Tongue Tied

Chapter 25

"I'll be okay, Jake. I promise." I tried to assure him. I hadn't been able to look him square in the eye for nearly a half hour.

"Hey," he said softly, pulling me into a bear hug.

I rested my head on his chest and he swayed us side to side. I could feel tears pricking my eyes but I refused to cry. I was stressed to the max but I wasn't about to let it show on Thanksgiving. Today, I wasn't supposed to be miserable, worried Bree. Today, I was happy-go-lucky, celebratory Bree, in charge of all things potato!

"Hey," I mimicked against his shirt sleeve.

"Maybe if this advertising stuff doesn't work out, I can talk to National Geographic and see about bringing you on. I could use a helper on trips, you know," Jake offered. "And you've always been good with a camera. Remember when grandpa used to take us bird watching and you would take pictures of every cardinal and bluebird we came across?"

I pulled out of his grasp, shaking my head. "Jake, I appreciate it, but you know I don't want to do photography. You're the hotshot cameraman. I want to be an ad agent," I told him. "I love advertising. I love the challenge."

"There's challenges in being a photographer."

"Like what? Making sure you don't fall off a cliff in the Adirondacks?" I said a little too harshly.

Jake closed his eyes and let a heavy sigh go. "No. Like competing with thousands of other photographers to acquire contracts so I don't go broke," he hissed. "And I don't have the fancy marketing tools to do it like you do."

"Jake, I didn't mean it like that." I tried to apologize but he walked away. I felt terrible for saying that. I had no right to diss his profession.

The doorbell rang.

"Fuck," I snapped to myself. I didn't care if Jake heard me.

I opened the door to find Alec in a stunning London blue button-up that matched the color of his eyes. I unintentionally allowed myself to take in his presence with a long, lingering once-over. I snapped out of it quickly though and stepped outside, jerking the door closed behind me.

"Was I not clear enough?" I attempted to holler in hushed tones. "My brother is here!"

Alec just laughed my words off. "Bree, I have good news," he said.

I groaned. "Alright, Shaffers. I could use some of that. Maybe I'll let your intrusion slide this time."

He smirked, amused by my frustration. "I met up with Troy this morning for coffee. He's willing to hire you on if you want to avoid the Abernathy situation."

My brows pulled together in a tight frown that instantly hurt. "Alec, how can Troy offer me a job when Abernathy is buying Harper Media too?"

A grin swept across his face and I was almost sure I saw a twinkle in his eyes. Maybe it was just the light reflecting off the puddles left by our recent rain.

"That's the thing. They are."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"I've been talking to a woman who works for Clearwater Media Group out of Seattle," he started to explain. "She got me a phone conference with the head of public relations. I was originally hunting for a new job when I started talking to Crystal, but when I told Madison, the PR director, what was going on with Abernathy buying up everybody-"

"Wait. Wait," I interrupted. "When did you start talking to this Crystal girl?"

My jealously was on full display but I didn't care.