Chapter Text
“I remember when James found me, once, covered in flour with flecks of dough up to my elbows,” Diana laughed as she took in Lila’s appearance. The 30-year-old was blending a large bowl of shortbread batter by hand, spatula cutting forcefully through the buttery mixture. With auburn hair piled atop her head and jumper-sleeves rolled up her forearms, she was an elegant picture of chaos.
And there was a tiny nip of flour on her nose.
“He stood there and grinned at me mischievously for what seemed like an hour, watching as I made this exact recipe,” Diana continued. She began carefully measuring semi-sweet chocolate bits into a glass container as she reminisced. “I’m fairly sure Sarah was conceived not long after that, if I remember correctly…”
“Diana!” squealed Lila. “I don’t know you that well! I don’t need to hear that!”
Blushing, the young girl gave her spatula one more strong pass around the perimeter of the bowl, scraping all the decadent goodness from the rim. She could barely look at her smirking neighbour and instead distracted herself by pushing her glasses back up the bridge of her nose; they’d worked their way down from her forceful stirring moments ago.
“Such wonderful memories, being young and in love,” Diana intoned, a far-off look in her eyes. Smiling faintly still, she broke from her trance and brought over the small mountain of chocolate pieces, dumping them into Lila’s bowl.
“All right, Lila? Fold them in.”
Flexing her fingers around the spatula once more, Lila Roman began to swirl and twist the shortbread batter, forcing the chocolates to disperse throughout the dough. Their sinful, dark presence amid the cream coloured dough would add another dimension of richness once they’d fully baked into the shortbread.
As she gave a few final turns of her spatula, Lila divulged absent-mindedly to her neighbour. “I’ve never made these before, Di. Mum and I made hundreds of sweets over the years,” she smiled a bit sadly, “but never these.” Seeing that the dough was perfectly mixed, Lila began to pour and press the mixture into a greased baking pan.
“Then these will be our special treat, won’t they?” Diana walked over to Lila, patting her lovingly on the shoulder and supervising all the while. “It doesn’t go away, dear, missing her. It never will. But it gets easier with time.”
Nodding placidly, Lila carried the pan over to the preheated oven, carefully placing the dish in the center of the top rack, closing the door, then setting the timer for 40 minutes.
“It’s been three years, though. And each December I feel sadder than the last,” Lila confessed. She looked down at her bare toes – painted a festive burgundy colour for the season – and discreetly wiped away a tear that escaped her eye. She patted the moisture onto the apron Diana always loaned her anytime they were baking together.
“Lila, darling, come here,” Diana insisted. She gestured to the empty seat at the kitchen table beside her own chair. The green-eyed beauty did as she was told, untying her apron and taking down her hair, massaging her scalp as she folded her legging-clad legs into the seat to Diana’s right. She bit her lip to keep more tears from spilling down her cheeks. When Diana held out a well-manicured, elegant hand, Lila grasped it in both of her own.
“It’s quite all right to feel sad, Lila. I’ve only known you for these three years, but I know you’re a remarkable woman – strong, kind, and extremely loving. I consider you my child too, you know, even though I didn’t bring you into the world.”
Lila smiled up at Diana gratefully, sniffing a little as she continued to hold the older woman’s hand.
“You know you always have me, and Sarah and Emma, and their husbands, and the babies…we’re all your family, love.”
Unable to withhold the true depth of her emotions any longer, Lila reached forward to embrace Diana fully, burying her face in the woman’s sweater and inhaling deeply at the motherly feeling of home.
“I’d include my Thomas in that too, dear, but he’s always so bloody busy…” Diana scolded good-naturedly. “God knows I’ve talked about you enough that he must feel like he knows you…”
Lila didn’t move from her hugging position. She felt the fiery blush coursing through her as soon as Diana said her son’s name. It was Lila’s good luck that, in all her interactions with Diana and her family, she’d never come face to face with the middle child – the one who was a world-famous actor and a household name (and not just in this particular household). He also happened to be one of Lila’s favorite celebrities, and she was very careful to keep that bit of information to herself.
But Diana knew. She was a mum, after all. They tend to figure things out pretty quickly.
