Chapter Four
No. It couldn’t be.
Brad stared at the most beautiful—most irritating—barista he’d ever had the displeasure of meeting. His hand still stung where the hot coffee had splashed—not that he’d let on to her.
He remembered how their fingers had brushed. He’d noticed a strange sensation like a tingling in his fingertips. The next thing he knew, the barista had yanked her hand away before he’d had a firm grasp on the cup.
Hearing his name called drew him back to the present. He turned his attention to Sadie. She was also beautiful but not nearly as striking as Abby. He sent her a smile. “It’s nice to put a face to the name. Congratulations.”
“Thank you.” Sadie’s smile was radiant. “And we’re so happy you could be here.”
“I have to say that I’m curious to see Bayberry.” He wasn’t. Not really. “Reed has really talked up this place.” That much was true.
“It’s the best small town you’ll find anywhere.” Sadie said it with confidence. Then she glanced over at Abby. “And I’m sure Abby will be willing to show you around.”
Abby’s big brown eyes momentarily widened. “Me?” She pressed a hand to her chest. “But, uh…” It was like she was desperately searching for any excuse to get out of spending time with him. “I’m working tomorrow.”
He wasn’t used to a woman finding excuses to avoid him. Usually it was the other way around.
“I’m sure you can take some time off.” Sadie glanced over at Reed, and without a verbal question, Reed nodded to her in response. She turned back to Brad and Abby. “We would like you both to stand up for us. Will you be our maid-of-honor and best man?”
Brad should have expected this, but he didn’t think they’d get around to figuring out the wedding details so quickly. Was this Sadie’s way of getting Reed tied down before he realized that he’d made a mistake?
In that moment, Brad realized they were looking expectantly at him. He nodded as his gaze moved to Reed. “You know I’ll always be there for you.”
Reed stepped forward and clapped him on the back while the women hugged. Just then they were joined by two more good-looking women. He’d give it to this town—there were a lot of beautiful women.
Still, this wasn’t the right place for Brad. But as his best friend looked at his fiancée, it was obvious Reed was crazy about Sadie. Brad wasn’t giving up. He just had to modify his plan and convince both of them that their future was in Chicago. Seemed simple enough.
Sadie turned to Abby. “Please… Could you show Brad around town tomorrow?” Was that a pleading look on Sadie’s face? “We would do it, but my parents want to have lunch with Reed and I.”
He noticed how Abby glanced his way. When their gazes connected, she immediately turned her head. Then she stumbled over her words as she said, “Uh, yeah. I’ll, uh, get someone to cover for me at the coffeeshop.”
He knew she wasn’t any more pleased about this arrangement than he was. They’d figure out a way to keep their time together as brief as possible.
But they didn’t have time to figure it out now as their group grew even larger.
He was introduced to Kate’s boyfriend, Wesley Adams, and Carrie’s husband, Jackson Wright.
After the initial introductions, Brad was quiet, taking in the various dynamics.
He noticed how Reed seemed to fit right in with this group. Interesting.
Was it possible he’d misjudged Bayberry? Probably not. He was certain it had its share of busybodies and matchmakers. It would be just like Barch all over again.
Kate approached him. Her shoulder-length brown hair was tucked behind both ears. She wore a friendly smile. “It’s really good to finally put a face to the name. Reed has been looking forward to your visit.”
“I know.” He felt guilty for not coming sooner. “It’s just hard to get away from the business.”
“I totally understand. I’m one of the owners of the Bayberry Candle Co. Stop by tomorrow, and I’ll give you the royal tour.”
She said it like he was supposed to know all about the candle place, but he wasn’t into candles. Still, she seemed nice enough.
Searching for something to say, he said, “Do you sell many candles?”
She nodded. “In fact, the business is expanding. It’s the biggest employer in the area.”
“Interesting.”
“There’s probably a lot around Bayberry that will interest you.”
He highly doubted it. In his experience, all small towns were the same. He didn’t expect Bayberry to be any different.
