Page 122 of Going for Gold (Sweet Cravings 3)

"Let's just say those were some of the best nights of my life. Up there with when you were born, my beautiful, Alina." She put her hand under my chin.

I didn't know what to say. "But only you and them knew. Not the whole world."

She waved her hand in the air. "And the next scandal will come soon enough. Everyone will forget. It's a burden that you'll carry alone, making it a monster in your own mind. I carried mine and lived through it. It'll be the same for you. But really, once you settle down and have children, you'll remember it more fondly. You'll think back and know what it was like to be so utterly satisfied that you completely lost control. To know what it was

like to truly live." She sighed.

Oh my God.

"And your regret will turn into a memory. There's only moving forward. Stop looking back, Alina."

I was still having trouble processing the fact that my grandmother was into foursomes. I shook away the thought. "How can I look forward when my dad just took my future away from me?"

My grandmother shook her head. "Your father is incorrigible. I signed over the lease to him years ago. He didn't even ask me. Don't worry, I'll be giving him a piece of my mind. That bakery was for you. All I've ever wanted was for you to take it over."

None of us said anything for a long time.

"So you think he'll get over it and change his mind, right?" asked Kristen.

"I think the deal closed this afternoon," replied Grandma. "He was serious when he said it was done."

It was what I had been fearing. "I can't believe it's really done. I always thought it would be mine." My voice sounded small.

"There's other ways. You'll start your own bakery somewhere else. You'll make your own legacy."

"But my dream is your bakery."

My grandmother nodded. I knew she understood. The bakery had probably been even more important to her than it was to me.

"One day at a time, dear granddaughter." She patted my knee. "Now, who is Bryce?"

I sighed and leaned my head on my grandma's shoulder. "The most amazing guy I've ever met."

"You know, I got together with your grandfather right after dating my farm boy."

"Did he know about your time on the farm?"

"I told him everything."

"And he was okay with it?"

My grandmother laughed. "I think he liked that I was a little wild."

What I had done was probably classified as more than a little wild.

Chapter 53

Alina

I listened to Bryce's message again: "Alina." There was a sigh. "I need to talk to you. Please, please call me back. I..." his voice trailed off. "I need to see you." The recording beeped, signaling that it was over.

He had left that message the day after I had fled Brazil, but I hadn't heard it until today. My phone was finally charged again and I was quickly losing battery from replaying the message over and over.

I was trying not to read too much into it, but it was hard not to. He had wanted to talk to me the day after the tiebreaker. But after a week, he hadn't been as interested. If he had been, he would have let me into his apartment. I knew I should just call him. But right now, I was clinging to that small thread of hope that he might still want me. As soon as I made that call...that would be it. Right now, I just wanted to believe that we could still have a future. Even if I was lying to myself.

"Alina?" my dad said.

I jumped. I had woken up with the sunrise. I couldn't sleep. All night I had dreamed of some developer coming in and demolishing the bakery.

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