“So wait... you’re saying I might have a job at Two Sisters Bakery? One of the premier bakeries in Washington state?”
He nods. “It could be an apprenticeship. They’ll teach you everything they know over time. It’s not pastry school like you wanted, but it’s experience, which in some ways is worth even more than a certificate from a school.”
An opportunity to make my own way. “And they just want a sample of my baking?”
He nods.
“I... I finished making those sugar cookies this morning. They’re over there on the counter.”
I let Rainier pass and head into the kitchen, where he peels back the plastic wrap, takes one of my cookies and bites into it.
One bite turns into multiple, and soon he’s wolfing two, no, three, no, four of them down.
“Hey, you shouldn’t eat so many so fast!” I say, running in, pulling at his arm to stop him.
“I’m sorry, these are really fucking good, Sugar. I’m surprised.”
“You’re surprised I made good cookies?”
“Not in the slightest, just surprised how good they are. I’m not usually this much of a pig.”
I cross my arms. “I’ll have to see if there’s any truth to that.”
He finally restrains himself, and pulls the plastic back over the cookies. “Point is, this is way better than anything at Two Sisters. They’re going to hire you for sure, Sugar.”
“So what do I do then? Just take my cookies in?”
Rainier nods. “Pack them up now, and I’ll drive you right down there to meet Greta.”
My heart is racing. I thought my dream was dead, but Rainier is offering me another chance. As anxious as I am, I’d be a fool not to jump on this opportunity. I put on my boots, coat, and grab my plate. “Let’s go, there’s no time like the present.”
He smiles. “There really isn’t.”
I got the job.
Greta was almost as enchanted as Rainier was with my cookies. She didn’t wolf them down four at a time, I assume because that’d be unladylike of her, but she said she was very impressed and that she would be glad to have me.
I squealed in delight when I heard that. It was a solution to the problem that my mother had left me with. A well-paying job that would set me up for the future, that would make me a strong, independent woman if I chose to be.
Rainier drove me back to my cabin, and now we’re sitting side by side on my sofa, my hand in his.
“Now what’re you going to do, Sugar?”
I let out a long sigh. “This is a better job than I could have ever asked for, so I guess I’m going to be staying around Linesworth. So I better find a place to live to start my new life here.”
He places both hands over mine, and looks me straight in the eyes. “What does that mean for us then?”
“Uh....” I nibble on my lip. I’m thankful that Rainier helped me get this job, but there’s still some unanswered questions.
“There has to be more bothering you than just work. Why did you push me away so much?”
“Honestly? It’s the whole thing with my mother.” I sulk, putting my chin in my other hand. “If she, the woman who birthed me, who took care of me for the past two decades, can betray me just like that, what’s stopping anyone else? Especially some guy I just met?”
He shakes his head. “Your mother is a piece of work. I’m not going to speak about her because I don’t know the whole story and I imagine your feelings about her are complicated. But I hope I can prove in time that I’d never betray you, Sugar. I want you to be able to be your own woman if you want. Free from your mother, and free from me if you truly want to be.”
“No. No, that’s not it,” I say, matching his head shakes with my own. “I appreciate that I have a job now, but I don’t want to be a single woman, Rainier. I want to be part of something greater. I want to be part of a family. Nothing I told you was a lie. Everything innocent and everything lewd has been straight from my heart.”
He laughs. “You mean the stuff about the family, and kids, and the man you want by your side?”
I look at him with an intensity I haven’t felt in well over twenty-four hours. “Yes. All of that.”
“Then, Sugar, give me the chance to mend your broken heart. Let me be your man, let me work towards being a part of your fantasy and a part of your dream life.”
He’s so damn sweet. Going through all of this for some girl he barely knows, giving me all the tools I need to stay comfortable, to believe he’s not putting me in another corner where I can be trapped again, cut off from the world and my dreams.