Archive of Our Own ^beta

Mid-June

“Riley! Can you give me a hand, please?”

Wiping his hands on a rag, Riley Graham heaved a sigh. Knowing his little sister all too well, her latest request might also turn into a prank. Which she was, admittedly, good at, like any proper younger sibling should be, but it was something that Riley didn’t want to deal with today.

Coming into the actual shop room/cafe from the kitchen, Riley saw one of their regular patrons, Mr. Francesco, at his usual corner table, reading the newspaper. Mrs. Hemphill, another long-time patron, was sitting at one of the smaller round tables near the entrance, in case her little Yorkshire Terrier needed to get out as quickly as possible. But right now, “Fido” was rolled up in a bun and sleeping next to her feet.

Two guys - one younger, one older, both in well-fitting, but not too expensive suits - were having a debate over some coffee at the corner of the bar, and therefore also did not really pose a threat to Steph.

“What’s the matter, Steph?”

“Oh, hey, Riley, this is Sam,” Stephanie said with a handwave to the most gorgeous man Riley ever had laid his eyes upon. “He’s new in town, and while I know a lot of places, you’ve been here a bit longer.”

“Ha ha, little sis, not that long,” Riley gave back. Sure, they all had grown up around here, but after graduation, all three Graham kids went to explore what the world outside the city limits had to offer, and actually, Riley came back to live here only a few weeks before Stephanie.

“Younger siblings,” Sam said with a smile and a headshake, “a menace in their own right, but you can’t or won’t live without them, either.”

“Amen to that, brother. That one,” Riley pointed over to where Steph was refilling Mr. Francesco’s cup, “probably has taken away 20 years of my lifespan,” they both blatantly ignored the protest coming from the young woman, “but I’ve missed her every single day when I was in the zone.”

“You’ve been there too?” the other man asked, the tone of his voice changing from an easy-going to a serious one.

“Yeah, two tours to Iraq,” Riley replied. “You too?”

“Yeah, same place,” Sam added, and Riley could see the strain around his eyes - a micro-expression, but one he knew all too well from looking at himself in a mirror.

“Okay, but you didn’t come here to talk about that, right?” Riley questioned.

“No, though it still has something to do with it. Are there any places around where former soldiers meet?”

“You mean like the VA?”

“Yeah, something like that.” By now, Sam’s voice had lost its serious edge again, and for a moment or two, it reminded Riley of honey or melted chocolate - soft, with a warm timbre and a sweet aftertaste.

“We don’t have one here in town,” Riley explained, “but the next town over has a VA-sponsered meeting once a week. I go there myself regularly, so what do you say on meeting here next Thursday and head over together?”

“I don’t want to impose…,” Sam began, only to be stopped by Riley holding up a hand.

“You don’t. Not when I’m offering it first,” he said with a wink.

“Yeah, alright.” Sam gave another light headshake. “God, you must think I haven’t talked to another human being in a century or so, the way I stumble through this basic conversation.”

“I was going to say in the past fifty years,” Riley began, a broad smile belaying his words, “but truth be told, Sam, I know how hard it is to ‘reconnect’ with the world outside the zone once you’re back home.”

“Thanks, man,” Sam replied while holding out a hand. “Seriously, thank you. Ever since I got back, these VA meetings were kind of a lifeline to me, and now that I’m here, I was feeling lost all over again.”

“Don’t mention it. We Soldier Boys have to stick together and have each other’s sixes.”

They shook hands, and while Sam stopped at the cash register/bread section of the shop to not only buy a loaf of bread, but also to charm Riley’s aunt into a blushing mess, Riley himself got a not-too-nice elbow check from Stephanie.

“What was that for?” he hissed at her.

“Way to go, big brother!” she exclaimed, then her expression changed from excited to fond. “To be honest, Ri, I haven’t seen you having such a lively conversation with anyone outside our family ever since I came back.” She fixed Riley with a gaze. “I promise, I won’t start meddling, but I think he would be good for you, And I’m meaning not just as a friend you can talk to,” she finished with a wink.

Before Riley could come up with a response, Steph was heading over to the sweets display, helping a young mother with a child selecting a treat from the various offers.

Only then, Riley’s brain did catch up with what she had said to him - he only could utter a groan when he realized that his sweet, innocent little sister had, more or less, given him her okay for having sex with a virtual stranger.

Little sisters - menaces, but you love them anyway.

September

In the weeks following Sam’s first appearance in the Graham bakery/cafe, he and Riley had gone to almost every VA meeting, and by now, both men would agree that they were no longer just fellow soldiers, but friends instead.

And somehow, having Sam as a friend brought Riley slowly out of the proverbial snail shell he had reverted to upon his return, much to the visible enjoyment of not only his whole family, but most of their patrons as well.

