After spending the next few days doing nothing but thinking about Linc, Blake desperately needed a distraction. Common Ground Books was one of Blake’s favorite places on the planet. The combination bookstore and coffee shop had been founded by his grandmother and was now being run by his cousin, Micah. Blake hadn’t made time to stop by the store since he’d been back in Havendale.

The moment he finished his morning tasks, he left Bartlett Construction and made his way over to the shop. Blake walked in and breathed in the familiar scents of leather, books, and coffee. Micah was shelving books in the back while their nineteen-year-old cousin, Claire, worked behind the coffee counter. Blake’s mom had always described Micah as an old soul. Growing up, Blake hadn’t understood what that meant, but now he appreciated Micah so much more.

Three years Blake’s junior, Micah was the quiet, bookish one of the Bartletts. He was also one of the smartest people Blake had ever met and was insightful in ways Blake wasn’t. He had a way with people, too, even though he didn’t understand them sometimes. Funny thing was, if Blake had told Micah about his marriage problems, Micah would never have let him get away with keeping it secret. Abe was a perfect sounding board, a rock in times of trouble. Everyone counted on him to just be there and be strong.

Blake counted on Micah just as much, but in totally different ways. Micah was the common sense, call it like he saw it cousin. He didn’t get caught up in a bunch of what ifs or silly games and had never allowed Blake to get away with anything he deemed nonsense. Back in high school, right before Blake came out to the family, he’d told Micah his secret. He also told his cousin he’d decided to keep his sexuality quiet. None of the Bartlett’s were gay, and Blake was certain his family wouldn’t be happy that he was the first.

The look Micah had given him. Micah was probably only fifteen or so at the time, but Blake had never seen anyone look at him with such disappointment. Less than a week later, he’d come out to his parents and the rest of his cousins. None of them had rejected him.

And the look Micah gave him that time— so proud he’d actually had tears in his eyes. Well, Blake had never forgotten that moment. Which was probably exactly why he’d kept the truth of his marriage from Micah. He had some more apologizing to do.

Blake ordered a latte from Claire and waited for Micah to finish his task at the back of the store.

Not much had changed in the store since Micah took over. When Gram had passed away, they’d all thought the store would have to close. Micah had stepped up and asked if it could be his. All of the aunts and uncles had agreed he was the right person for the job, and none of the other cousins expressed interest in taking over the responsibility.

Blake grinned over at his cousin as he methodically filed away the stack of books on the cart beside him. Each one was placed precisely where it belonged and the books beside it were adjusted so they all stood perfectly aligned. Blake considered being mean and tugging one out of place, but resisted the urge. Although he would be asking Micah to pick something out for him to read before he left the store. Micah had an unerring ability to recommend books to people.

Claire finished brewing the espresso for his latte and began working on steaming the milk. At the whirring of the machine, Micah turned around and noticed Blake standing at the front. He immediately smiled and began hurrying his way.

“You finally showed up!” Micah pulled Blake into a hug and slapped him fondly on the back a few times. Micah had not been at their family dinner, having had a book buyers meeting down in Orlando the prior weekend.

“You know I couldn’t stay away for long.” Blake looked around the store again and smiled. “It looks great, Micah.”

“Thanks,” Micah answered proudly. He looked behind Blake, then frowned. “Where’s Caroline?”

Blake groaned. “Not you too!”

“Get used to it, Blake,” Claire cackled. “You’re chopped liver now.”

She carried over his latte and they all sat down in the overstuffed leather club chairs in the store’s reading area.

“I’m glad to see you as well, Blake,” Micah said, “but I haven’t seen Caroline since you’ve been home and I wanted to ask her about The Book With No Pictures. She and I never had a chance to discuss it.”

“Uh-huh. Thanks for that, by the way.”

Micah beamed. “Come on, she loved it.”

“She did. You should have seen my dad’s face when she made him read it to her the other night.”

