forward until he finds someone to help him create his jewellery.
“Hey,” I say softly. “It’ll be okay.”
“Yeah,” he nods, his hands on my hips. “It will.” I’m blinded by his sudden beaming smile full of joy and excitement. “I got it.”
“No way,” I choke. “You’re kidding?”
“Nope, I got it. We start Monday.”
“Oh my god,” I squeal and hold him tighter, my face going to his neck. “I’m so happy for you.”
“Where’s Dillan?” He pulls back slightly, his eyes scanning the immediate area for the baby.
“Sleeping upstairs.” I tap the baby monitor that’s attached to the loop of my jeans. “We should celebrate… oh crap!” I pull away from him and race back into the kitchen.
Well… the milk is hot, that’s for sure.
“Oops,” I mumble and take the saucepan from the hob where the milk has bubbled over and spilled everywhere.
“I’ll do that,” Nathan says as I grab a cloth.
I wave him off. “You’ve been working hard, go and sit down. Are you hungry?”
“Not really, I ate before I left the city.”
I give him a teasing smile. “Oh, well then I guess you don’t want the cookies I made.”
He instantly perks up. “Cookies?”
“Yep,” I laugh when he darts for the oven and takes out the foil wrapped plate full of chocolate chip circular treats. “Share.” I open my mouth and wait for him to pop in a small mouthful.
He grins, places it in front of my mouth and as soon as I go to close my mouth around it he puts it in his own mouth and swallows with a groan. “Too good to share.”
“I made them,” I argue, still cleaning down the hob.
“I purchased the ingredients.” This time he does place a piece in my mouth.
He’s so right. Way too good to share. I snatch the plate from his hand and run.
“Hey,” I hear him whine before his footsteps follow mine right before he snags me around the waist and pulls me back into his chest. “They’re my celebration cookies!”
“Actually, they’re your welcome home cookies. Your celebration cake is in the fridge.”
He immediately forgets the cookies and prowls back into the kitchen.
The large white chocolate cake covered in dark blue icing sits proudly on the shelf in the middle. Placing the cookies on the side, I pull the cake out and show him the silver icing that spells, “CONGRATULATIONS!”
“What if I didn’t get it? This cake would be like a kick in the teeth,” he says quietly and stares at the amazingly decorated cake, if I do say so myself.
I place the cake on the counter and wrap my arms around his waist. “I knew you would.”
“Gwen, even I genuinely thought I wouldn’t. How could you have such faith in me?”
“Because you’re talented and amazing.” I tip my head back and wink at him. “You should have faith in yourself.”
“You spoil me.” He grins, his fingers squeezing my back for a moment. “Give me it.”
I serve two slices and hand him his, then we make our way to the dining room and sit at the table. “Tell me everything,” I demand.
“Well, I do have some other news. Good and bad.”
Hmm… I don’t like bad news. “Bad first so the good can cheer me up afterwards.”
“Okay.” He swallows his mouthful of cake and laces his fingers beneath my chin. “You won’t be getting Caleb’s trust fund. Unfortunately due to you not being married at the time of his demise, his money went to his next of kin, which was my father and mother, although my solicitor informs me that we may be able to transfer the trust fund over to Dillan. We’ll just need proof that he’s Caleb’s.”
Well that just sucks. My face falls as I realise it doesn’t look like I’ll be leaving here any time soon. Not that I want to, but it’d be nice to stand on my own two feet. It’s great that Dillan might get it though. I’ll never have to worry about affording his school expenses.
“What’s the good news?” Please be brilliant, life changing news.
“The store will be up and running in two weeks and I received my trust fund plus interest.” He pauses for a moment and I bite back the urge to squeal with delight. “So… I got you a gift.”
What? “That’s great, but you’ve already given me enough.”
“It’s mostly because I’ll be travelling a lot again. I want to open a second location if this store does well.” He runs his tongue across his lower lip and pulls out a single black