Sam, once you knew him a bit better, was quite an intriguing person. Not only was he charming everyone in the vicinity in a matter of seconds with just a smile and some well-chosen words, he also had an almost miraculous way with children, quickly adapted to life in a small town, and managed to get the silent approval of the whole Graham family in no time.

Riley also learned all about Sam’s ex-boyfriend Steve, another fellow soldier, who was, more or less, responsible for Sam ending up in a warzone in the first place. And while Sam’s voice turned a bit bitter whenever they ended up talking about the blonde somehow, he also stressed that they split as friends and that he held no bad feelings towards this man.

Funny enough, all these little details not only made Riley want Sam even more, he also vowed to himself to treat the other man like he should have been all along.

And as a baker and confectioner, Riley also knew the perfect way to do that.

With every kind of sweet treat known to man, of course.

Luckily for him, Autumn, and with it Halloween and Thanksgiving, was just around the corner, so to speak, and so, Sam became, more or less, Riley’s favorite “guinea pig” for testing new creations.

Sure, if asked, Riley would explain that they were just getting ready for Halloween season, and that Sam just “happened” to be around right on time to taste whatever sweet concoction Riley had come up with that day. But after a week or so, nobody, neither the patrons nor the rest of his family (and he suspected not even Sam) would believe that anymore. Heck, even Riley himself wasn’t paying it after some time.

Still, Riley kept “feeding” Sam samples, and the broad, gorgeous smile he got for each and every piece was definitely worth the effort alone.

October

Next to Christmas and Valentine’s Day, Halloween (and the weeks leading up to it), were by far the busiest time in the bakery, but still, Riley and Sam went to the meetings every week.

They usually alternated with who was picking up whom from their respective work places, and so, two weeks before “Spooky Day” (as one of the kids in Riley’s neighbourhood called it), he found himself leaning on his car right outside the town’s elementary school, where Sam was working as PE teacher and assistant event coordinator.

“Hi, Riley!”

The cheerful voice of Darcy Lewis, first grade teacher and perpetual ray of sunshine, brought Riley out of his musings.

“Hey, Darce, done for the day?” he asked with a smile.

“Yup,” the brunette answered while leaning next to Riley, “all kiddos are safely stored away at their respective homes with their parents, the rest of the week is planned out - spare time, here I come! You?”

“Yeah, at least with the daily business,” Riley admitted. None of them could explain it, but they had way more placed orders for pre-arranged plates of small desserts this year than ever before.

“Good thing that you have Sam, then,” Darcy replied with a smile.

“Yeah…, hold on, how do you know about it?”

“Oh, come on, Ri, almost everyone in town knows about you and Sam. Especially about your own way of flirting with him, through means of food.”

Riley was saved from coming up with an answer by the arrival of the man in question, dressed in light blue jeans and a burgundy polo shirt.

“Hey, Riley, hey Darcy,” Sam said while coming up to them.

“Okay, that’s my cue for leaving you boys to your devices,” Darcy announced. “Have a nice evening!” she threw over her shoulder while heading over to where her own small car was parked.

“She’s definitely something else,” Sam told Riley with a smile.

“Oh, yeah, but you can’t deny the fact that she has an almost uncanny way with the first graders,” Riley threw in.

“Yup, had the honor to witness it again today.” They both got into the car before Sam continued. “Everything’s okay, Ri? You’re here a tad early for picking me up for the meeting.”

“What? Yeah, all’s good. One of the former guys in my first unit has opened a diner the other day, and I thought we could stop for a bite before the meeting.”

“I still can’t shake the thought that you are actually the witch from ‘Hansel and Gretel’ in disguise,” Sam got out before starting to laugh. And God Almighty, Riley wanted to bottle that sound up and preserve it for all eternity.

“What makes you think so?” Riley had to put up a fight to keep a straight face, Sam’s laugh was just too infectious.

“The way you keep feeding me all kinds of food, not just the many, many samples of your own creations.”

“Well, what can I say?” Riley replied with a light shrug. “When you spend most of your time as a kid with two generations of passionate cooks, you quickly learn that you can show any kind of emotion through food.” He chanced a look at Sam before continuing. “And making sure that someone is fed, is taking care of, is, at least in my eyes, an equivalent to say ‘I love you’.”

Sam was silent, and for a few moments, Riley feared that he had crossed a line that he shouldn’t have. Traffic was next to non-existent that day, and so, they were pulling into the parking lot of “Clint’s Diner” in no time.

“You really think so?” Sam finally spoke up. “About the metaphor of food and love?”

“Yeah, yeah, I do, from the bottom of my heart,” Riley admitted. “And I’m sorry…”

He didn’t get to finish that sentence, since Sam leaned over to him, and not caring at all if someone was seeing them or not, took Riley’s face into both hands, locked gazes with him and planted a kiss on his lips.

A kiss that was sweeter than anything Riley ever had tasted before. A kiss as sweet as Ambrosia.