Page 110 of The Perfect Distraction

Brooke rolled her eyes. “My boss has permanent PMS lately. I don’t know what’s going on with her, but I’ve almost quit a few times.”

“Really?”

“Um-hmm. One of the other bakers said she’s having marital troubles and she’s taking it out on all of us.”

Thinking about everything Colton had gone through, Beth almost defended Brooke’s boss, but she thought better of it. Brooke had listened to her without judgment, and Beth intended to do the same.

“Aren’t there other bakeries that you could apply to?”

“Not close by, and I like Clarkston. Hopefully, whatever Sandra’s going through will be over soon, and things will get back to normal.”

But Beth knew the real reason Brooke was reluctant to move, and his name was Kyle. He and Brooke had known each other since high school, and he still lived in the area. Brooke had been holding out hope that they’d get together someday, though the rest of the family had their doubts. Kyle had gone from one girlfriend to the next while stringing Brooke along at the same time. It was difficult to sit back and watch Brooke get her heart broken repeatedly. Even though Brooke wasn’t interested in moving, it would probably be the best thing for her, but Beth didn’t want to be the one to say so. And then she remembered something.

“While you’re here, I want you to meet Colton’s family. His brother, Mason, wants to personally thank you for your patriotic cake recipe.”

“You made it, not me.”

“True, but he was enthused when he found out you were a baker, and he said he’d like to meet you.”

Brooke smiled. “How about the rest of Colton’s family? You haven’t said much about them.”

“His dad, Joe, is great. You’ll like him.”

“And his mom?”

Beth cleared her throat and searched for the right words. She’d seen Judy one other time in the past few weeks when she’d picked up Joey from the shop. Judy had gone there to bring lunch to “her boys.” When Beth had come in, Judy had given her a polite hello, but that was about all. It was clear she was still skeptical about Beth’s relationship with Colton.

“Never mind,” Brooke said with a laugh. “I can tell it’s a touchy subject.”

Just then, Beth got distracted when she saw Colton appear on the back deck. He glanced over, and when he saw her, he grinned and waved.

When she waved back, Brooke turned around and waved too, a little more enthusiastically than was necessary.

“Call him over here. I want to meet him,” she said.

“I was going to introduce you after we had a chance to catch up.”

And then Joey came outside in his usual rush. When he saw where his dad was looking, he glanced over and waved too.

“We have all weekend to catch up,” Beth whined.

“Okay. Fine,” Beth said and waved them over.

When Colton and Joey entered the sunroom, Brooke stood up and gave them a warm smile.

“Hi. I’m Brooke, the youngest sister,” she said, extending her hand.

It was difficult not to be taken in by Brooke’s gregarious personality, and Colton and Joey smiled back as they took turns shaking her hand.

“You look different than the other sister,” Joey stated.

“How so?” Brooke asked.

“You’re shorter.”

Everyone laughed.

“That’s true.”