“Lila,” laughed Diana, pulling away from their mutual hug, “I can practically feel you blushing! You poor thing. I promise he’s nothing more than my completely normal, sweet baby boy. You don’t need to hide from me – I’ve always known you knew who he was. Don’t think I haven’t observed you these last three years when the girls and I talk about him!”
Lila swallowed, embarrassment colouring her features even more. She took off her glasses so her world was momentarily – blessedly – unfocused, and pretended to clean a small dusting of flour from the lenses. When she responded to Diana’s gentle teasing, she spoke very quietly, as if barely saying the words would keep them very, very secret.
“I don’t want you to think I sought you out to get close to him, or anything. I mean,” she paused, feeling a little overheated, “I’m a fan of his work and I’ve seen his films and things but I’ve always been afraid you would suspect me of–”
Her neighbour cut her off with a hearty laugh. “Oh, Lila! Come now, we all know you moved here because your mum’s family is from here, darling! You even have a job here. And wasn’t I the one who invited you over for the first time? I practically strong-armed you!”
Smiling shyly at the memory, Lila nodded.
It had been another sad weekend, to be sure. Right before Christmas, and only a week and a half after they’d buried her mum and Lila moved in beside Diana’s home. She was still in her crying-at-the-drop-of-a-hat phase, and Diana had found her that Saturday morning, tears pouring down her face, as she retrieved the post and walked back toward the house.
“Miss Roman, is it?” the older woman inquired. Lila was so startled she dropped her mail. When she looked up to see a beaming, motherly person talking to her, she burst into even more tears. Diana was so flustered by this unexpected turn of events that she rushed over to Lila, gathered the girl and her mail, and hauled her into her own home where she was baking with her two daughters.
They made peppermint candy cane twists that afternoon, and Lila actually managed to distract herself and smile for a few hours. When she tried to leave, the two girls – Sarah and Emma – begged her to stay for tea. Lila was reluctant to say yes, but Diana explained that she really needed all three girls to help her with two other biscuit recipes.
“It’s not every day both of my daughters are in town to visit their old mum,” Diana teased them. When she kissed her girls atop their heads, she noticed that Lila’s face crumpled. And so, amid cinnamon sugar drops and pecan tea biscuits, Diana Hiddleston and her daughters learned that Lila Roman’s life had just fallen apart. The young woman told them everything – the car accident, her father’s guilt and insistence she move away, the crippling sadness and unbearable loneliness that haunted her from dawn until dusk each day.
Diana waited until Lila finished her story, letting the girl catch her breath and offering her a handkerchief to dab at her eyes and nose. When she took the cloth, Diana wrapped her arms around Lila and made her a promise.
“Anytime you miss your mum, Lila Roman, you come and see me. And from now on, you are required each December to help me with my baking. Isn’t that right, girls?” Em and Sarah nodded sweetly, tears of their own shining in their bright eyes. The two sisters may have been years apart, but they were holding onto one another as though they’d shared a womb.
“I miss her so much,” Lila confessed softly against Di’s shoulder. “I’m afraid I’ll be around you all the time if I’m to come see you when I miss her.”
“That’s not a problem, my darling.”
So had begun a friendship, a deep caring of sorts that allowed Lila to begin picking up the pieces of her shattered heart. With time, and lots of tea, and much talk, Diana and the girls helped their sweet friend work through her grief. Their gatherings throughout the year were spotty, and not always consistent, but come each December, Lila Roman could count on the Hiddleston women to make the month bearable.
Diana broke Lila’s reverie by reminding her they needed to melt some additional chocolate to drizzle over the shortbread bars, and that there was still one more batch of the rich, decadent treats to make. Reaching out to first stroke the young lady’s cheek lovingly, Diana then stood up in search of her double-boiler pots so as to begin the melting process.
“Do we want to spread the chocolate overtop the bars as they cool, or should we drizzle as the cookery book says?” she asked Lila, finding the pots and arranging them on the burner atop the hob. Lila smiled, rising from her chair and stretching her long legs and dainty arms while mulling over the scenario. The soft plunk of chocolate discs into the saucepan was an indication she should probably decide soon. Walking over to stand by Di’s side, Lila agreed to what the recipe called for, twisting her hair back up and away from her face.
