Page 2 of Break My Heart (The Haydon Falls #2)

‘What was she like as a kid?’ Brody asks.

‘A smartass,’ I scoff. ‘Thought she was always right. Always assumed she’d win.’

‘Sounds like you,’ Nick says before swigging his beer.

‘What the hell?’ I stare at him. ‘I’m not like that.’

‘You’re exactly like that.’ Brody laughs. ‘She sounds like the girl version of you.’

‘That was your last free beer.’ I point to it.

‘Hey, I’m just joking around.’

‘I don’t know what you’re so worried about,’ Nick says. ‘This woman may not even remember you.’

‘Oh, she definitely remembers me. I was her only competition. Everyone else at camp didn’t care if they won or lost. They were just there to have fun.’

‘Which is what you were supposed to be doing,’ Nick says.

‘And I did, but I also wanted to win. You know how I am. If I’m competing I’m going to win, or at least try to.’

‘Sounds like this girl felt the same way,’ Nick says. ‘So why is it okay for you but not her?’

I pause to consider that. ‘I don’t know. Maybe it was her attitude, assuming she’d win before the competition even started.’

‘Don’t you do the same thing?’ Brody says. ‘You didn’t start this brewery assuming you’d fail.’

‘It’s not the same. You’re not getting it. You have to meet her to know what I’m talking about. She’s just .?.?. freaking annoying.’ I take a breath, trying to diffuse the tension building inside me, the anger I felt when I was seven resurfacing.

‘I think you should go talk to her,’ Nick says.

I throw my hands up. ‘Did you not hear anything I just said?’

‘What I heard is your whiny-ass seven-year-old self complaining that you lost to a girl.’

‘That’s not what—’

‘And now you’re just being a stubborn idiot and putting your business at risk because you don’t want to face her again.’

‘I think he likes her,’ Brody says, smiling at me.

I stare at him like he’s lost his mind.

‘Shit, I think you’re right,’ Nick says.

My gaze bounces back and forth between them. ‘Are you two serious? Did I not just make it clear how much I can’t stand this woman?’

‘And yet you’re still thinking about her 23 years later,’ Nick says.

‘Because she opened a brewery in my fucking town!’ I grab a rag and wipe down the bar, hoping it’ll calm me down.

‘Did you guys make out?’ Brody says, snickering.

I glare at him. ‘We were seven.’

‘Yeah? So? I kissed a girl when I was six.’

Nick laughs. ‘That’s right. You got in trouble for it.’

‘More from Mom than from my teacher. Mom said I couldn’t kiss girls until I was 16.’

‘She told all of us that,’ Nick says. ‘I’m the only one who listened.’

I set the rag down and look at Nick. ‘You seriously waited that long?’

He shrugs. ‘I didn’t have a girlfriend. Who was I going to kiss?’

‘You can kiss a girl who isn’t your girlfriend. ’

‘He was holding out for Lyndsay,’ Brody says. ‘He wanted his first kiss to be with her.’

Nick gets that smile on his face, the one he had when he walked in. ‘I dreamed that would happen, but it didn’t. I had to wait 15 years to kiss her.’

‘I still can’t believe you two are together,’ I tell him. ‘How’s it going living together?’

‘Great! We’re already talking about buying a house.’

‘Why don’t you take Carson’s old place?’

Dick Carson and his wife used to live next to my parents’ orchard.

They moved into a nursing home a few months ago and sold their house and land to my parents.

The house needs a lot of work but our cousin Nash agreed to fix the place up.

He lives in Chicago and works for his dad’s construction and remodeling company.

‘I’m not sure I want to live that close to Mom and Dad,’ Nick says. ‘I love them, but Lyndsay and I need our space.’

‘Have Mom and Dad said anything about staying in the house?’ Brody asks Nick.

‘What house?’

‘Theirs, the one we grew up in. Maybe they’d give it to you and Lyndsay since you took over the orchard.’

Nick shakes his head. ‘I’m not taking their house. And if they ever decide to move, that house belongs to the four of us, not just me.’

‘We’d give it to you,’ I say. ‘For taking over the orchard. Keeping it in the family. There’s no way I could’ve done that.’

‘Me either,’ Brody says. ‘I liked growing up there, but I didn’t want to run the place.’

‘I love it,’ Nick says, his face beaming. ‘I go out there every morning, breathe in the fresh air, look out at the fields. It’s a hell of a lot better than living in a crowded city and sitting at a desk all day, dealing with angry clients. Just wish I’d figured that out sooner.’

