Sweet Tooth (Little Cakes, #11)(22)

The blare of a horn alerting her the traffic light had turned green tore Elizabeth from her thoughts, and she forced herself to focus on the road. In a few minutes, she reached her apartment parking lot. After stopping for her mail, she bounded up the stairs to her third-floor apartment.

Elizabeth was in pretty good shape. She might be older than Tom, but her physically demanding job combined with jogging up these stairs on a regular basis kept her fit. The thought that being his Little girl would keep her feeling young flitted through her brain.

Within a few minutes, she’d packed a small backpack with clothing. After a quick shower to make sure she wasn’t coated in salad dressing and didn’t smell like the special seasoning she’d used on her grilled chicken, Elizabeth redressed in her favorite sundress. She wanted to look nice for Tom. It felt really good to have someone special in her life.

In no time at all, she had loaded everything in her trunk, texted him she was on her way, and entered his address in her navigation app just in case she’d missed any part of the trip the previous evening. His response of a kiss emoji dinged a few seconds later.

Twenty minutes later, Elizabeth was sure she was lost. Nothing looked familiar. She pulled into a driveway to turn around and head back to retrace her path. Suddenly, someone rushed up behind her car, waving their arms, and Elizabeth looked in the rearview mirror to see Tom coming toward her.

Elizabeth put her car into park and opened the door to scramble out as he ran forward. “Hi! Where are we?”

“You forgot to turn at the big oak. This is my folks’ home,” Tom told her before hugging her and pressing a fiery kiss to her lips that took her breath away. “I missed you today.”

“I missed you today too. But wait, what are you doing here?”

“I jumped in my truck and followed you when I saw you pass the house.”

“Oh.” She smiled. “I guess you were watching for me.”

“Of course.” He grinned. “I was anxious to see you. I figured you would turn around when you realized you’d gone too far.”

“Tom?” a woman’s voice called from the front porch. “Bring that woman you’re kissing to meet us.”

“Sorry. I guess you get to meet my folks. They’re nice. I’ve already told them about you.”

“Really? I’m not really prepared to meet them,” she stammered, surprised he’d already talked to his parents about her.

“You look adorable. Drive down to park by the garage. I’ll follow you,” he promised.

By the time Elizabeth stepped out of the car a second time, he was there to take her hand. “Breathe, Little girl. My family will love you.”

“Are there more people here?” she asked nervously.

“You chose a good day to be lost. Judging by the cars parked in this driveway, I’d say almost the whole gang’s here. Fair warning, they’ll ask us to stay for dinner. We don’t need to unless you’re having fun.”

Elizabeth looked at him skeptically. She wasn’t ever going to choose the stress of being with his family over being alone with him. “Maybe we should just go home,” she murmured.

“Home. I like the sound of that,” he said with a grin as they walked up the front steps.

“So, this is Elizabeth. I’m Tom’s mom, Susan,” the cheerful woman greeted her with a hug.

Immediately Elizabeth felt more at ease as she stepped back from the embrace. The woman wore shorts and a battered T-shirt without a lick of makeup on her tanned face. Laugh lines gathered at the corners of her mouth and eyes. It was obvious Susan enjoyed life to the fullest.

Three more people stepped out onto the porch.

“This is my husband, Cecil, and our daughters, Mary and Margaret.”

The two women were casually dressed as well, and one was extremely pregnant. They hugged Elizabeth before looking at Tom with smiles. Elizabeth had the impression they approved of her.

“You’re the owner of Nibbles & Bites. I love that spinach salad you have,” the expectant mother, Margaret shared. “I bet it’s even better now that you’re using Delaney produce. You’ll see me in your restaurant soon. I’ve been craving that delicious dressing.”

“I’d love to see you any time. And I agree, the produce Tom delivers is a step above the others. Do you all work for the business?” she asked.

“We do. Along with Matthew and Mark, our other brothers,” Mary said.

“Come in,” Susan encouraged. “Would you like some tea or lemonade? I just made both fresh. And you’ll stay for dinner, won’t you? It’s almost ready and I think the boys have about fifteen minutes’ work left in the garden.”

“Task master,” Margaret said, rubbing her swollen belly.

“I’ll go help them,” Cecil announced.

Tom hesitated, glancing at Elizabeth. “Will you be okay if I go help my brothers too? It won’t take long with all four men.”

Elizabeth was nervous about being left with his mother and both sisters, but she would have to get to know them eventually, and she didn’t want to be rude. “I’m fine, Tom. Go help,” she assured him before turning to his mother to accept her offer of a lemonade.

“We won’t stay for dinner, Mom,” Tom quickly told his mother.