She lifts onto her tiptoes and presses her lips to mine. It’s gentle, reverent, like she’s afraid I’ll vanish if she moves too fast. “I don’t want to lose this,” she whispers.
“You won’t,” I say, too fast, too certain. “I plan to be here with you forever if you’ll have me?”
She is my future. She’s my everything.
She lifts her head back from my chest, eyes on mine.
“I’ll have you today, tomorrow, and forever.”
I release a breath I didn’t know I was holding, then I lean down and kiss her until we’re breathless all over again.
Cementing our words. Sealing our fate.
39
Savannah
“He’s getting so big now.” Griffin lifts Tommy from the crib as I take my seat in the rocking chair. It’s close to three a.m., and while tired, the exhaustion I was feeling after birth has left me, all three of us now getting more sleep as Tommy settles into his routine.
“He’ll be gone off to college before we even realize,” I joke as Griffin passes me my son, and I rest him on my chest. He’s hungry tonight, nuzzling me within seconds. Sometimes I still can’t believe this is my life. That this impossibly steady, impossibly gentle man chooses to sit on the floor at my feet every night like it’s the most natural thing in the world. That he touches me like I’m something precious. That he looks at Tommy like he’s a miracle instead of a complication.
“I wanted to talk to you about that, actually.”
I look at Griffin curiously as he takes a seat at my feet, picking one up and starting his nightly massage. I live for these moments. They’re so peaceful, all three of us together in the darkness of the early morning. While the world is asleep and quiet, Griffin pampers me as I feed my son. I know I’m lucky. I’m not sure what other partners get up for every nighttime feed to support new moms, but the percentage is undoubtably low.
“About what?”
“College,” he says, and my eyebrows shoot up.
“What about it? We have a while to go, you know.” I smile, teasing him.
“Well, you know I’ve been working with Sawyer on some things with my father and all, but one of the other things we’ve been working on is putting together a trust for Tommy. Something he can use when he’s older. But I also put money away for a college education in case he wants one.”
I stare at Griffin, eyes wide in disbelief. “A college fund?”
“Just putting things in place. Ensuring he’s looked after. The money’s locked away. No one and nothing can touch it.” He nods, assured. Clearly, it’s a done deal.
“I don’t know what to say…” It’s the truth, I don’t. I’m happy, excited, relieved, grateful. Who knows if Tommy will want to go to college; he might be like Griffin and take to more of a trade. But saving for college would have been something I’d need to think about at some stage, hoping the bakery could be a roaring success to provide Tommy with that option. Now I don’t need to work myself to the bone to ensure that happens.
“You don’t have to say anything. I just wanted to let you know.”
“You know that I’m not expecting that from you. I’m not expecting you to fund any type of lifestyle. I mean, I know you’re wealthy. This house alone tells me that. You even have your own jet. But I’m not with you because of that. I want you to know… I’m not looking for handouts…” I know he knows, but I want to reiterate it. Because this is very generous, and for him to have it already set up with Tommy so young, I can only imagine what else he might do as time goes on.
“Oh, believe me, I know. You haven’t taken a single cent from me that I haven’t given you because I wanted to. You never ask for a thing. And I know you’ve been saving money to pay me back for the hospital costs for when Tommy was born, which you damn well know I won't be accepting.”
I gulp. I should’ve known he’d catch on to that.
“I have money. Not a lot. The bakery is growing, though, so I can take care of myself and Tommy.” I feel proud of that fact. Sure, I’m no millionaire, but Betty’s is getting busier. It provides a strong, regular income now, and while I still have some big purchases to make, like new mixers and a new oven, the weekly revenue the bakery generates is more than I ever expected.
“I know you can. I also know that bakery of yours is doing well, going to continue to do well, and is going to be a fantastic and extremely profitable business for you. But you need to know that I have a lot of disposable income. And I would like to invest it in us. Our family.”
I take a deep breath. This conversation is more serious and life-changing than our usual nightly chats.
“Okay… anything else you just want me to know about?” I ask tentatively, feeling like there’s more.
Griffin shifts on the floor, and for the first time since I’ve known him, he looks… unsure. His thumb rubs the inside of my ankle, slow and distracted, like he’s grounding himself. His jaw flexes once, twice. It hits me then that he’s nervous. Griffin Patterson, who stares down million-dollar deals and construction disasters without blinking, is nervous.
“Well, I was thinking that Tommy should probably get a new name.”
