Page 35 of A Gingerbread Romance

Tim nodded to agree. “Sorry, dude, I’m on their side. She’s exactly your type. Smart, beautiful, sweet—”

“—And she can bake,” Wade interrupted, grinning. “Endless pies, cakes, cookies. Who wouldn’t love that?” He rubbed his middle.

Wade knew Jonathan liked a good, home-cooked treat—or meal—as much as the next guy, but he’d never once dated a woman just because she could bake or cook. He frowned at his brother.

Tim raised one eyebrow at Wade. “—And, I was going to say,she lives here. And your brothers and I want you to settle down and live here, too.”

Jonathan stared at them all, blowing out a breath with a shake of his head. “I knew that’s what this was about. Which one of you told Chloe to invite her tonight?”

Wade raised a hand. “We all did. We wanted to meet her, and it’s been taking your sorry mug weeks to invite her out with us.”

Luke bumped Wade’s fist.

“Plus, Chloe said she wanted to invite her, anyway,” said Luke. “She likes her a lot.”

“Linda would go bananas for her,” Wade added. “You should bring her over for Christmas Eve.” The family was getting together at Wade and Jocelyn’s house for the holiday. Aunt Linda would be there, as would Tim’s kids, Jocelyn and Trista’s father and stepmother, and Chloe’s parents.

“Guys,” said Jonathan, holding up a hand to demonstrate. “What part ofwe’re not datingdid you not understand?” He glanced over at Greta to make sure he hadn’t spoken too loudly. Whew. She obviously hadn’t heard him. In fact, she looked like she was having fun with the girls.

His gaze rested on her long golden locks as she laughed, and then on her backside in those tight-fitting jeans. He forced his attention back to the guys.

“Why not?” said Wade. “Last week you were all about chasing her, and this week, you’re done. But it doesn’t look like she’s done, if you ask me. Looks like she’s into you, man. So, what happened?”

Jonathan looked from one impatient, square-cut-jawed, pesky face to the next. “Nothing happened. I just realized I don’t want to get involved with someone long distance.”

That wasn’t the half of it, of course, but it would have to do. They didn’t need all the miserable details.

Wade moved closer to his ear. “An hour away is nothing, dude. Jocelyn lived in Florida when I fell for her. If you look at it that way, Baltimore’s right down the road.”

Jonathan shook his head. Wade was right in that regard. “It’s not just that, okay?”

“Then what is it?” Wade pressed, keeping his voice down, although the guys had stepped closer to hear what was being said. “Enlighten us. What happened between last week—when you borrowed my truck to take her furniture shopping, of all things—and today, that made you ditch the idea of dating her entirely?”

Jonathan huffed.

Luke chimed in the way he’d done at the cabin on Sunday, grinning. “Hey, big brother, you’re not getting any younger. We want to see you settled… with someone great. And she’s great.”

Jonathan stretched his shoulders and sucked in a long breath of air. If only they knew. But they didn’t want to hear it again, about Carla, about how she’d destroyed any chance of him ever trusting another woman again.

He’d talked about it back then ‘til he was blue in the face, and they’d listened, but he’d never given them the ugly details of how he’d actually witnessed Carla’s infidelity. So, they wouldn’t quite understand why seeing her this weekend, even all these years later, had sent him running in the other direction.

His gaze shot to the floor, and he rubbed his forehead sluggishly, sighing. He was tired. That’s what he was. Tired of how much his heart ached when he looked at Greta. Tired of thinking about how much more he was going to miss her when he went back to Baltimore. Tired of trying to convince himself he was doing the right thing.

“Give it a chance, Jon,” said Tim calmly, putting an arm around him with a gentle slap to his shoulder. “You never know what might come of it. Okay?”

ELEVEN

“Did I do something wrong?” Greta asked Jonathan three hours later, outside, after everyone had said goodnight. Jonathan had asked if she needed someone to walk her home. She wanted to chew on a fingernail, but her gloves prevented it. She dragged her teeth over her lower lip instead.

She liked his brothers a lot, and she’d found plenty of things to chat about with his sisters-in-law. It turned out she’d attended the same high school as Jocelyn and Chloe—which wasn’t actually surprising since they’d all grown up here—but Greta had graduated four years before them. Trista and Tim were also really nice, and closer in age to her and Jonathan. So, all in all, she’d enjoyed herself immensely, and she couldn’t have asked for a warmer reception from everyone.

Except Jonathan.

She glanced over at him. With his family and friends, he seemed like the guy she’d come to know over the past several weeks. Outgoing, warm, gregarious. But with her, he seemed reserved, cautious, even withdrawn.

She’d answered that yes, she’d like him to walk her home, if only because it meant she’d finally have a few minutes alone with him again, because she had to know.

Jonathan glanced back as they walked side-by-side, half his mouth fixed in a frown, their arms, sadly, not entwined this evening. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

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