Page 42 of No Going Back
“I disagree.” Griffin slowly inhaled, the action almost seeming to steady him. “My favorite thing you bake is the red velvet brownies with cream cheese frosting.”
It was an interesting choice considering it was one of her least popular items. To the point that she didn’t make them anymore. “Are you a big fan of red velvet?”
Griffin shook his head. “No. You had them the day I first came to Moss Creek and I ate one as I drove out to meet my son for the first time. Those brownies remind me of that day.”
Oh.
Dianna took a shaky breath, trying to steady the emotion already attempting to tighten her throat. “My favorite thing to bake is angel food cake.”
It was a somewhat difficult recipe, not conducive to mass production unless you coordinated it with a plan involving custard to use up all the egg yolks. But that wasn’t the real reason she never made it at The Baking Rack.
The actual reason felt too personal. Too special to share. So she kept it for herself, holding it close.
But maybe hiding away all the best moments of her life made it easier for the bad ones to take up the space in her head.
“It was the first thing my grandmother taught me how to bake and I was the only person she ever shared her recipe with.” Dianna swallowed hard, hoping to steady the waver in her voice before adding on the full scope of why she was so fiercely protective of anything her grandmother’s memory touched. “She’s the only one who’s ever really loved me just the way I am.”
The admission was painful, but entirely true. Everyone else in her life wanted her to be different. What they considered better. They all found her lacking and in need of improvement.
Everyone but her grandmother.
“Sounds like she was a smart woman.”
Dianna’s eyes jumped to meet Griffin’s. She’d almost expected him to argue. To point out that certainly everyone thought she was fine just the way she was. But he hadn’t.
And somehow that was better.
She smiled, a little of the weight pressing in on her lungs lifting. “I’d like to think so.”
“I mean, she didn’t get to see how your friendship with Snickerdoodle worked out. She might have changed her opinion if she had.” Griffin gave her one of the lopsided smiles that always made her heart skip a beat. “But my guess is she would’ve thought that was fantastic too.”
He wasn’t far off.
Dianna pressed her lips together, another fond memory easily sliding into place. “She’s the reason I feed the squirrels and the birds. She did the same thing.”
Her grandmother had been one of the happiest people she’d ever known. Part of her thought if she just tried hard enough, she would find the same joy. But it turned out not to be so simple.
Griffin lifted his brows. “So it’s her fault Snickerdoodle broke into your house.”
Dianna laughed, unable to stop the sound. “Honestly, she would’ve probably found it hilarious.”
“I think I would’ve liked this woman.” Griffin’s touch teased down the side of her neck. “Tell me more about her.”
“Maybe later.” Dianna grabbed the front of his shirt, giving him a little push. “If you get to know me better, I should get to know you better too.”
Griffin scoffed. “I already told you what my favorite thing you bake is.”
Dianna let her head tip back, eyes rolling to the ceiling. “Then it’s your turn again.”
“Fine.” Griffin’s expression sobered the tiniest bit. “Ask me a question.”
There were so many possibilities. Enough that it should be difficult to narrow down to one.
But it wasn’t.
“Have you ever been married?” It was hard to imagine Griffin as a husband, but also impossible to imagine it never happened. He was kind and funny and hard-working. And horribly attractive. The chances a woman hadn’t found a way to legally bind herself to him seemed slim.
And for some reason that irritated the shit out of her. Possibly in the exact same way Cooper irritated the shit out of Griffin.
