Page 15 of Cookie
He nods. “Then I fell in love with you and found out how important these recipes are to you. So I made a vow to help you protect them. I will give up Hollis foods if it means I get to be with you and grow our family and behappytogether, because, babycakes, I’ve never been more happy than I am when I’m around you. You are my world. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do or give up to make us work. I love you. From the bottom of my heart, I love you. And I’ll spend every day of my life proving that to you.”
“I want to believe you, Bax. I do. But, you can’t—”
I don’t get to say much more before his lips collide with mine and steal my words away, reminding me of what my body does when he’s around me, touching me, inside me… I want this man to be mine. I want to be his. But I’m scared.
“Does that tell you how I feel about you?”
“Bax, I—”
He kisses me again, deeper this time. My knees go weak and by the time he’s finished, I’m a trembling mess in his arms. “Don’t deny me, Annie.”
“You’d really give up your inheritance for me?”
“In a heartbeat.”
His eyes move between mine and there’s such sincerity in his that I feel sure he’s telling the truth. “I don’t want you to give up your inheritance, but OK,” I whisper.
“OK?” He tucks my hair behind my ear and caresses my cheek with his thumb.
“I love you too.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Thank god. I couldn’t stand it if we started this new year at odds with each other.”
The sound of the crowd counting down in the distance reaches our ears. “Sounds like we made up just in time,” I say.
“You bet,” he says, bringing his lips closer and closer until the crowd cheers. “Happy New Year, baby cakes.”
“Happy New Year, Bax.” By words brush against his lips as he kisses me. His tongue moves against mine, making my toes curl as I cling to him while fireworks burst in the sky overhead, starting off our new year in the most perfect way—in each other’s arms.
“How about I take you home?” Bax suggests when we come up for air. “I’m sure I can show you something else that could inspire those delicious cookies you make.”
“I’d like nothing more,” I say, sighing happily as he wraps his arm around me and we make our way into January first, the rest of the year and the rest of our lives together.
Epilogue 1
Baxter
Ten years later…
“You have to put some power into it. Mix it with your muscles, like this,” Annie says as she stands at the counter with Baxter Junior and our youngest, May. Baxter is nine now, and he’s the first to learn how to make mommy’s cookies. He’s too young to learn the secret yet, but since I learned the secret on our wedding night, I can confidently say that it blew me away—but I’ll never tell. It’s a family secret, you know.
Junior works the spoon around and around while May stands on her three-year-old tiptoes and catches the chocolate chips that fall from the bowl. I think out of all our children she’s the most like her mother. She has the same cherubic face, golden brown hair and amber eyes. The rest of our five kids have a mix of both our features, but little May is all Annie, and she’s the light of room whenever she’s present. A real little mischief maker.
“Can I stir?” she asks, holding up a silver spoon and licking her lips.
“Of course you can,” Annie says, reaching down to pick her up so she can mix with her big brother. They giggle together and I remain in the doorway, watching the happy scene as my heart fills with more love than I ever knew it could contain.
In the years since I first walked into the store and just about tripped over myself to get to Annie, I’ve discovered that my capacity to love this woman grows with every day. Sure, we’ve had our ups and downs like every couple—hint to you all, don’t try to live in the house you’re remodeling when your wife is pregnant and there’s a toddler running around—but we’ve come through it stronger and with a deeper appreciation for what we share. There isn’t a moment where I could ever imagine being without her. Annie and the kids are my everything. And in ten years’ time I’m sure I’ll be doing this again, marveling at how I managed to fall even deeper in love. But I know it’ll happen, because it happens every day.
“Hey, handsome,” Annie says when she catches me in the doorway. “We’re making choc chip and peanut butter cookies.”
“My favorite,” I say, ruffling Junior’s hair while I press a kiss against my wife’s lips. She’s pregnant with our number six, and I don’t intend on slowing down our baby making any time soon. I can’t keep my hands off her.
Epilogue 2
