Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
It was exhausting—but Griffin had been my rock. We dated long-distance all through the fall and winter, trying never to go longer than a week without seeing each other, although it hadn’t been easy. The drives were rough, especially in bad weather, and Griffin always insisted on being the one to trek through the snow. He’d had to hire another mechanic to cover Saturdays so he could spend them with me.
But he never once complained. He knew how important it was to me to establish myself independently, to work for myself, support myself, feel steady on my own two feet. He understood me, and I fell more in love with him for it every day.
By springtime, we knew we couldn’t be apart any longer. After talking it over with him and asking Frannie’s advice, I made the decision to approach the older couple who owned the Main Street Bakery and offer to buy them out. They were thrilled with the idea, since they’d been wanting to retire to Florida for years and just needed the push to do it.
I’d moved in with Griffin in May, and I’d never been happier. Glancing over at him as we drove to the shop, I felt a rush of affection and gratitude. I reached out and took his hand.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing. I’m just in love with you.”
He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it. “I love you too.”
“You must, since you agreed to this photo shoot. I know you hate being the center of attention.”
“Well, you said it would be good for business. After what you did for mine, how could I refuse?”
I smiled. Griffin had invested the loan Mr. Frankel had helped him get in tools, training, advertising, and more help at the garage, and it had paid off. Andy had the social media accounts up and running, and Darlene picked up baked goods from me every morning to serve in the lobby. Swifty Auto was still the bane of his existence, but it wasn’t the threat it had been before.
Life was good.
For now, we were still living above the garage, although we sometimes talked about the day when we’d be able to afford a house. Griffin wanted some land, I wanted a little more kitchen space, and both of us wanted a family, but we weren’t in any rush (much to Darlene’s dismay).
We’d learned some things from each other over the last year. I’d learned not to ask so many questions and let things unfold a little more naturally, and Griffin had learned to ease up on his need for control and to trust his feelings.
“Looks like the photographer is there already,” I said as we pulled up in front of my bakery. As always, I had to pinch myself when I saw its black-and-white striped awning, the elegant script on the valance, the polished wood of the front door, the two little café tables in matching windows on either side of the entrance.
Inside, the kitchen was full of light, and every morning I woke up excited to put on the coffee, get the ovens going, and greet smiling customers who left their homes to come taste what I created. It meant everything to me.
It was hard to believe it was really mine—any of it, the shop, the man beside me every night, the love we shared, the life ahead, this place I called home, this hope in my heart.
It was better than a fairy tale.
“So you think we got the perfect shot?” I asked as Griffin pulled away from the shop.
“Considering that she took at least a hundred pictures, I hope so. We can’t be that un-photogenic. Well, you can’t.”
I took his hand. “That was fun, wasn’t it? I hope we get on the front page.”
“Everyone will think we’re married again.”
“Oh my God, remember that?” I laughed, recalling the way the rumor had spread. “As if that could have actually happened.”
“People like a good story.”
“Yes, they do. Hey, where are we going?” I asked when he drove past the garage without stopping.
“I thought maybe we’d take a drive.”
“Dressed like this?” I looked down at my gown.
He shrugged and gave me a little sideways grin. “I have a surprise for you.”
I gasped. “I love surprises!”
“I know.”
“Can I try to guess what it is?”
He laughed and shook his head. “If you want to.”
Craning my neck to look out the windows on all sides, I tried to figure out what direction we were headed in. “Are we going to your mom’s house for dinner?”
Griffin grunted. “Do you know me at all?”
I giggled as he got on the highway out of town. “Hmmm. The pond?”
We sometimes took a picnic over to the pond for a date night, just like we had the first week I was here. Those evenings lying in the back of his ’55 Chevy under the stars were better than any I had ever spent dancing with millionaires in hotel ballrooms.