Blake had never had to worry about keeping Caroline in age-appropriate books. Every few months a new selection would arrive in the mail courtesy of his cousin. They’d read them together with Micah over video chat and she’d loved being able to hold her book while he read from one of his own.

“I bet Uncle Jeffrey loved every minute of it.”

“Well, he loved hearing Caroline laugh hysterically as he read some of those words. She kept telling him it was the rules.”

“Such a good book. I’m glad she’s enjoying it.” Micah leaned back in his chair. “Bring her by when you can.”

“Will do. So anything new here?”

“Not a thing. Lots of books. Lots of coffee. Oh, we’re serving some of Kale’s creations when we can. It’s kind of fun. We never know what he’s going to make.”

Blake had heard through the grapevine that Kale produced a ton of food for his videos and had wondered what happened to it. It wasn’t the Bartlett way to let perfectly good food go to waste.

“So what’s new with you two?”

Micah shot Claire an expectant glance and she blushed.

“What’s this? A blushing Claire? I didn’t know such a thing was possible,” Blake teased.

“Shut up. And Ryan gave me a promise ring.”

She shyly held out her hand to reveal a silver claddagh ring.

“Oh wow,” Blake said. “Congrats lady.”

She grinned and her blush deepened. “I know we’re only nineteen, but this is… I’m so happy.”

High school had been rough for Claire as her twin brother, Cameron, had constantly been in trouble. She’d taken too much of the weight of his actions onto her own shoulders. Cameron had left after high school to go to their mom’s brother’s house in Colorado. From what he’d heard, Cam was doing great out there and it seemed like Claire had flourished in his absence as well.

“And how about you, Micah? Any big loves we don’t know about?”

Micah scoffed. “No way. The store is the love of my life. I don’t need anything else.”

Both Claire and Blake rolled their eyes. After a pretty bad break up in high school, Micah had called it quits on romance. His girlfriend at the time had cheated on him with his so-called best friend. Blake often wondered if Micah had been more upset about losing the guy than the girlfriend, but Micah didn’t talk about his sexuality so Blake left it alone.

“And how about you, Blake? Any new men in your life?” Claire paled when she realized what she’d asked. “Um… is that weird? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.”

“You’re fine. Michael and I had been apart for a year so it’s really not a weird question at all. The answer, though, is, well, I don’t know. Maybe?”

Micah leaned in and patted his knee. “And they say I’m the awkward one.”

Blake and Claire both laughed. “Hell, you’re a Bartlett. We’re born to be awkward.”

“He has a point, Micah,” Claire giggled. “But tell us about him, Blake!”

“This does not leave this store. Promise me!”

“Promise!” Both Claire and Micah said the word and held out their hands, palm down. Blake placed his on top in the official Bartlett cousin swear position. Any promise made with their hands stacked together meant it couldn’t be broken. They’d been doing it since he was a child. He couldn’t wait to introduce Caroline to the tradition.

“So, do you guys know Lincoln Coleman? He works—”

“Oh holy hell, he’s hot,” Micah said.

“Micah!” Claire slapped him on the arm.

“What?” Micah asked. He rubbed the spot where she’d hit him with a scowl.

“He is insanely hot,” Blake added.

“Well, duh,” Claire said. “But Micah didn’t need to drool over the guy you’re asking us about. Sheesh.”

“What do you guys know about him? Anything? I’ve just met him but… I think he’s flirting with me? I mean, I know he’s flirting with me, but I’m not sure if he’s flirting flirting or just being flirty. And he might have asked me out? I’m not sure.”

“You are seriously out of practice.” Claire shot him a pitiful frown. “I’m sad.”

“How can you not know if he asked you out?” Micah asked. “Either he did or he didn’t. It doesn’t seem confusing.”

Blake sighed. “Well, he asked me if I’d ever been to Benders. And I said no, I’d never been and that I wasn’t really into clubs. And so I think he took that as a no? God, I don’t know. He may have just been making conversation.”

