He picked up a striped candy cane cookie instead, holding it delicately between his forefinger and thumb. The red, white, and green icing stripes were neat and relatively even, with only one spot where a tiny trickle of white had mixed with the red. That small imperfection made him smile. This cookie had undoubtedly been decorated by Gabriela.
When he lifted it to his nose and inhaled, he was hit by a pair of appetizing scents—the cookie and its icing, each smell unique but complementing one another. Broxen opened his mouth and took a small bite.
“Mmm,” was all he could manage as he chewed. He’d tasted pre-packaged cookies from the grocery store, and they were fine, but this was something entirely different. Sweet and buttery but not overly so, the icing and the cookie in perfect balance.
The rest of the candy cane vanished in one more bite. Broxen hadn’t quite finished chewing it before he made his next selection, the green tree with red, blue, and yellow dots all over it and a star on the top. A Christmas tree. His smile widened as he turned the cookie to look it over. The dots were haphazard and uneven, and the green icing had run off one side of the cookie. Another of Ana’s creations.
Broxen devoured the cookie and picked up the next one. His mind was overwhelmed by the flavor, the sweetness, the surprise of having been gifted them. Perhaps that was why they tasted so good.
Or, perhaps, Gabriela was simply a good baker.
By the time he stopped himself, only one cookie remained on the plate, surrounded by crumbs and a few flecks of icing. The bear continued to stare up at Broxen, happy despite its companions having been devoured before its very eyes.
He still couldn’t bring himself to eat it. This one was special, just for him. He’d save it for a more special time.
Broxen stood up, picked up the plate, and walked into the kitchen. He put the bear cookie into a plastic sandwich bag and set it on the counter. As he washed Gabriela’s plate, he was struck by the kindness of her gesture.
He knew Gabriela had struggled. He knew she was tight on money, that she often cut it close paying her bills. In the fall, while the weather was still nice enough for windows to be open during the day, he’d heard her on the phone with debt collectors and credit companies. He knew she had little to spare most of the time. But she’d still shared this with Broxen.
Perhaps a few cookies wasn’t much, but he knew from experience that value was relative. The less you had, the more you valued those things. For her to have thought of him, to have shared with him, to have made him a small part of something she and her daughter had done together, meant a lot to him.
He set the plate in the drainboard and glanced around his house again. The living room, kitchen, and dining room were all connected in one large, open space. What would it be like to have that space full of life? To have Gabriela and Ana here, laughing and talking, to have music playing and the fire crackling?
Maybe if he had someone to cook for, he’d finally take out those steaks.
Broxen could almost imagine this home with Gabriela’s touch applied to it. He could almost imagine the door opening and little Ana bounding through, offering a big smile to her mother and Broxen. He could almost hear her tell them about her day at school.
And he could almost feel Gabriela’s hips between his hands as the Broxen in his imagining walked up to her from behind and swept her into a kiss after Ana had raced into the spare bedroom. He could almost taste those full, enticing lips. He could almost smell her scent and feel her warmth as she turned toward him and wrapped her arms around him, pressing her soft, sensuous body against his.
His heart sped and his breath grew ragged as blood rushed to his groin again. Coiled heat dominated his chest. Planting his fists on the counter, he bowed his head, and strands of his long hair fell around the sides of his face. This desire was becoming so strong that it hurt, and that wasn’t dissuading him at all.
There was no doubt in his mind now—he wanted Gabriela and Ana to be his. To be his family. And tomorrow at ten o’clock, he would begin working toward that.
He would seize every opportunity to make Gabriela his mate.
Five
“Did you brush your teeth?” Gabriela asked as she placed the large glass mixing bowl in the dishwasher.
“Yeah,” Ana called from her bedroom.
Gabriela added soap to the dishwasher, closed the door, and started it. She turned to look at the rest of the kitchen. Everything had been tidied. The dirty dishes were all in the dishwasher; the flour, powdered sugar, and smeared icing had been cleaned from the island counter; and the cookies were spread out on parchment paper so their icing could finish hardening overnight.
She smiled as she ran her eyes over the cookies. Each one was uniquely decorated.
It had been a good day. A better than good day.
Gabby pushed away from the sink and headed for Ana’s bedroom, stopping in front of the Christmas tree along the way. There were five gifts for Ana under the tree, including the couple Gabby had wrapped while her daughter was in the shower earlier, and the little tissue-paper-wrapped bundle Ana had made at school sat in front of them.
Ana had been so proud and excited when she’d placed it there.
Smile widening, Gabriela continued to her daughter’s room.
Ana was lying on her stomach on her bed, drawing in a sketchbook, a rainbow of markers spread on the blanket beside her. She had changed into a blue long-sleeved shirt and pajama pants with little sloths on them. The overhead light cast a warm glow on the room, which was filled with so many pinks, purples, and blues that you’d think a unicorn had farted in it.
That probably wasn’t too far from the truth considering all the unicorn décor. There were unicorn posters and drawings hanging on the walls, a rainbow unicorn rug on the floor, a unicorn lamp on the small corner desk, a glowing unicorn nightlight on the pink plastic storage cart Ana used as a nightstand, and stuffed unicorns and unicorn pillows on the bed. Ana was obsessed with them.
“What are you drawing?” Gabriela asked as she entered the room.
Ana hurriedly flipped over her sketch book and smiled sheepishly up at Gabriela. “Nothing.”
“Sure didn’t look like nothing.”
“It’s a secret.” Ana closed the sketchbook and gathered the markers.
Gabriela sat on the edge of the bed, grinning as Ana slipped off the other side. “I see.”
“No looking, Mom.” She set the sketchbook on her little desk and put the markers away in the top drawer.
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Better not. It’s called privacy.”
Laughter spilled from Gabby. “I’m twenty-nine years old. I believe I know what privacy is.”
Ana put her hands on her hips. “And you better not forget it.”
Shaking her head but still grinning, Gabriela pulled down Ana’s blanket. “I won’t. Now come get into bed.”
Ana climbed onto the mattress, slipped her feet beneath the covers, and lay down. She raised her arms, allowing Gabriela to draw the blanket over her before folding her hands atop her chest.
Gabriela was going to miss these moments when Ana was older. She brushed her fingers over her daughter’s forehead, smoothing her hair back. “Did you have a good day today?”
Ana smiled. “It was the best.”