Brooke & Ben: Before Fate Interrupted

by Kaitlyn Cross

  “It looks like an ocean.”

  “One hundred and eighteen miles across to Grand Haven, Michigan.”

  “That is so crazy,” she murmured, watching a ski boat zip past a lazy fishing boat.

  “I think we’re really going to like it here.”

  She turned to him and squeezed his hand. “I’m so happy for you, baby.”

  Her unbridled smile brought a similar one to his face, their hopes as high as the Hoan Bridge they were now crossing. The traffic made her adrenaline race. They had been to Chicago three different times and that traffic – compared to that of Des Moines – had been downright scary. Milwaukee’s traffic wasn’t quite that busy but still managed to make Des Moines seem like a one light town. She couldn’t wait to explore the entire area until she knew it like the back of her hand.

  “How much further is it?”

  “Not much.” He stopped at a red light in the long shadow of the US Bank building anchoring downtown. “Already got the key.”

  “I’m anxious to meet this Jared guy,” she said, taking in the sights. “I hope he’s easy to get along with.”

  Ben smiled. “He’s fine.”

  “Well, it’s just kind of weird opening a business with someone you’ve never met in a town you’ve never been to before.”

  “I’ve been here before.”

  “What if this Jared guy is a drunk and leaves empty cans and cigarette butts all over the place?”

  “Brooke, everything is going to be great. Trust me.”

  A weary sigh passed her lips. “I know, sweetie. I just want you to be happy. You’ve been given a gift and I want to help you to share it with the world.”

  He glanced over at her and smiled. “You mean like your boobs?”

  She frowned at him. “You want to help me share my boobs with the world?”

  His smile faded. “That came out wrong.”

  She turned back to her window and bit back a laugh. “You’re ridiculous.”

  Ben pulled over and parked in the street, their heads jerking with the sudden stop in motion.

  She looked around the block, twisting in the seat. It was cute with huge flowerpots dotting both sides of the sun splashed street. A stable of rentable bikes sat on one corner while people meandered along the wide walkways, window shopping and enjoying the warm weather at the same time.

  Ben took her hand. “Listen, as long as you’re with me, I’m always happy. Don’t worry about anything.”

  “I’m always going to be with you. You know that.” Brooke turned back to the busy stretch of road before them. “I just really want this to work.”

  “It will.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and kissed her softly. They parted and looked into each other’s eyes, sharing a tender moment. “Now get out.”

  Brooke popped her door open and climbed down from the truck, her eyes scanning the shops on both sides of the street. “Which one is it?”

  He came around to her side and jerked his chin to the building right behind her.

  She whirled on her yellow high heels and stepped back for a better view, her teal scarf blowing in the wind. “This one?”

  He nodded proudly.

  “Oh, it’s so cute! I love the huge window, Ben!”

  “Wait till you see the inside.” He went to the glass front door, unlocked it and held it open for her.

  Brooke stepped inside, her eyes widening when he hit the lights. “Ooh, I love this checkered floor! It’s so old school.”

  “And, as you can tell, the air-conditioning works.” He followed her gaze around the room, taking in whatever she was.

  “I didn’t expect it to be so big.”

  “Neither did I.”

  “Oh my God, look at the size of that booth in the corner!”

  “That’s the Tony Soprano booth, VIP ballers only.”

  Her eyes kept moving, scanning the bowed glass cases and peeling peach colored walls. “It needs some paint but it’s really nice.”

  “Come on,” he said, head behind the counter.

  She followed, taking it all in. “What did this place used to be?”

  Ben shrugged. “Noodle joint or a deli or something. I forget.” Ben pushed through a swinging door and held it open for her. “Check this out.”

  She followed him into a darkened room and bumped into him when he stopped.

  “Sorry,” he said, feeling the wall. “Trying to find the light switch.” After a few more seconds, he found it and with a soft click, the fluorescents stubbornly blinked to life.

  Her brow folded. “A kitchen?”

  He pulled out a stool and took a seat at a large island table in the middle of the room. “Walk-in is over there and the office is around the corner. Pretty cool, huh?”

  Brooke scanned the place through dubious eyes. “Yeah but, all of this for…?”

  “Tattoos?”

  “Yeah.” She pulled open one of the ovens built into the far wall and peered inside. “Do you really need four ovens, Ben?”

  “No,” he said, watching her every move. “But you do.”

  She closed the oven and turned to him, confusion wrinkling her face.

  He held the keys up and let them dangle from his fingers. “It’s all yours, lemon drop.”

  The lights buzzed in her ears and reflected off the keys. “I don’t understand.”

  He got up from the stool and wrapped the keys in her hand. “This place is yours now.”

  “Mine?” She choked on a laugh. “What are you talking about?”

  “The tattoo shop fell through.”

  A stunned moment made the lights even louder. Brooke swallowed dryly, her eyes examining the keys in her hand before looking back up. “What? How?”

  A dejected sigh shrunk Ben’s posture. “Hicks went to jail for assault two nights ago.”

  “He what!”

  “It’s a long, horrible story, but needless to say there was a change of plan.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “Physically, he’s fine. Legally, he’s in some trouble. We’re going to go visit him after this, if that’s okay with you.”

