Page 14 of Cookie
“I don’t think you understand what I’m offering you.”
“No, I don’t thinkyouunderstand. There is nothing I want. This recipe belongs to my family, and that’s where it will stay.”
“So you keep saying, which is why we tracked down your mother.”
“You what?” I sit forward, wanting to grab the old man by the collar of his fancy suit and shake him.
“She was more forthcoming and far easier to persuade. But the recipe she gave us, it’s not quite the same. Why is that?”
“Because I adapted the recipe my grandmother taught us. It’s different now.”
“And what is it that makes it different?”
“What the hell are you doing here?” Bax arrives suddenly by my side, his voice gruff and…shocked.
Frank Hollis’s eyebrows shoot up his forehead. “Is that how we raised you, Baxter? To greet your father like a nuisance?”His father?
“I told you to move on,” Bax growls.
“And I told you to do what it takes. Which it looks like you’re doing.” The old man’s eyes move between us. “I underestimated you, son.”
Bax’s lip curls but he doesn’t get to speak before I shoot up from my chair. “Son?Son?What the hell is going on here, Bax?”
“Babycakes, I can explain,” he pleads, reaching for me.
I step out of his grasp. “Don’t call me that! What is this? Am I just some…someconquestso you could get close enough to steal my recipe?” I shake my head. “Oh my god. I’m so stupid. No wonder you were so interested in me and my shop. Fuck. And I fell for it. The desperate fat girl was an easy target, right? I’ll bet you’ve been laughing your ass off.”
“Baby— Annie, no! It’s not like that at all. I love you. I promise you I wasn’t after your recipe.”
“Bullshit!” Tears burn hot in my eyes as I turn on my heel and run, dodging through the crowd with an agility I didn’t know I possessed. Heartbreak did strange things to a person, I guess.God, I feel so stupid right now.
Baxter
“What are you doing here?” I yell, raking my hands through my hair as the love of my life rushes away thinking the absolute worst of me. “You’re ruining everything.”
“Well, I’m sorry, son. I didn’t realize you were courting her in order to get the recipes, but I have to say, it’s brilliant. Make her trust you and think you’re family and we get the ingredients forfree.” He claps his hands together and laughs.
“No,” I say, placing my hands on his shoulders. “I’m not doing this for the company, Dad. I’m doing it for me. I’m in love with her, and I don’t want you to take her recipes. Iwon’tlet you take her recipes.”
Dad takes a deep inhale, his dark eyes moving between mine before he lets out a sigh. “It was the same with your mother,” he says in a softer tone than I’ve ever heard before. “I met her in the airport then changed my flight to be with her. I didn’t leave her side until she took her final breath. She’s theonlywoman who’s ever meant anything to me.”
“Then you understand why I can’t help you.”
He gives me a solemn nod. “I do. Go and get her, son. Find her and be happy.” He looks at his watch. “You have about ninety minutes until midnight.”
A great sense of relief fills my chest as I embrace him before taking off through the crowd in search of my Annie. I have no idea where she went and I’m running blindly, somehow knowing that if I trust my instincts, destiny will guide me to her.
Annie
Istop running when I hit the water’s edge, taking a deep heaving breath before I cry into my hands. How stupid can a person be? To believe that a man like Baxter could have a shred of interest in a woman like me. “Stupid, stupid,stupid,” I cry.
“You’re not stupid, Annie.” Bax’s voice sounds from behind me.
“I am,” I say, wiping at my eyes as I turn around. “I gave myself to a man I knewnothingabout. I was so desperate to be loved that I was willing to believe anything that came out of his mouth.”
“And it was all true,” he says, reaching for me. “I never once lied to you, Annie. I saw you, and I fell.” I push at his chest, struggling to believe his words when I’m so upset, but he holds me tighter. “I’m not letting you go. The moment I realized who you were, I went and called my father and told him I wouldn’t help him get your recipes.”
“But that’s why you were here, right? To convince me to sell?”
