Page 56 of Cognac & Cornflowers

“I’m sorry.” She sounded sad again.

“There’s no need to be. I’m on my way. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

“Okay.”

Either she was tired, or there was something wrong. Whichever it was, he planned to find out and make it better.

When he let himself in through the back door and into the kitchen, the house felt more like home to him than it had in years. It smelled like home. The kitchen was bright and cheerful and from the way it smelled, Becca had been baking something amazing.

She came to him with a smile that looked forced. “Hey.”

“Hi.” He pressed a kiss to her lips and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close to his chest. “Did you have a rough day at school?”

“No. School was fine.”

“What then?”

She shook her head against his chest. “Do you want to eat? Elena left us an enchilada casserole.”

He got the impression that she wasn’t in the mood to go out, so he nodded. “That sounds good. But it’s not what smells so good, is it?” He cocked an eyebrow, hoping to make her smile.

She did. “I made something for you.”

“What is it?”

She shrugged. “It’s not fancy, but it’s one of my favorites and I think you’ll like it.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it because you made it for me. I don’t think anyone’s ever made anything for me before.”

She frowned.

“What?”

“I wouldn’t let Elena hear you say that!”

“Oh, shit! No. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I know she cooks for me every day but …” What could he say? That it was her job? It was, but that’d just make him sound like he didn’t appreciate everything she did for him – how much she cared, and he knew that she cared, just like he cared about her. She’d been with the family forever.

“You meant none of your girlfriends have cooked for you before.”

That was an edge to her voice that surprised him. “Yes. I suppose that is what I meant.” He waited, wondering what else she might have to say about that. Something was obviously bothering her. He just hoped that she’d get straight to it. He’d never done well with women who let things stew. He hated when they expected him to try to figure out what their problem was all by himself – when they expected him to read their minds or somehow tease the information out of them.

He hoped that Becca wasn’t going to be that way. He’d find a way to handle it if she was. It was still such early days for them that they hadn’t even had their first fight yet. He didn’t know what to expect, but he did know that he wanted to find ways for them to work together.

She held his gaze for a long moment, and then her shoulders slumped, and she gave him a sad smile. “Can we go back to being friends for a minute? There’s something I need to talk to you about. I need to talk to my friend and ask him what he thinks. I don’t want to try and figure out what the girlfriend of a Napa bigshot is supposed to do.”

He had to swallow the emotions that burned in his throat. He should have known better. She wasn’t going to act like other women he’d known because she wasn’t like them. He drew her to him and dropped a kiss on her forehead.

“We never stopped being friends, Becca. That comes first – always. It’s the foundation for everything. I don’t want you to figure out what the girlfriend of a Napa bigshot might do – ever. Because that’s not who you are. I mean, you are my girlfriend. But more than that, you are my friend. You’re the person who means the most to me in the world.” He looked down into her eyes. “You’re my best friend, and I hope you always will be.”

Her big green eyes sparkled with tears as they looked up into his. “I’d like that. And I’m sorry I’m being so shitty. But something happened today. I feel bad about it – for a couple of reasons. And I need to talk to you about it.”

“Okay. Can dinner wait? Do you want to go and sit down in the study, and we can talk it through?”

She nodded. “If that’s okay with you. If you don’t mind waiting?”

“Nothing’s more important to me than you are.” As he took her hand and led her to the study, he had to smile when she entwined her fingers with his. That made it feel like whatever her problem was, it wasn’t anything that could come between them. He’d come to see the way she did that as a sign that their lives would be entwined together from now on.

He didn’t even ask before he fixed her a Cognac with cola and poured his own glass. He had a feeling he might need a drink for this.

---