“I think to cover them completely with the melted chocolate would make them uncomfortably rich,” she smiled, taking over for Diana and emptying the rest of the candies into the pot, suspended as it was over the larger one filled with boiling water. “Let me practice my drizzling skills, Di.”
The older woman laughed heartily at Lila’s comment, gifting her with a sweet grin and beginning to assemble the contents of another batch of shortbread into a second, larger mixing bowl. “Your drizzling skills are captivating, I’m sure, dear,” Diana winked, cutting in softened butter to join granulated sugar and flour. “I bet you could try them out on that young man at work?”
Rolling her eyes humorously, Lila didn’t even blush at Diana’s insinuations this time. She knew for a fact that Matthew wasn’t interested. There was a time when Lila thought he might be someone special, and for a while they’d been friends at the publishing company, but he soon ignored her completely. It definitely wasn’t a coincidence that Matthew’s attentions moved away from Lila once the lovely Janelle began working with them.
“He’s moved on to…greener pastures,” countered Lila. The chocolates were quickly melting together to form a dark, satiny soup. Deftly, Lila gave the mixture a stir, leaving her post only momentarily so she could carefully take the pan of baked chocolate chip shortbread out of the oven, mere seconds before the timer buzzed.
Diana watched Lila’s body language as she maneuvered around the kitchen, easily placing the pan aside to cool, returning gracefully to her double boiler of melted chocolate to whisk it into smooth ribbons. The young woman was simply gorgeous and she had absolutely no idea. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned about you, Miss Roman,” Diana took on a mock-scolding tone, pointing her dough-covered spatula comically at Lila, “it’s that you’re probably the greenest pasture a man could ever hope for.”
Smiling and shaking her head, Lila thanked Diana softly, removing the top saucer of melted chocolate from the burner and trading her whisk for a small teaspoon. Quickly, so the mixture wouldn’t have time to cool and harden, she moved to the cooling shortbread and dipped the spoon into the melted chocolate, coating her utensil so as to begin delicately draping tiny lashes of chocolate atop the pan of bars.
When Lila was confident in her work, most of the pan drizzled in its decoration, she questioned Di with her full attention, sitting the cooling chocolate back atop the boiling pot on the stove.
“And what makes you think, Diana, that I’m, quote, ‘the greenest pasture a man could ever hope for’?” She stuck her tongue out playfully at the older woman, watching as Di finished mixing the next batch of shortbread. Absent-mindedly, Lila curled the remaining dollop of chocolate around the teaspoon still in her hand and placed the tool in her mouth, savouring the rich notes of the dark chocolate. She worked her tongue around the curve of the spoon, making sure that every last coating of the melted candy dissolved against her taste buds. Lila did this while quirking an eyebrow at her opinionated neighbour, who was now pouring the last of the bag of chocolate chip bits into the remaining shortbread batter.
“Because, sweet Lila girl, you’re so similar to my own daughters that I feel like I know you very well after these few short years. You’re adorably beautiful, unassuming, gracious, obviously a hard worker, and I have firsthand knowledge that you’re a divine baker,” Diana winked. “God help the man who falls for you…he’ll be a goner!”
Lila scoffed politely at Di’s words. “Speaking of your own daughters, are Em or Sarah coming this weekend…?” she asked, wondering why neither of the girls was around. It was unfailing that at least one of them came when baking time happened each December. She took the batter bowl from Di, helping her spoon the shortbread mix into another greased dish.
“No,” Diana sighed resignedly. “Everyone’s so busy and said they couldn’t make it until right before Christmas, so it’s just you and me, darling.” She handed the full baking pan to Lila, who transferred the unbaked treats into the oven just as she had with the previous batch. “But I will get to see my gorgeous grandchildren,” Di beamed. “And with any luck my globetrotting s–”
Both women were immediately startled by the sound of Diana’s front door shutting rather loudly.
“Mum?” a male voice called.
Lila had barely turned around from the oven when Diana fled from the kitchen, down her hallway toward the foyer of the house, exclaiming: “Thomas! This is quite a surprise!”
Lila’s stomach swooped as she felt her face and neck flush. The heat from the kitchen suddenly felt unbearably stifling.