I’m relieved he figured it out at all. I thought Nick would live in New York forever. It took our dad’s heart attack for him to figure out he was unhappy and wanted a different life.

‘What’s going on?’ Jason asks as he comes in the brewery. ‘Why is everyone here?’

‘Why are you here?’ I ask. ‘I thought you had a teacher conference today.’

‘That’s next week.’ He walks up to the bar. ‘I just stopped by to ask if I could reserve a table for Saturday. I was telling some of the other teachers about this place and we decided to meet here Saturday night.’

‘You don’t need to reserve a table,’ I tell him. ‘You can take whatever table you want. I’m sure this place will be just as dead on Saturday as it is now.’

Jason looks back at all the empty tables. ‘What’s going on? Are you opening at five now?’

‘I open at four, but nobody showed up except you three.’

‘You should try the stout,’ Brody tells him. ‘It’s one of the new ones.’

‘I can’t. I’m coaching a kid at five.’

Nick turns to Jason. ‘You’re doing private coaching now?’

‘I’m trying it out. One of the middle school dads asked if I’d coach his kid so he’ll be good enough to make the team next year. I told him I would, but I’m not sure if I’ll do it for anyone else.’

‘Why wouldn’t you?’ Nick asks. ‘It’s extra money and it’s the off season. You have the time.’

‘Yeah, but I might want that time to go out and meet people.’

‘Are we talking girls?’ Nick asks with a smile.

Jason smiles back. ‘Maybe. You know how long it’s been since— actually, forget that. I’m not telling you guys. You’ll just make fun of me.’

Brody puts his arm around Jason’s shoulder. ‘It’s okay. We all go through a dry spell now and then. It’s just that ours are only a month or two and yours go on for years.’

Jason shoves him away. ‘It hasn’t been years, asshole. It’s been .?.?. too long. I’ll leave it at that. Anyway, why are you all here?’

‘I just wanted a free beer,’ Brody says.

‘And I was just stopping by to see how business is going,’ Nick says.

‘So what happened?’ Jason asks me. ‘Where is everyone?’

‘Apparently they’d rather support an outsider than a townie,’ I say, annoyed.

‘Maybe she’s running some kind of special,’ Jason says. ‘Have you been over there?’

‘No, and I don’t plan to.’

‘You’re being an idiot,’ Nick says. ‘You’re making this personal and it’s not. It’s business. You have to check out the competition.’

‘He’s right,’ Jason says. ‘You gotta go check the place out. You have to see what she’s doing that’s making everyone go there instead of here.’

‘I’ll do it,’ Brody says. ‘I’ll go over there.’ He smiles a little. ‘Since you’re too afraid to.’

‘I’m not afraid,’ I say, wanting to punch him. He only said that because he knows how much I hate being told I’m afraid of shit.

‘He’s afraid of the owner,’ Brody says to Jason. ‘That Gina girl must be pretty damn scary if Sawyer can’t even step foot in her brewery.’

‘Okay, just shut the hell up.’ I slam my hands down on the bar and lean toward my brothers.

‘You want me to go over there? Fine. I’ll go right now, but it’s not going to change anything.

I don’t care what the hell she’s doing. It’s not going to change what I do here.

This is my brewery and I’ll run it my way. ’

‘That’s the spirit,’ Nick says, but it’s only half supportive. I’m pretty sure under that smile he’s silently laughing at me.

I go around the bar to leave, then turn back. ‘Shit. I can’t go. I gave Milo and Wade the night off since we’re slow.’

‘I can fill in for you,’ Brody says.

He used to bartend, so I’m not worried about him being behind the bar, but I’m not sure I trust him to run the place if it got busy.

‘Go ahead,’ he says, noticing me hesitating. ‘I got this.’

‘He’ll be fine,’ Nick says, reassuring me. ‘Just go.’

‘Call me if it gets busy,’ I say to Brody.

His gaze bounces around the empty space. ‘Um, yeah, sure. I’ll call you.’

‘I won’t be gone long,’ I tell him. ‘I’ll just go there, check the place out, and leave.’

Brody, Jason, and Nick stare at me, not saying anything.

‘Okay, well, see ya.’ I hurry out to my car, just wanting to get this over with. I don’t even know why I agreed to this. It’s stupid. Going to Gina’s brewery isn’t going to help me with mine. If anything, it’ll just make me more pissed off, especially if the place is packed.

I hope I don’t run into her. I don’t want to talk to her. And I don’t want her seeing me there, thinking I’m spying on her to find out what she’s doing to be more successful than me.

I can’t believe I let my stupid brothers talk me into this.