Page 49 of Grounding the Baker
“I’m well aware, Liam. I took advantage of the full university experience.”
Liam snorted. He’d done the same thing, but then never really broken out of the cycle.
“How long were you with Ellie before you got married?”
“Two years. Maisie came along a year later.”
“I’m sorry you had to go through what you did. I can’t imagine what it must be like for Maisie to lose her mum so young.”
“Thank you. She’s a strong little girl– although I don’t feel like I can call her that for much longer. It’s why I encouraged her with the unicorn thing. I know many girls her age are over that phase, but it makes her happy, so I ignore what people say.”
“Who’s been saying stuff?” said Liam, feeling protective of Austin’s adorable little girl. What the fuck was wrong with loving unicorns?
“Nobody here, but at her old school one teacher mentioned it not being amature interest.”
“A teacher said that? Within a year of her mum dying?”
Austin chuckled.
“What’s funny?”
“I love how growly you just got. I’ll never give you the teacher’s name; I’m worried about what you might do.”
Liam smiled. He couldn’t help but feel protective of Maisie.
“I think Maisie might have a little crush on you,” said Austin. “Should be an interesting conversation when I tell her about us.”
“You want to tell your daughter about us?”
“Of course. I don’t want her hearing it at the school gate from one of the gossips.”
“Does she even know you like guys?”
“Not yet, but that won’t be an issue.”
Austin seemed confident, but Liam could understand it. Between him and Ellie, they’d raised a very caring young lady. She was always thoughtful, asking questions in order to understand things. Liam’s dad had doted on her when she’d stayed at the bakery earlier.
They chatted about Maisie, how she was doing at school and her interests, as they enjoyed the next two courses– the first being four varieties of carrot. The pesto carrot was a highlight, which was something they debated whilst trying not to laugh at the pretentiousness of it all.
The main course, or whatever they called it, was venison loin. Liam had always felt uncomfortable with venison, and never really liked the taste, but he must have had it prepared wrong in the past. The venison loin was seared, and the jus was blackberry and red wine. Parsnip silk and crispy sage accompanied it, because of course it did. Despite the hilarity of the descriptions, it all worked.
“What are you thinking about?” asked Austin once their plates were cleared.
“How am I going to top this for our second date?”
“Second date, eh?”
“I don’t think acting coy really suits the whole cowboy left his hat at home vibe.”
Austin cracked up laughing before lowering his voice. “Do you want me to wear a cowboy hat for our next date?”
“You can save that for...” He trailed off.
“Ah, noted. I’ll buy one for our fifth date.”
“Fifth date?”
“I said I wanted to woo you, Liam, so I thought the fifth date seemed like the right time to...”
