Page 107 of Theirs for the Holidays

“See? That shit is inspired. You’re a genius in the kitchen with this stuff, Violet. Your family is missing out and that’s their problem. They won’t get to bask in your success with you because they’re too busy with their heads up their asses.”

I can’t help but smile as the other two go and get cookies of their own. They all praise the taste and the innovation and press kisses to my cheeks. I tuck into my sandwich, feeling a little bit better.

“Thank you,” I say, sincerely. “I guess I’ve been needing to hear all that. I just want this to work, you know? I want to make it all worth it. All the hard work, the faith my grandmother had in me. I don’t want it to be a waste. We were so close, my grandmother and I. I think maybe she knew how… how unseen I felt in my family, so she would take me out for dinner and invite me to her house all the time. Being with her felt like havinga break from everything being about Isabelle, and I loved it. I loved her for wanting to spend time with me and for just being the amazing woman she was. I would hate to disappoint her.”

“I don’t think you could,” Sawyer says. “She’d be so proud of you for what you’ve accomplished.”

“I hope so,” I reply, sighing a little. “She left me this place, but at first, the building was supposed to go to Isabelle.”

Rhett’s brows draw together. “Why? Has she ever shown that she would do something worthwhile with it?”

I shrug. “I don’t know. I think she talked about opening a boutique or something when she was a kid. I was more bookish, so Grandmother was going to leave me her book collection and some other things. But the closer we got, the more she could see that I would have the good ideas and work ethic it would take to put the building to good use. She asked me one day if I would like to have it, and I told her my dream for the bakery. She had her will amended the next day.”

“Wow.” Lennox smiles. “It sounds like she really believed in you.”

“She did. And that’s why I want this to do well. I want that faith to have mattered.”

“But it does matter, Violet,” Lennox says. “Her faith got you here. Got you this building so you could turn it into your dream. You’ve already done what she wanted you to do, and you’re doing it well. We see the lines of people in here every day. We see how the bakery case is nearly empty by lunch. That means it’s already working.”

“You should hear the way Simon talks about you too,” Rhett offers.

My head snaps up to look at him. “Simon talks about me?”

“All the time. It’s like you’re his granddaughter too.” He shakes his head with a little smile. “He’s proud of you and always mentions that he knew you were going to be successful.”

I can’t help the smile that spreads over my face to hear that. I can picture Simon and Rhett playing chess in the park, discussing my business and its success.

“That’s good to know,” I murmur.

“So don’t doubt yourself,” Sawyer says, summing it all up. “Your family doesn’t decide how your life and your business are going to go, and they can get left behind if they can’t get on board with how great you are.”

“Thanks, you guys. I don’t know what to say, but I do appreciate it.”

“You don’t have to say anything. Just eat your sandwich.”

I tuck into the sandwich, feeling much lighter than I did just minutes ago. Something about these three men always manages to turn my mood around when I get too down on myself.

Once the sandwich is eaten and half the cookies are gone, we go back out to the main part of the bakery to handle the rest of the day.

“Oh,” I say at one point. “Speaking of Simon, he’s going to be part of the holiday musical revue that’s coming up.”

“They still do that?” Sawyer asks.

I give him a look. “I don’t know why you’re always so surprised about these things. Nothing in Sweetwater Lake has changed since you lived her. None of the traditions anyway.”

“Fair point. If it isn’t broke, don’t fix it, I suppose. Anyway, what about it?”

I bite my lip, suddenly a little hesitant. I want to suggest that guys might come with me to the revue, but that feels like asking them on a date. I’ve never done that with them before, despite the fake dating and the very good sex. I don’t want them to feel like they’re obligated to come because they’re pretending to be my boyfriends for the whole town to see.

“I was just thinking of going,” I mumble.

Sawyer gives me a look right back. “If you’re going we’re going, obviously. That’s what boyfriends are for. And you can’t imagine that we’re going to miss out on any of the kitschy Sweetwater Lake traditions now that we’re here for the holidays for the first time in a while.”

“What he said,” Rhett says, gesturing at his brother.

Lennox nods. “I want to see if they’re still using the same songs they did when we were kids.”

“You know they are,” I answer, grinning at all of them.