Tom Hiddleston was home to see his mother.
And Lila was covered in flour and filled with nerves.
Make yourself busy.
Make yourself busy.
Make yourself busy.
Lila kept her ears pricked, listening to the conversation being carried out down the hall from where she stood rooted to the floor. She was gazing furtively around the kitchen, trying to decide what to do with her hands and her restless energy, praying that Diana would give her some notice before thrusting Tom in her general direction.
Thrusting is the wrong word. Oh god.
Hearing footsteps and Di’s voice calling to her, Lila quickly snatched up a knife and began scoring the cooled set of shortbread bars in the pan on the worktop. If she could stay busy and only half pay attention to one of her favourite male celebrities, maybe she wouldn’t turn into a bumbling mess.
“Lila, darling. Look who’s here to see us!”
Oh shit.
She felt him behind her before he even said a word. Thinking, perhaps, that it would be safer to say hello without having to look into his devastatingly handsome face, Lila began slicing the treats in earnest, careful to space her cuts evenly throughout the pan.
“Hello, Tom,” she said, aiming for a distracted, nonchalant tone. “Give me just a moment…”
“Hello, Lila. Nice to finally meet you in person. I’ve heard much about you.”
When his deep, caramel voice materialized quite near her, pronouncing the two syllables of her name as if they were part of an erotic foreign language, Lila startled, jumping a little and subsequently cutting the tip of her index finger with the sharp knife.
“Ouch!” she squeaked, throwing the knife down and whirling where she stood, eyes averting away from Tom completely in search of a clean tea towel. She made to step forward and run her finger under some cool tap water, but Tom was at her side in an instant and had gathered her tiny fingers in his considerably larger hand.
“Oh my god I’m so sorry,” he apologized, seemingly embarrassed, as he placed a free hand on the small of her back and led her to the faucet, turning on the water and gently coaxing her bleeding finger under the stream.
Lila got brave, turning her head to look up at him – god he was SO tall – and gave him a small smile to mask the fact that she was about to pass out from being so close to him. It had nothing to do with the bit of blood leaking from the tip of her finger. It had everything to do with both of his hands on her body mere seconds after meeting her for the first time.
“It’s okay, Tom. You just startled me,” she blushed, pushing her glasses back up her nose in a nervous gesture and willing herself to look at him. Really look at him. He was just a normal man, just Diana’s son, Lila reminded herself silently.
“Thomas, you loon, you’ve frightened the poor girl to death,” Diana interrupted, forcefully coming between them to dry Lila’s finger and wrap up her little wound in a plaster. Abashed, Tom looked at the floor and smiled a little sadly, stepping back to allow his mum more room. His blush made Lila’s pulse quicken.
Say something…this is getting awkward!
“Di, I’m good. Thank you,” she patted the older woman lovingly on the shoulder. “I need to re-melt the dark chocolate so that it will be ready to drizzle over the other pan of shortbread in a few minutes, okay?”
Before her neighbour could answer, Tom was trying again, smiling at her hopefully across the island where he was leaning forward.
“Are you doing mum’s chocolate chip shortbread, Lila?”
She didn’t miss how his tongue darted out to lick his lower lip absent-mindedly. Gifting him with a shy grin, Lila nodded as she resumed her station at the double boiler, beginning to melt the remains of the chocolate discs.
“Yes, I sure am. Hopefully I haven’t mucked them up, though, because I haven’t tried them yet…” Lila trailed off, returning her attention to her whisk and the melting candy. A low groan met her ears just as her back turned away from Tom. She shivered, unable to control the reaction.
“Oh, god, mum. Can I be the taste tester? Your shortbread is even better than Gran’s.”
Tom was giving his mother puppy-dog eyes, practically pleading with her to eat some of the rich biscuits. It struck Lila as quite a funny thing – a grown man, an extremely sexy man at that, reduced to child-like begging at the whims and mercies of his mum.
“I do recall one occasion several years ago, Thomas, when you ‘taste-tested’ most of an entire pan of my chocolate chip shortbread and were promptly sick all over my freshly-scrubbed kitchen floor!”
