Page 35 of Emma and the Grumpy Baker

“Dad, it doesn’t matter. I was a stupid college kid.” I just wanted to move on from this conversation and say goodbye to Emma before she left.

“Oh,” he said quietly, and I could feel the rage boiling in my gut. Eight years were lost because of this.

“Yeah,oh,” I responded through gritted teeth. It was extremely hard not to shout at my father all of this nonsense.

“Sorry, son. Looks like all of this was for nothing.” He didn’t sound sorry, but I knew this was the best version of an apology I would ever get from him. I wasn’t going to grapple for more from him.

“It’s fine. It all worked out anyway because I ended up with Emma after all of this time.”

“But you two are business rivals? That can’t be good.”

I chuckled. “Don’t worry, Dad. There won’t be any competition between us soon. I’m taking care of it.”

“I trust you know what you’re doing,” he said, and I rolled my eyes. I knew him well enough to know that was a lie.

I heard the front door slam, and I turned back to my door. The clock on the wall told me that Emma was probably just rushed to get to the bakery. I would just have to meet her there later.

“I’m working on plans to merge our two stores and turn mine into a coffee shop. Then they’ll be complimentary.”

“Mhmm,” He mused, and I was done with the conversation.

“Well, I’ll bring you the jersey sometime. Maybe you should call Brian and apologize. But I’ll talk to you later, Dad. Bye.”

I didn’t even let him respond before hanging it up. Then I walked to my bathroom to shower before heading down to Emma’s bakery.

After last night, there was no way I would be letting her go. My feelings for her went beyond just having a new crush on her or wanting to test the waters with her again. I knew in my gut that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this woman.

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27

Emma

I ran as fast as I could to the bakery. It was raining, but I was thankful for that because it hid the tears that were streaming down my face.

I could call myself stupid for trusting Liam, but it wasn’t like he had a history of betraying me. Our last relationship was ruined by our families and the pressure they put on us. He’d never intentionally hurt me.

But people changed.

And he was a different person now. I don’t know why I assumed his honor was the same as it had always been. But I had, and it ruined me.

Whatever happened between our fathers must have driven him to do the unimaginable, and now I was wondering if he had known our bakeries would be side-by-side all along. Had this been the plan the entire time? Was it to get back at me and my family?

As soon as I made it to the store, I schooled my expression and pretended that I hadn’t cried the entire way here. I was in shock, but I had work to do and wouldn’t let Liam ruin this.

He might think that he can eliminate his competition, but he was sorely mistaken. This entire time he’d been helping me, seeing all of my recipes and methods. Regardless, he wasn’t going to take me or my bakery down.

I couldn’t believe he spoke about it with his father on the phone while he thought I was in the other room. A smarter man would have waited until I was at least gone to talk about his master plan to trick me.

I hadn’t heard much of the conversation, but I’d heard enough. He was going totake careof the competition until it was no more.

“Good morning!” Maddie chirped as I walked in. She and Anne were already working hard on cookies. There were three different cookies for sale online this week, and I noticed we sold out for the ninth week in a row. It was an accomplishment that I refused to let be tainted by this morning.

“Morning!” I tried to say in my cheeriest voice as I ran straight to the bathroom to clean up. My hair was a soaking wet mess, as was the rest of me, but I put it in a ponytail and washed my face, clearing the rain and tears from my cheeks. I could grit my teeth and move on, because this success was mine, and he couldn’t take it away.

I walked back out and got to work, ready to tackle the orders.

As I looked through the numbers, I wondered if Liam would still show up today as the traitor that he was or if he would finally let the act go. In my head, I practiced what I would say to him if he dared walk through the doors.

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