Page 73 of You Cake My Breath Away

“Hello?”

“Archibald,” my father’s gruff voice comes through the speaker. “Your mother wants to know if you’re going to grace us with your presence at Thanksgiving this year.”

Thanksgiving? How is it that soon? And why would they want me there when I haven’t attended a Thanksgiving with them since Sebastian passed?

“I hadn’t planned on it,” I reply.

I normally spend the holiday with Nora and Shantel, my actual family, and Tilly normally spends it with her father.

He grunts like it’s the exact answer he expected me to say. “Good,” he mumbles. I wait, because I know there’s more. He wouldn’t call me for just any reason. “Well, since you’re not going to be doing anything important, Mr. Kennedy at The Dominion needs a new bar top and I told him you’d do it.”

I sigh. This is typical of my father. He wants nothing to do with me, yet he wants to use me to better his standing at their country club. At least my construction company gets good word of mouth from it.

“How much?” I ask. If I’m going to do this in my spare time away from Tilly and the bakery, it better be worth it financially.

“How much?” He scoffs like I’ve offended him.

“Yes, Father. I don’t work for free.”

“I heard you’ve been working for free someplace else,” he replies. “Everyone’s been talking about you and Jessie’s girl.”

He knows her name. He hired her family to cater Claire’s wedding, and Tilly made the cake. He’s being the asshole I know him to be by not addressing her correctly to spite me.

Shards of glass stab my throat as I swallow. “What of it?”

He laughs. “Wilsons don’t do sloppy seconds, Archibald. Don’t tarnish our reputation by having the gossip mill running.”

I dig my fingernails into the brick fireplace mantle, clenching my jaw as pain slices across the pads, ready to curse out my father for even insinuating Tilly’s worth, like he knows the value of anything but pride. Warm arms slide beneath my shirt, and my abs tense as Tilly’s hand ventures south. I suck in a breath and close my eyes when she sneaks below my waistband.

“Is he coming?” My mother’s chipper voice floats into my ear, reminding me I’m on the phone.

I cough, sputtering at her choice of words just as Tilly’s smooth hand finds me hot and heavy for her.

“I’ll contact Mr. Kennedy.” I disconnect the call and pull Tilly around to my front, pressing her back to the fireplace. “You’re a naughty girl.”

She draws her lips between her teeth. “I was lonely in there, and you seemed tense. Everything okay?”

I kiss her softly and pull her back into the kitchen, trying to figure out what to tell her. She’s never really asked about my relationship with my parents, but I’m sure Jessie probably told her.

I shrug. “My parents were asking if I was coming to Thanksgiving.”

“Oh.” She leans against the fridge. “Are you going?”

“Hell no.” I scoff. “I usually spend it with Nora and Shantel.” She looks down at her shoes, not meeting my eyes. I reach over and tilt her chin up with my knuckle. “What’s up, Til?”

“Would you maybe want to…spend it with me?” Her coffee-colored eyes are filled with so much hope my chest constricts. “I mean, I know we haven’t really talked about what we’re doing, but…”

“Yes,” I cut her off. “I’d love to spend the holiday with you.”

She smiles. “Really?”

I figure saying “I want to spend every holiday with you for the rest of my life” is probably too soon and will scare her off, so instead I pull her into my arms and kiss her delirious. I so badly want to ask her to let me love her, to be my everything, but if I dump the magnitude of my feelings on her so soon, she might get overwhelmed and want to take a step back. Not to mention, things are still up in the air with the hosting job. As much as it pains me to take it slow, I can’t risk losing her after she’s finally given me a chance.

Chapter thirty-eight

Tilly

Sunlight spills into the room when Shantel walks in the front door carrying the ingredients I need for my rhubarb and elderflower cupcakes. Ever since I got home and put the display case and lights up at the bakery, I’ve been flooded with ideas for new desserts. It’s almost like my brain knows we’re inching closer to the bakery opening, and it wants to be sure I’ve got enough ideas to tide me over. Using Archer’s kitchen has been nice, but I missed my large island and double oven.

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