51. Tilly
Chapter fifty-one
Tilly
One Year Later...
W ind wraps my hair around the top of Jessica’s bottle and nearly rips it from her mouth as I struggle to close the window. Her rosy cheeks bounce as she sucks, and I snuggle her closer as I move around the house, trying to gather everything we need for Sunday dinner. Shuffling a diaper bag, car seat, and a baby on your own isn’t ideal, but Archer’s flying back tonight after shooting the reunion show of Stud Finders.
The season ended with the two breakout stars of the show, Canon and Bliss, at odds with each other, and everyone is dying for any tidbit of information. I try to keep up with the shows Archer is on, but half the time I fall asleep after pumping breast milk, or I’m too busy at the bakery. Now that we’ve started taking on wedding cake clients, I had to hire another assistant to help with the regular orders we get weekly. I couldn’t be more thankful to the businesses around The Pearl for constantly keeping me busy with lunch time cupcake orders and the occasional birthday cake, but I’m ready to expand.
Jessica coos and promptly follows it up with a loud belch once I put her on my shoulder. She’s been a rough sleeper, but when Archer is home, I don’t hear a peep, almost like she can’t sleep soundly when Daddy is away. I can relate. Thankfully, he’s home for the holidays, and he’s taking a break from the shows to focus on expanding the construction businesses here.
I never expected my obsession with yams would bring me this beautiful bundle of joy, but apparently, they are known to increase fertility and cause multiple ovulation, which is why I thought I was safe when our bakery case bang session ended with a ripped condom. Either way, I’m thankful for the blessing of this amazing family.
My phone vibrates along the new countertop. After moving in last year, Archer and I decided to renovate his house and expand the kitchen and garage so we could occasionally work from home. While my house was beautiful, it was mine and Jessie’s. Archer and I needed a fresh start if we were going to be able to make this work, and for Jessica to grow up in a house that wasn’t rife with bad memories for me.
“Hey Shantel.” I answer the phone and put Jessica into her car seat.
“On a scale of one to ten, how much do you love me?”
Pots clang loudly in the background, and I immediately recognize the laughing accompanying the banging as Shantel’s son, Tanner. I never thought I’d be pregnant at the same time as my sister-in-law, but crazier things have happened.
I laugh. “I love you a billion million, why?”
There’s a crash in the background and a chorus of ‘no, no, no’ but Shantel’s back on the line within seconds. “Sorry, Tanner was…on the steps. I need you to stop by the bakery.”
I sigh, wrapping my arm through Jessica’s seat and heading out to the car. “You forgot to pick up the pie, didn’t you?”
Her pause is all I need to know I’m spot on.
“I’ll do the dishes this time,” she pleads.
I secure Jessica’s seat and get in the front. “You’ll do them the next two times,” I counter .
She growls. “Fine.”
I laugh and hang up with her, focusing on the road ahead of me.
Christmas lights swoop between the lamp poles, and the tinny ding of a bell steals my attention. The same Santa from last year stands in the middle of The Pearl’s square, ringing his bell in front of a donation bin. He stops to take pictures with a family and, wrapping Jessica’s cover around her tighter, I get in line behind them. Last year, I made a wish I never imagined would come true, but it did. This year, I just want to say thanks.
After visiting with Santa and snagging a candy cane, I head toward the bakery. The December wind brushes along my bare legs, and I curse myself for wearing a dress instead of comfy leggings. At least I have earmuffs and a scarf, and a small baby who makes things ten times hotter, or else I’d be a popsicle.
I wiggle my keys out of the side of the diaper bag, insert them into the keyhole, and find the door is already unlocked. I pause on the threshold, sorting through last night, trying to remember if I locked the door. My heart thumps as I peer inside the dark bakery, careful not to make any noise.
Twinkling lights come on, and the sight of Archer in a suit steals my breath. He’s leaning against the countertop, legs crossed in front of him with a box in his hands. His head snaps up when I come in, a smile cresting his freshly shaved face. My body flushes, and Jessica stirs in my arms.
“What’s all this?” I ask, breathless.
He comes toward me and drops down to one knee. It’s in this moment I note the soft piano music playing in the background, the pictures of us strung along those twinkling lights he’s hung on the shelves .
“Tilda St. James,” he says, taking my hand and causing a shiver to speed down my spine. “You cake my breath away.”
“Arch.” I laugh, and tears form in my eyes.
“And I know we’ve hit a lot of speed bumps over the years, most of them created by me, but there’s no one else I’d want to travel this road with. Will you marry me?”
He opens the box, unearthing a stunning white gold diamond band. I gasp at the beautiful woven pattern, and Jessica’s tiny eyes open, her arms reaching out for Daddy.
“Yes.”
His eyes light up. “Yes?”
I nod and let the tears stroll down my cheeks. He places the ring on my hand and pulls me in for a heart-stopping kiss. Tiny arms latch onto his neck, and Jessica moves into his arms, curling up in her favorite place. Her piercing green eyes and dark hair are an exact replica of Archer’s, and I can’t help falling even more in love with him when I look at her.
We’ve been through more than most couples, but our foundation was built on friendship and developed into something more. Our lives have been interwoven from the beginning, and even though we couldn’t see it, we were meant to be entangled for life in one way or another. I’m lucky to have found love once, and I’m blessed to have found it twice.
Leaning into his embrace, I look into the eyes of the man who was patient with me as I struggled, who listened when I wasn’t speaking to him, the man who made every single one of my dreams come true.
“Arch,” I say, tilting his head toward me. “You cake my breath away, too.”