Micah and Claire shared a knowing glance before turning their attention back to him. “You realize Benders is a gay club, right?” Claire asked.

“Uh… no, actually. I didn’t realize that. I thought… oh God, no wonder he laughed at me.”

Claire thumped her head down onto her hands. “Must I teach my elders everything?”

Micah and Blake both growled at her.

“Watch it,” Micah said. “And just for that, you have to go make me a cappuccino. These old bones just can’t handle all that new-fangled technology.”

“Ugh. Fine. But I’m only doing it because you suck at making them.”

Blake took a sip of the perfect latte she’d made him and grinned.

“You guys get along well,” Blake said once Claire had started the machine running again.

“We do. She spent a lot of time here in the last few years with everything going on at home.”

“I’m glad to hear Cam is doing well out west.”

Micah shrugged and leaned back into his own chair. “Time will tell. He felt stifled under the pressure of being a Bartlett. I mean, you realize he’s the youngest boy right? He had nine other Bartlett boys ahead of him and the weight of all the expectations… well, it was a heavy burden.”

“I’d never thought of it that way.”

“You wouldn’t. You only have Abe to look up to. Claire doesn’t feel the same pressure as there are only Danielle and Audrey for her to be compared to. I got a taste of it when we were younger, but I only had you, Abe, and Carter ahead of me. And you three are so different from me that it was sometimes difficult to navigate. I can’t imagine being the youngest.”

Claire came back and handed Micah his mug before dropping back down into her chair. “I don’t feel pressure anyway. Not about family. It was different for Cam. He had something to prove. Now, where were we with Mr. Lincoln Tight Jeans?”

Micah snickered. “I believe Blake was lamenting the lost opportunity of a night at Benders.”

“Blake, sweetie,” Claire said as she reached over at patted his leg, “when a boy asks you if you’ve heard of the new, hot, gay club in town, chances are he’s asking if you’re interested in going.”

Blake groaned and took another comforting sip of his latte. “But I’m out of practice! And I didn’t know what the hell Benders was! I thought it was a cowboy bar.”

Claire laughed so hard she snorted.

Micah’s face had taken on an expression of horror. “What on earth gave you that idea?” he finally sputtered.

“I don’t know! And Claire! Stop laughing at me!”

“Cowboy bar! I can’t. I just… you are awesome!”

“Ugh,” Blake groaned. “Did Kale bring over anything sweet? Because seriously I need a brownie. Or something.”

“No, but he did bring pie. This week was simple pies or something ridiculous like that. The cherry one is really good. Oh! I have an idea!”

Micah started shaking his head. “Oh no. This won’t be good. Don’t listen to her, Blake. It won’t end well.”

“No seriously. You should take Linc pie! Tell him you’re stopping by to check on the house or something. Give him food. See if he’ll ask you out again. Let him do bad, bad things to you!”

“Claire!” Micah’s eyes had about popped out of his head.

“What? He’s been alone for a year, Micah. Ryan swears it can do damage to a guy.”

Both Blake and Micah scowled.

“If he—” Blake started.

“I will—” Micah growled.

“Oh stop it, idiots. He can swear it all he wants. If I’m not in the mood, he has a hand and he knows how to use it.”

Blake groaned and thumped his head back against the chair again. “When I was last here, you were still in high school. Can we not talk about your sex life? I might die.”

“Give me a break. You’re ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous is me worrying about Linc. So I’m not going to worry about it. I’m going to focus on my kid and our house and my new job and the fact that our uncle loathes paperwork.”

“Lame, Blake. Just lame. And when you decide to not be lame anymore, Micah and I volunteer to babysit!”

“We totally do,” Micah agreed. “And seriously, you should find out if Linc was asking you out. Because it’s clear you like him so it would be helpful to know if he was just giving you the information on the club so you knew of its existence or if he was trying to see if you’d be interested in going with him.”

Blake sighed. “Fine. But you’re totally babysitting either way.”