Just then Sadie’s other friend, Carrie, joined them. “Hi. Make sure you stop by Totally Chocolate when you take the tour tomorrow. I will set you up with a bunch of samples.”
“Good idea,” Kate said. “I already offered him a tour of the candle factory.”
“Who’s doing what?” Jackson joined them and put his arm around Carrie.
“I’ve been invited to visit the candle shop and the chocolate shop.” Brad had a feeling his tour was about to be extended. “Do you have a place I should add to the list?”
Jackson shook his head. “It won’t be necessary. We’re going there now to grab some dinner.”
“You own a restaurant?” He didn’t know why that surprised him.
“It’s a café with a small stage for music. Nothing fancy.”
Carrie lightly elbowed Jackson. “That’s not true. Wrights’ Eatery is very nice.”
Brad noticed how Jackson’s chest puffed up just a bit at her compliment. “You have to say that. You’re my wife.”
Then the other two friends chimed in with compliments. Brad had to admit that his first impression of Reed’s new friends was a positive one.
When it was time to go to dinner, they were going as a group. Again, they were walking. Apparently, it was the main way of getting around this town.
Dinner was pretty good. He had a pastrami panini and a cup of potato soup.
The conversation wasn’t so bad…until they got to the wedding planning portion of it.
They attempted to include him, even though most of the time, he didn’t have a clue who they were talking about or where they were talking about.
However, when they got around to the karaoke portion of the evening, he politely refused. Everyone but Abby attempted to talk him into singing. He crossed his arms and shook his head. However, he noticed that Abby didn’t go up there and sing either. No one said a word to her about it. Interesting.
After the singing was done, Abby said, “Well, I need to get going. I have an early start tomorrow.”
“You always have an early start,” Sadie said.
“True. Still, my alarm goes off at six whether I make it to bed on time or not.” Abby yawned.
Brad couldn’t decide if the yawn was legit or if it was just to shore up her excuse for leaving the get-together before anyone else. But seeing as she was leaving and he really wanted to have a word alone with her, it was time for him to bid his farewell as well.
Brad pushed his chair back. “I need to be going too.”
Reed’s brows rose. “Where are you going? Don’t tell me you’re tired. Your internal clock is an hour behind the rest of us.”
“It’s not that,” Brad said. “I’ve got some emails to respond to.”
Reed rolled his eyes. “I thought we talked about lightening up on our workloads, including no work on the weekend.”
“But technically this isn’t the weekend yet.” Brad sent his partner a grin.
Reed rolled his eyes. “It’s Friday evening. It’s the same difference.” With a sigh, he said, “I can’t stop you, but I hope you know that tomorrow, you’re off the clock.”
Brad’s gaze skirted to Abby before returning to Reed. “Agreed.”
That seemed to get Reed to relax and smile again.
Brad said goodnight to all of the people he’d just met. He had no doubt with this being a small town that he’d be seeing each of them again before he caught his plane back to Chicago.
By the time he turned to leave, he noticed Abby had already left. He took long, quick strides to the exit. He pushed the door open and stepped outside.
He looked one way and then the other. Then he spotted her. “Abby! Wait up.”
He took hurried steps to catch up to her. Lucky for him, he didn’t step on any ice. She stopped beneath a street lamp that was decorated with festive red ribbons and colorful ornaments.
When he reached her, he said, “Hey, I just wanted to say that you don’t have to show me around town.”
She arched a brow. “Why not?”
He thought that was perfectly obvious. “You don’t want to spend time with me any more than I want to spend the day with you. So, why bother?”
She crossed her arms and frowned at him.
“Because I made a promise to my friends that I would show you around, and I intend to keep my word. Shall we meet at the coffeeshop at say ten?” She didn’t wait for his response as she rushed on.
“If you don’t show up, well, there’s nothing I can do about it.
I’ll either see you tomorrow morning or I won’t. ”
Before he could say anything, she turned and walked away.
It would have been so easy for her to bail on their proposed guided tour.
And yet, even though she disliked him, she was willing to spend part of the day with him because her friend had asked her to do it.
In that moment, she’d earned his respect.