Lila couldn’t help it; a tiny, barking laugh flew from her lips before she could stop it. Turning at the waist so she could keep an eye on the gooey richness melting below her, she lifted bespectacled eyes to see Tom grinning embarrassedly at the floor, biting his lip.
“I think he can have a bite, Di,” Lila rebutted, taking pity on him as she glanced at Diana. “He did make time to surprise his precious mum and see her, didn’t he?”
She ran her whisk fluidly through the molten chocolate, turning down the heat of the burner just a fraction. As soon as Tom lifted his eyes, Lila had returned her full attentions to the task at hand. If I can just get accustomed to him in small doses, she thought, experimenting with the viscosity of the chocolate by raising her whisk from the pan and dripping some of the melted candy back into the pot to see if it was thin enough.
Small doses wouldn’t be happening, apparently.
Tom had moved stealthily to Lila’s side, peering down at the chocolate being stirred in the saucepan. “Is that for the shortbread?” he asked curiously, turning so he was leaning his back against the worktop and staring at her intently.
“Uhm,” she fought the stammer in her voice, “this is the chocolate drizzle that goes overtop the shortbread once it’s cooled, yes.”
The timer went off at Lila’s side, and she directed Tom – as politely as she could without blushing – to keep gently stirring the melted chocolate on the hob so she could retrieve the other pan of shortbread from the oven.
“Mum never let me help in the kitchen,” he pouted cutely, stirring carefully, just as Lila had requested. Lila noticed how gracefully Tom moved aside for her to open the oven door, almost as if they were performing a choreographed dance. After closing the oven door, turning off the appliance, and carrying the hot pan to her workspace, Lila took Tom’s bait.
“And why was that?”
He was about to answer her, seeming to get lost for a moment in her movements: gently sitting the dish down, discarding her oven mitt, returning to his side and motioning for him to remove the whisk.
When Lila looked up at him coquettishly for his answer, he forgot what she’d asked.
Diana saved him.
“Because he always ate everything I put in front of him, whether he was supposed to or not,” she laughed heartily. “He was always putting away food like a starving boy but I never saw it go anywhere! Rail thin, this one always stays…”
Lila glanced back at Diana, willing herself to ignore how tall and muscled Tom had evidently become in adulthood. She dipped a clean spoon into her melting chocolate mixture and began to scrape the bottom and sides of the pot so nothing would stick and burn. “Di, give your baby boy a treat, poor thing,” she whispered sweetly, still not wanting to focus too much of her attention on Tom.
“Lila Roman! You know I always let you have the first bite,” Tom’s mother scolded playfully. She even moved to snap the young woman on the hip with the tea towel she was holding in her hands. Forgetting who was in the kitchen with her, Lila let out a little unconscious squeal and dodged Diana’s mischief, trying desperately to keep stirring the chocolate occasionally. She found herself laughing quite intensely, clutching at her stomach as giggles spilled from her mouth.
“That’s a sound I like hearing, Lila,” Di spoke seriously. “I’m so glad you’re here with us.”
Lila looked up at Diana, then over at Tom, who was once again leaning casually against the worktop (she noticed he’d moved himself closer to the two pans of shortbread) and watching her with great interest.
“Me too,” she answered. “Thank you for always having me, Di. I think we’re about ready for another drizzle,” Lila motioned to the bare pan of shortbread at Tom’s side that still needed a light coating of melted chocolate. “Tom, would you like to do this one?”
His megawatt smile had Lila swallowing thickly; that was the face she’d seen splashed across the internet and on movie posters.
“What if I mess it up?” he asked adorably, moving aside a little when Lila brought the heated saucepan and spoon toward him. The closer she came, the more unsure of himself he looked. Lila had a fleeting urge to kiss him for being so ridiculously cute, but then laughed at herself at the absurdity of wanting to do so with a stranger she’d never actually met before. The laugh actually came out in quite an unflattering manner, and Tom seemed to think she was laughing at him. He looked a little hurt.
She covered her mistake very quickly, turning her expression into a dead-serious mask.
“Then we eat the entire pan, Thomas.”
His delighted laugh erupted throughout the kitchen as he threw his head back, expressing his mirth. “Then I’ll definitely screw this one up.”
