Page 36 of Blush Crush

A week passes, one where every time the bell above the door jingles, I expect to see Cole finally walking through it, but he never does.

By the second week, I’m more confused than anything. If it weren’t for the gossip mill, I’d worry something happened to him. It’s just so odd. He went from coming in almost daily to disappearing. I don’t usually make it a habit to keep such close tabs on my customers, but it’s hard to not notice how much quieter it’s gotten since he’s been gone. It’s hard to not notice that he’s so obviously not next door anymore. It’s weird.

After a month, it’s nearly fall, and harvest is in full effect. It’s the busiest time of year for my family, everyone pouring every ounce of energy into it. The season also brings a wave of new faces to town—workers traveling from all over to help with the agriculture.

Novel stays steadily busy, so much so that I hardly notice Cole still hasn’t come in. Not only that, but I haven’t run intohim around town either. He wasn’t even at the ladies’ night Layla dragged me to at the Jackalope right before her classes resumed.

I could always swing by Benton Winery just to see for myself that he’s perfectly fine, but that feels like an overreaction. He’s clearly busy, and it’s not like we were ever friends.

Just two people who kind of know each other. Barely.

Once October rolls around, there’s plenty to celebrate. Elyse and Dominic got married, eloping as planned. Ethan finally proposed to Marisa, and my oldest brother Gavin took a leap of his own, leaving Red Mountain with his daughter Lily to join Scottie in Chicago while she finishes out the last stretch of her theater contract.

After we discovered the two of them had secretly gotten married—and the initial shock wore off—the whole family has been nothing but supportive. He’s only been gone a week, and I already miss him like crazy, but I’m also ridiculously happy he’s finally found the love he’s always deserved.

As happy as I am for my siblings and all the exciting things happening in their lives, I can’t help comparing them to how utterly stagnant I feel. Despite some minor changes I’ve made, my life isn’t all that different from what it’s always been—still spending most of my time either at Novel or with my nose buried in a novel.

Wes comes in periodically, always alone, never with Savannah. So there’s still a little hope there. He’ll flirt with me, but it never goes any further. I’m proud to say, though, that I’m no longer a tongue-tied mess around him.

And yet still no Cole.

I can’t explain why it bothers me so much. It just does. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was avoiding me. He’s obviously not. There’s no reason for him to.

He’s just really…busy.

“Hey, Benton!” a rogue male voice shouts across the coffee shop. “Over here.”

I snap my head toward the door so fast it almost hurts. But the disappointment that follows might hurt more.

It’s Blake. Cole’s younger brother.

I greet him with a strained smile as he approaches the counter. “Hey, Blake. What can I get you?”

He scratches his head, squinting at the menu.

As he contemplates his order, I study him, picking out the features he shares with Cole. There’s no mistaking that they’re brothers, but there’s something distinctly boyish about Blake. Part of it is his age—he’s a few years older than me, but still quite a bit younger than Cole. He has light brown eyes, olive skin, and an easy, innocent smile that seems permanently etched on his face.

Today he’s dressed in dirty, worn jeans and a flannel, a far cry from Cole’s tailored slacks and crisp button-ups.

“I’ll take a twenty-ounce vanilla steamer and two chocolate croissants.”

His entire order makes me pause. Did he just order warm vanilla milk?

“You know the steamer doesn’t have coffee, right?”

He stares back at me like he’s confused about why I’m confused.

“Yeah,” he says slowly. “I like them.”

I press my lips together, trying not to react. The man knows what he likes—who am I to question it?

“And don’t forget the two chocolate croissants,” he adds.

Why do I get the feeling at least one of those croissants isn’t for him?

“Big sweet tooth today, huh?”

“Huh?” He blinks at me, caught off guard. “Oh—no, not really. The croissants are for Cole.”