Page 101 of Always Yours

He hums against my neck, nibbling at my flesh before nuzzling his nose along my ear. “I could argue that I’ve always thought you smelled like a warm, sugary treat—”

“I am about to go finish getting ready if I can’t get an answer,” I warn him. “And no sugar will be had.”

He chuckles against my throat. “Like you would resist me.” Oh, that ego. And damn it, I know he’s right. I would fall before him with my legs wide open and have no regrets whatsoever. Thankfully, it doesn’t come to that. “My grandma made me Kartoshka growing up.”

I smile. “Did she add cognac?”

His lips part, and then he turns me around in his arms, eyeing me. “Yes, she did.”

My smile is so wide as I look up at him. “So, one of the compounds we stayed in when I was younger was in Pennsylvania, and it was this small little town of Russians who had moved here during the First World War and made a home. There was this beautiful older lady there we all called Babu because I couldn’t say babushka. We didn’t have Elliot or Clara yet, so everyone did what I wanted because I was the baby,” I tell him, and gone is that fire in his eyes, replaced by compassion and excitement for the story. “She loved me so much. And oh, I loved her. She was so good to me. We would have full conversations in Russian since Louisa and Eliza weren’t fluent like me. She would carry me on her back, tote me all over town, called me her baby, and we would do nothing but bake for her bakery. Oh my goodness, she taught me so much,” I gush, almost dancing on my toes.

His eyes move along my face, a grin sitting on his lips as he runs his thumb in circles along my neck.

“The girls all say I’m fluent because of her, and they’re probably right. But anyway, she taught me to make all kinds of things, but one of my favorites was Kartoshka because of the crumbling of the cookie. I felt like I had to be so perfect when under the Grandmaster’s gaze, that when she let me rip things and smash them up, I was in heaven. We used to make different kinds with different cookies, and they were so good.”

“Um, you’ll have to make me some,” he announces, and I grin, nodding excitedly.

“I can make it. Oh, I loved her,” I say, my heart squeezing at the memory of Babu. “My mother got in big trouble for allowing us to see her and be with her without supervision. At one point, we were forbidden to be with her since local men did come into the shop from time to time. But Babu looked at the Grandmaster and told him if we weren’t allowed to be with her, then she would have him removed from the town.”

“Bet he didn’t care for that.”

I shake my head. “No, not at all. Wow, I’m surprised by the emotion I’m feeling right now,” I say, trying to laugh off my tears. Before I can wipe them, Dimitri is there, concern in his features. “I wish you could have met her. She was just the kindest person, and I felt so loved when I was with her.” I clear my throat, my chest hurting. “Since Babu was a strong woman, the Grandmaster told everyone God said we had to leave, that our time was over in the town. We left two days later, and I swear I can still hear her wails and sobs. She took pictures of me, cried on me, but even when I was forced to go, she brought us the biggest baskets of cakes and food. She gave my mother money, begged her to leave that ‘bad man,’ and also gave us her number. We didn’t even reach the interstate before the Grandmaster came to our car and took everything. My pictures, the food, money, her number, everything.”

“Janie, baby, I’m sorry.”

I wave him off, shaking my head. “This was like twenty years ago, but I do believe that moment really woke me up.”

“How could it not? That’s eye-opening.”

“Exactly, and when I left, the first thing I did was go to find her.” Dimitri’s eyes kill me as I meet them. “She died barely a week after we left. Her son told me she had a broken heart, but Louisa and Eliza think the Grandmaster did something to her because we all had a feeling she might come for us. Peepaw claims that the Grandmaster tried to have him killed off many times.” My voice breaks, and I close my eyes. “It’s memories like those that make me so glad I got away.”

“Me too,” he whispers, his thumbs soothing me in small, lazy circles. “Janie, I’m sorry for the loss of your Babu.”

I try to smile, but I know I look crazy. I sniff away my tears, wiping my face. “I want to make you those Kartoshka, just the way she taught me.”

“Baby, I’ll eat the heck out of those things because they’re not sweet like this trash.”

I shake my head. “Whatever.”

“I know she didn’t teach you this.”

I laugh with him. “No, my peepaw did.”

“And he grew up here in Tennessee?”

I nod. “Where everything is fried and rolled in sugar.”

Dimitri’s face brightens. “Exactly,” he says, moving his thumb across my cheek. “How many locations did you guys live in?”

“Thirty-two,” I answer. “All over the place.”

“What was your favorite?”

I smile. “I loved the beach, but nothing will ever replace the memories and love I felt in Pennsylvania.”

He cuddles me closer. “I want to take you there, after I make the team and we get that break before preseason starts. It’s only a few days, but—”

“Yes,” I practically beg. “I’d love that.”

---