Taking an unnoticeably deep breath, Lila planted herself right beside Tom and handed him the melted chocolate and spoon. “See the pan I did earlier?”
He nodded, first glancing at the finished shortbread, then looking at her earnestly, not wanting to make a mistake. He seemed intent on pleasing her.
“Just move the spoon through the chocolate until you’ve gathered a fair amount into the well of the spoon,” she began, nodding when he did as she instructed. “Then you’re going to start at the top edge of the pan and tilt the spoon almost on its face so the chocolate drips from the edge.”
She didn’t even need to help him. As soon as she’d given Tom his directives, he was drizzling tiny, delicate streams of chocolate atop the plain pan of shortbread, carefully dripping similarly sized lines onto the confection.
“Like this, Lila?”
The young woman determined he was really going to need to stop saying her name. It made her feel warm and breathless. It didn’t help that she could see the tip of his pink tongue peeking out from between his lips, so full of concentration was he.
I bet he got away with murder as a child, she reasoned humorously.
“Just like that. Now get a little more on your spoon,” Lila instructed, and Tom did as she bid. “Finish off the pan.”
Deeming him successful at his first foray into actual baking, Lila moved to begin clearing up the bowls and utensils she and Di had dirtied. Diana was at the other finished shortbread pan, putting a few pieces on a china plate for the three of them to sample. Lila piled things into the sink, turning on warm water. Over the din of the running water and the clanking of various cutlery and crockery, she thought she heard a soft, deep moan.
Turning, her wrists in soapy water, Lila saw Tom turned away from the worktop, eyes closed, chocolate-covered spoon in his mouth. He made another similar noise, eyelids fluttering, as his tongue began to lap at the stubborn traces of chocolate on the teaspoon.
She had to look away because she knew she was staring, mouth open.
Diana chose that moment to continue teasing her only son.
“You see, Lila? He just can’t help himself! Thomas, give it here…you can have some once we’ve finished clearing up.”
Lila could only smile weakly at Diana's teasing jibes.
Focus on washing.
Focus on washing.
Do not think of his mouth and tongue on that spoon.
She was met with another pair of hands in the dishwater alongside her own, shortly after she began the washing up. Tom had moved to help with the cleaning.
“Are you part cat?” Lila asked, trying to be funny to mask her hyperawareness of his close proximity to her – again. He began scrubbing batter from one of the large mixing bowls they’d used. He seemed confused and looked at Lila, one eyebrow raised. She tittered a bit, deciding to be a little playful, and nudged him in the side. “You’re very quiet and you keep sneaking up on me.”
He grinned at her, wiggling his eyebrows in a comical manner, causing Lila to relax more as she scrubbed the crockery before loading it into Di’s dishwasher. He was very accommodating, helping her transfer the dirty items into the appliance and wiping the worktop free of water when they finished.
“Thank you, you two,” Diana intoned, taking a seat at the spacious kitchen table with the large china plate of shortbread bars. “Thomas, whenever you’re ready, my boy. You get first dibs.”
Lila laughed, smiling as Tom raced over to his mum’s side. He sat down in the empty chair beside her and gingerly reached out for a piece of the chocolate chip shortbread, looking at Diana for permission once more. As Lila made her way over to the table, Tom turned to look at her for approval, too.
Her mind was elsewhere, looking at the clock and realizing she needed to be home soon so she could ring her father, as she did every evening at this hour. Tom’s attention completely escaped her. She adjusted her clothes, letting her oversize jumper slip off a creamy shoulder. She took down her long hair from its twist atop her head, shaking out the reddish-brown waves. She also took off her glasses to check for any other stray bits of dough, flour, or chocolate. When she deemed herself situated and donned her frames again, pushing them delicately up her nose, she found Diana staring at Tom, who hadn’t taken a bite yet.
Tom was watching Lila, mouth open and eyes wide. His cheeks were tinged with the slightest trace of a pink flush.
“Go on then, Tom,” Diana prodded. She smirked at her son, knowing what he was finally seeing before his own eyes.