  She shook the cobwebs from her head. “What happened?”

  He hedged before answering. “We were at some bar Jared goes to all the time and Hicks got into it with some guy over something stupid. Ended up smashing a pint glass across the guy’s face while I was in the bathroom.” Ben shook his head, a storm passing through his eyes. “I should’ve been there.”

  Brooke covered her mouth. “Oh my God, why would he do that?”

  Ben lifted a shoulder to an ear. “Who knows? It was incredibly stupid and I’m having a hard time not being pissed at the guy. That’s not the Hicks I know.”

  “Well, what about Jared?”

  “He didn’t want to do it without Hicks and neither did I. Would’ve been too weird.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  Ben dialed Brooke back into focus and inhaled a deep breath, determined to shake off the gloom smothering his surprise. “Anyway, we checked this place out a few days ago and all I could see is you and your own bakery after things fell through.”

  Her heart sank with her jaw as a wave of dizziness washed over her. She rested a hand on the island for support, trying to take it all in.

  “I want something we can do together.”

  When she finally pulled herself (almost) back together, she raised her voice. “Are you insane? We can’t open a bakery!”

  “Why not?”

  She searched the room for an answer, her mouth gaping, mind bending. “Because!”

  He took her hands in his. “Brooke, you know that your baking is second to none. Hell, it’s so good you made me love sweets!”

  She laughed sharply. “That wasn’t my baking! That was you hitting your head.”

  He shrugged. “I can also read minds now but that’s not important. What is important is that we realize our dreams together. Not just me and my dream.”

  Her chest undu
lated so fast she could barely find her voice. “Your dream is not to open a bakery, Benjamin Kramer!”

  “Well, I’ve got an idea on how we can shake things up a little.”

  “Like what?”

  “Ever heard of a dessert lounge?”

  She shook her head, which only made the spinning worse.

  “It’s a place you can go to pick up a dozen cupcakes for work, or somewhere you can stop by for after dinner drinks and dessert.”

  “Drinks?”

  He nodded with a wide grin. “Full bar, sassafrass.”

  The rose slipped from her cheeks. “Oh my God,” she said dully. “I love it!”

  He exhaled on his knuckles and rubbed them on his shirt. “I got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

  “But how can we afford this without other investors?”

  “We’re leasing the space,” Ben answered, studying the dingy walls and floors. “We’ll brighten it up, get her running and promote the hell out of it.”

  Brooke looked around, her palms sweating. It wasn’t like the place was in that bad of shape but tables and chairs alone could cost a fortune, not to mention mixers and cookware. As she had learned at Randall’s Catering, it wouldn’t take long for things to start adding up. Even straws and napkins in bulk were crazy expensive. She opened her mouth to tell him all of this, to let him know what they would be up against but he beat her to the punch.

  “I sold the bike.”

  Her eyes bulged from her sockets. “You what?”

  “And the trailer.”

  She stared at him incredulously, frozen in place. “Why would you do that?” she cried, guilt gnawing at her from the inside out.

  Ben stepped closer and took her cold cheek in his warm palm. “Because I love you and this feels right. My gut says so.”

  “Your gut?”

  He nodded.

  “But you loved that bike!”

  “Yeah well, can’t be riding a Triumph in Harley country now, can we? I’ll get a new one after this place takes off.”

  She turned away from him and leaned against the sink, hanging her head between her shoulders and trying to come to grips with this sinking curve ball. “Ben, you should have discussed this with…”

  “This is the only way!” he barked, pounding the island table and making her flinch. “I know what you would’ve said, and I refuse to spend the rest of our lives living paycheck to paycheck!” He paused to lower his voice. “We will never get anywhere without taking a chance and I, for one, am ready to start taking some.” His Adam’s apple rose and fell. “Are you?”

  Brooke’s watery eyes roamed the spacious kitchen. “You’re serious about this,” she muttered faintly.

  “Listen, it’ll be a challenge at first – I’m not going to lie - but we’re good at scrimping. We know how to cut costs.” He stared gravely at her. “But I’m tired of scrimping by. This is our chance to change that, for us and the family we will soon have.”

  Brooke let his words sink in for a little longer and then rushed into his arms and lowered the dam. Teardrops soaked his shoulder as they hugged long and hard, holding each other in what would become the first page in a new chapter of their lives.

  “I love you so much,” she sobbed. “No one has ever done anything like this for me.” She looked up into his face, a slight smile lifting one corner of her mouth. “I thank God you came into my life when you did.”

  He smiled back, his arms around her waist.

  “Even if you forever ruined Halloween for me.”

  Ben laughed. “I know you will make Halloween better than ever this year.” He looked around the kitchen and turned back to her. “They will come from miles around for a slice of this place. I guarantee it.”

  She took a step back. “Oh my God, the holidays will be so much fun! We can host parties and have holiday specials.”

  Ben pointed to the dusty floor. “We can create our own foods and drinks that will be exclusive to this place and this place only.” He paused, his face hardening as an idea bloomed. “Cupcake ATMs!”

