Page 62 of No Going Back
But it was also terrifying. What if he was no better than his parents? What if Troy’s mom had actually spared him—spared them both—the pain of discovering he was destined to carry on the history of selfishness and neglect that made him who he was?
It was too much to think about. More than he could handle.
“I should probably get going.” Griffin carefully eased away from Dianna, doing his best not to disturb the blanket keeping her warm. “I’ll be back after dinner.”
Dianna immediately jumped up, grabbing the blanket as she steadied the swing. “Do you want to take that cake with you?” She followed him into the kitchen, going to the box containing the chocolate mousse cake one of her customers hadn’t been able to pick up yesterday. “I’m certainly not going to eat it, so unless you want to be the one to eat it—”
Griffin snagged the box from the counter. “I’ll take it.” He gave her a smile, fighting to tamp down all those old memories and feelings their conversation dredged up. “I’ve heard Amelie mention this specific cake more than once, so I’m guessing she will be happy as hell to see me walk in with it.”
It might also be a way to ease into telling his son and daughter-in-law that he and Dianna were spending time together. He didn’t want to keep any part of his life from Troy, but hadn’t quite come up with a good way to explain the situation. To make sure Troy knew he would always come first. That Dianna understood he wouldn’t let anything get in the way of their relationship.
Dianna beamed at him, her bright smile helping to push a little more of the darkness away. “Thank God. I was really scared I was going to be left alone in this house with that cake all day, and I wasn’t sure how that was going to work out.”
He gave her a quick kiss, needing just a little bit more of her before he left. “You want me to bring you back a piece?”
He initially assumed owning a bakery meant unlimited treats, but that wasn’t how it worked out. At least not Dianna’s bakery, because she was either one hell of an efficient businesswoman, or the people of Moss Creek were determined to buy everything they could get their hands on every single day.
Honestly, it was probably a little bit of both.
Dianna shook her head. “No way.” She leaned in, lowering her voice like she was telling him a secret. “Tomorrow I’m making triple berry tarts and I actually kind of have my heart set on one of those.”
He lifted his brows. “Triple berry tarts you say?”
Dianna dropped the blanket onto the couch as they moved to the door. “Should I maybe set two aside instead of just one?”
“I wouldn’t be upset if you accidentally had one left at the end of the day you needed to get rid of.” Griffin snagged her, bringing her in for another kiss, brushing his lips over hers one more time. “Maybe make that two.”
* * *
“I’M SO EXCITED about this damn cake.” Amelie slid Dianna’s gift from the box and carried it to the center of the table. “I’ve been craving one of these for weeks, but I’m trying to be good and feed the baby more fruits and vegetables instead of just the pancakes and peanut butter toast I lived on the first twelve weeks.”
“Considering his genetics, you should probably eat as much sugar as possible. See if you can make him a little sweeter.” Troy sliced into the layers, shooting Griffin a grin before his eyes focused on his wife.
Amelie stacked the dessert plates beside him, leaning in close. “You’re sweet.”
Troy dropped a slice of cake onto the top plate and passed it to her. “I wasn’t talking about me.”
Amelie scoffed, jaw dropping open in mock outrage. “Are you really giving your pregnant wife a hard time—” Her brows pinched together and one hand went to her belly.
Troy went still, watching her closely. “Everything okay?”
Amelie blinked a few times, her lips pressing down at the corners. “I’m okay.” She set her plate on the table and backed away. “I think I just have to go to the bathroom.” She rushed from the room, moving a little faster than normal.
Griffin glanced at the remnants of their taco dinner. “Do you think the food upset her stomach?”
Troy shook his head. “I wouldn’t think so.” He set down the knife he was using to cut the cake and turned toward the hall just as Amelie screamed his name.
Troy took off running with Griffin following close behind him. He shoved open the bathroom door and they both stopped in their tracks.
Amelie sat on the toilet, pants around her ankles, streaks of red blood covering her thighs.
“I shouldn’t be bleeding.” Her voice was filled with panic as she grabbed a wad of toilet paper and wiped at her skin. “Why am I bleeding?”
“We need to go to the hospital.” Troy grabbed Amelie and lifted her off the toilet, dragging her pants up her legs. “Now.”
“I can take you.” Griffin bit back the fear trying to make his voice rise. He didn’t know anything about pregnancy, but even he recognized something was seriously wrong. “Get her in the backseat of my truck. Keep her feet propped up.”
He followed Troy and Amelie out, helping get her loaded up before taking off toward town. Troy sat in the back seat, holding his wife close as she called the doctor and cried into his chest. Each tear that fell down her cheek pushed his foot closer to the floor.