Lila hadn’t noticed much of anything, so focused was she on getting herself prepared to leave in a few minutes’ time. She stood at the edge of the table, placing a hand on Di’s shoulder and smiling down at the woman who’d become her surrogate mother. Reaching for the expensive china plate and taking a wedge of the shortbread, she held the treat to her lips, forcing herself to look into Tom’s piercing blue gaze.
“Ready, Tom?” Lila asked.
All he could do was nod, biting into the buttery, crunchy treat and watching Lila all the while. Lila did the same, enjoying the burst of rich, subtly flavored shortbread dotted on top and throughout with semi-sweet bursts of chocolate. Her green eyes closed of their own accord and she hummed in quiet pleasure.
“Guess I should try, too…” Diana murmured, copying the two ‘children’, as she still called them.
The silence in the kitchen was only punctuated by the crunching noises of the shortbread and an occasional exclamation of “mmm” between the three occupants.
Tom rapidly finished two more pieces before turning to his mother, licking his fingers – Lila had to look away – and thanking her for her delicious work.
“Oh no, darling,” Di demurred. “Lila did these herself from scratch. I merely provide the moral support.”
Tom blushed a shade darker, quietly thanking his new friend. Smiling at the love in Diana’s voice and nodding at Tom’s appreciation, Lila bent down to give her neighbour a kiss on the cheek.
“I have to go, Diana. Thank you, as always, for a lovely afternoon. I need to go ring dad, okay?” She didn’t know what to say to Tom, who was still watching her as if she’d grown a second head. He was absently brushing crumbs from his royal blue sweater, not even looking down at what his hands were doing.
Diana nodded, turning in her chair but making no move to get up. Lila always fussed at her about following her out the door, insisting she not worry about her getting home all right – it was just across the back garden, after all. “Tell him I said hello, Lila.”
The young woman nodded, turning to leave down the hallway when Diana stopped her.
“Lila, darling, are we on for tomorrow, too?”
The young beauty spun around in place, her long, lustrous hair fanning around her playfully. “What’s tomorrow, Di?”
The older woman winked at Lila before responding. “Sunday is Almond Crescents.”
Tom practically choked in his chair. “Oh god, mum. You’re trying to kill me, aren’t you? Are those the ones dipped in chocolate, too?” he sounded pained. Lila couldn’t help noticing how he leaned back in his chair, miles-long legs splayed wide, stroking his abdomen.
Diana merely laughed, patting her son on the knee. She turned back to Lila. “My son has a ravenous sweet tooth, as you can tell. Especially for chocolate. Will we see you tomorrow, dear?”
Biting her lip unconsciously at the sight of Tom’s lithe form and the look of tortured pleasure on his face, Lila caught his gaze for just a moment too long, feeling a blush creeping up her neck. His next words didn’t help.
“Please come back, Lila. I’ll be your loyal slave for some more of mum’s treats…” he winked sweetly.
She braced herself, looking at Diana.
“Will do, lovely Di. And if you need me to run out and get anything or you want to do more than one kind of biscuit tomorrow, let me know, okay?”
Diana nodded, grinning. “Marvelous. Good night, you sweet girl!”
“Night, Di,” she waved, and then: “lovely to meet you, Tom.” Lila nodded politely, once again desperately trying not to rove her eyes over his every inch.
“Pleasure was all mine, Lila,” Tom rose, moving toward her to show her out of his mother’s home. His voice had dropped to a dangerously low octave.
He was every bit as chivalrous as people made him out to be, hovering a protective hand at the small of her back as she made her way to the foyer and grabbed her bag and coat, stepping into her flats. She was surprised – and not a little flustered – when he enveloped her spontaneously into a bracingly tight hug, holding Lila to him for a moment.
“Thank you for keeping an eye on mum,” he murmured. “She loves you.”
Lila’s eyes got a bit watery at the endearment, and she pulled away from Tom with a sincere smile. His hands didn’t leave her arms when she first extricated herself from his hold.
“I love her, too. Very much. Night, Tom.”
He bade her goodnight, watching the young woman traverse her well-worn path between Diana’s house and her own. Just as she reached her door, Lila heard Tom call to her once more.
“Lila?”
She turned, tilting her head a bit to see him in the light of dusk.
“You have a little flour on your nose," he paused for just a moment, weighing his words, "and you’re even more beautiful than she described.”