  Brooke frowned. “Cupcake ATMs?”

  “The possibilities are endless with a place like this.”

  Her eyes hovered on a large dishwasher for a second or two before she burst through the swinging door and went back up front. He followed and stopped next to her behind the counter. The sunlight cut through the large front window, leaving a bright stripe across the floor.

  Brooke rested her hands on her hips. “What do we call it?”

  “I was thinking about that when I was on my way to the airport.”

  “Yeah?”

  Ben waved a hand through the air like he was unveiling a brightly lit marquee. “How about…The Muffin Top?”

  She turned to him, her nose crinkling. “The Muffin Top?”

  He nodded rapidly.

  “You had all that time and that’s what you came up with?”

  “What’s wrong with The Muffin Top?”

  “First of all, it’s a derogatory term for women wearing tiny little shirts. And second of all…it’s a derogatory term for women wearing tiny little shirts!”

  “Okay, okay, what about…Brooke’s Bakery?”

  “Aw, that’s sweet, honey, but we need a one word title that will capture their attention and says it all.”

  Ben snapped his fingers. “I got it!” He spread his hands through the air again. “Sugar-Tits.”

  Brooke rolled her eyes. “Now, you’re just being stupid.” He said something else but she didn’t hear it. She was too preoccupied with an idea clubbing her over the head with the weight of a sledgehammer. She turned to him with saucers for eyes. “What about…Sugars?”

  His brow dipped. “Sugars?”

  “Oh my God, I love it!” She looked out over the lounge, imagining the place two months down the road, fully painted and open for business. “Sugars,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, it’s not bad.”

  “Not bad? It’s great!”

  His grin set off his white teeth. “It’ll work.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her behind the counter for the first of many more times to come. “I love it.”

  “I love you,” she said softly, tracing his lips with a finger. “Thank you for this.”

  “Anything for you, baby girl. You know that.”

  “No, I mean it. This is…just so…”

  He saved her the trouble of finding the right words and kissed her again with the sun setting in the distance. Brooke lifted a heel into the air, the place twirling around her like they were on a merry-go-round.

  She pulled away and held up a finger. “I just have one condition.”

  He laughed. “Oh okay, I sold my bike and you have a condition?”

  “This is serious, Ben. I can’t do it without it.”

  He pressed his lips together and ran his fingers through her hair. “And what is this condition?”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Brooke spun the pen on the hotel desk, her eyes straying from focus, blurring the pen into a tiny propeller. As soon as she realized she was holding her breath she let it out. The quiet was so thick she was certain the call had dropped. “Hello?”

  “That is the sweetest thing I have ever heard! He did not do that?”

  “He did.”

  “Shut. Up!”

  “I’m not kidding, Ev, this thang is goin down.” She flicked the pen again, taking another moment to fantasize what it was going to be like. Baking tasty treats and waiting on happy customers, some of whom would be funny regulars just like on TV. Maybe Sugars would do so well they could open another location, maybe start a chain that would sweep across the nation in a tidal wave of addictive sweets that no one could live without.

  “He sold his bike?”

  Her eyes dialed back into focus. She stopped the pen with her finger. “Sold. His. Bike. He’s on his way back from the leasing office right now.”

  Evy inhaled a deep breath. “I just can’t believe this.”

 
“Join the club, sister.”

  “Oh my God, I have to sit down.”

  Another round of silence took the line and Brooke flicked the pen again.

  “You’re really opening your own bakery?”

  She got up from the desk and went to a window overlooking a street below. Party lights outlined patios filled with smiling faces enjoying a warm Saturday night out on the town. “We are, but, here’s the catch: I can’t do it without you.”

  More stunned silence oozed from the line in gooey droplets.

  “Will you come and help us?”

  Evy took a few seconds to answer. “And what? Move there?”

  Brooke laughed. “Yes, move here. And trust me, you will love it. I’m looking at a patio right now filled with hot guys.”

  When Evy didn’t reply, Brooke’s heart stopped what it was doing. She watched the world below carry on without her, her heart lodged in her throat. Evy was the hinge. It would never work without her.

  “It’s just so far away,” Evy finally said.

  Brooke shut her eyes and grimaced. “It’s not. And what exactly do you have keeping you there again? Your job that you don’t even like?”

  “It’s not that bad.”

  “Richie?”

  Evy grunted into the line. “I told you never to mention that little prick’s name around me again.”

  “See? You should have listened to me about that, too. I told you something was off with that idiot.”

  “If you go down that road again I swear to God I’m hanging up.”

  “Do you want to run into him all over town? The grocery store? The mall? The strip clubs?”

  “Not funny, Brooke.”

  Brooke leaned her forehead against the cool window and let out a sigh that fogged up the glass. “Evy, this is your chance to start over doing something you are not only great at, but love doing as well. How many people can say that about their job?” She watched a cab drop off a long blond haired girl and her man in front of a bar with a flashing palm tree above it. “You’ve spent the last year moping around and pushing everyone away since the Richie incident. This is a clean slate. Besides, do you want your sister to lose her ass on this and end up broke the rest of her life with a shitty credit score?”

  “That’s not going to happen.”