mouth down on mine.

Though we’d kissed before, this felt entirely new. Not only were we back together after years of separation, but we were different people. Better people. And people who wouldn’t let anything tear them apart this time.

26

Liam

“Did you see the newspaper? Or the internet? Or watch the news this morning?” Emma asked as she walked into my kitchen, where I was frying both of us some eggs. After our long night out on the town last night, we fell asleep watching a Disney movie on my couch. Knowing that Emma would have to go into her bakery and help her employees work on the online orders, I wanted her to have a good breakfast before she left.

She threw down the Sunday paper for our small town and I turned to look at it. I hadn’t turned on the news or picked up my phone to look at social media at all this morning. After all, I had a beautiful girl to focus on instead.

The front page of the newspaper was a picture of Emma and me kissing. From last night. How they managed to get that picture printed so fast was beyond me, but the headline made me chuckle.

“Bakery Enemies to Lovers? An inside look into our local social media stars.”

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