Their Secret Baby Bond. Stephanie Dees

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      Wynn hadn’t even considered the cottage. “I thought I heard you and Claire were converting the cabin to office space.”

      “We were.” Levi threw a handful of spaghetti across the table and Jordan whisked his plate away. “Okay, we’re done with spaghetti and Daddy needs a clean shirt.”

      Jordan gently disentangled one of her braids from Levi’s sauce-covered fingers. “Gross, Levi. So yeah, we were planning to convert the cottage to office space, but honestly, I do most of the office work at home now because it’s more convenient and Claire doesn’t have time to make use of a separate office.”

      Ash gave up wiping spaghetti sauce off his formerly pristine white shirt and leaned back in his chair. “You know, everyone who lives in that house falls in love.”

      Wynn rolled her eyes. “Thanks for pointing that out to your pregnant sister, who has, in fact, sworn off men forever. I don’t think you have to worry about me falling in love with anyone.”

      He took a sip of his iced tea and raised one eyebrow. “Whatever you say.”

      “I say yes. To the cottage.” She raised her voice. “Thank you, Jordan. The cottage will be perfect.”

      Jordan popped her head out from the bathroom down the hall, where water was running into the tub. “I have no idea what you just said, but I’m assuming from your smile that it was yes?”

      Wynn nodded.

      “Feel free to paint or whatever. It was a slap job when Joe renovated. I always meant to work on it and didn’t get to do very much.” Jordan disappeared into the bathroom again.

      Wynn took the dishes to the sink. Her brother nudged her away. “I got this. Go home. You started work at four thirty this morning, and you have circles under your eyes.”

      She hugged her brother. “Thank you for dinner. And for...everything.”

      “You’re gonna be fine, Wynn. You’re the most courageous person I know.”

      Eyes swimming with tears again, she gave him a shove. “You’re okay, yourself.”

      “Tell Mom.”

      “I will. Don’t push me.” She heard her brother’s laugh as she swung down the stairs and opened the door to her car. So it looked like her “indefinite” stay here was getting a little more defined. By making that choice, she was deciding to face the scrutiny and reaction of people who’d known her all her life...people she respected and cared about.

      Tomorrow, she would tell her mom. It wouldn’t be easy. But already, she knew her brother had her back, and that was no small thing.

      As she drove home, her brain was spinning with ideas for fixing up the cottage that she would soon be calling home, the realization that she was going to need help...and that Latham just happened to be a carpenter.

      * * *

      Latham pushed the door open to the bakery, stopping short when he saw Wynn sitting on a stool behind the counter, dressed in a long white T-shirt, black leggings and her sister Jules’s signature pink apron. “I didn’t know you were working here.”

      She smiled, a little sheepishly. “Apparently everyone in the family has been waiting for me to settle in so they could take a day off. So, yesterday at the Hilltop, today at the bakery.”

      He raised an eyebrow. “You bake?”

      “Ha! No worries, Jules did all that before daylight. I’m strictly counter help. Where’s Pop today?”

      “He likes to meet his friends for breakfast at the Hilltop on Saturday morning, so I usually drop him off and come next door for one or two of your sister’s cinnamon twist doughnuts. Which may or may not be why I have to play soccer with the guys on Saturday afternoons.”

      She laughed as she placed two cinnamon twists on a paper plate. “Yes, well, food is my family’s love language, so I understand the need for exercise. Coffee?”

      “Yes, please.”

      Wynn poured his coffee into a mug with the Take the Cake logo and handed it over the counter, accepting the cash Latham handed back to her.

      “Join me? Please?” Latham pulled the other chair out and laughed when Wynn looked behind her like he might be talking to someone else. Her cheeks were pink, her straight blond hair looped into a half ponytail, half-bun thing.

      She caught her bottom lip between her teeth as she considered, then grabbed the last of the cinnamon twist doughnuts and a napkin with a sigh. “I can’t believe that I’m about to eat this. I never ate like this in DC.”

      “What did you eat?”

      “Coffee, mostly. Takeout with the other staffers when we would work late, which was always.”

      “Why did you leave?” When she glanced up with an almost panicked look in her eyes, he wished he could take back the question. “I guess, I mean, I thought it was a perfect job for you. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

      “It’s okay, Latham. It’s a perfectly normal question to ask. It’s just...complicated. The short answer is that I changed, and I didn’t like the changes.”

      His fingers itched to reach for her hand, slide her fingers into his. He didn’t even know why—he certainly had no right to. He wrapped them around the warm coffee mug instead. “Sometimes coming home is the bravest thing you can do.”

      Her blue eyes flicked to his and held, and for a moment he thought she was about to say something. But then, the door opened, bells jingling. Wynn jumped to her feet and rounded the corner to greet new customers behind the counter.

      He heard the murmur of conversation, registered kids jumping up and down at the prospect of a doughnut, but his eyes were on only Wynn. Would it be so weird for them to resurrect their friendship after all these years?

      The boisterous family blew out as quickly as they’d come in. Wynn took a second to wipe the fingerprints off the glass and sat down beside him again, the friendly but distant smile firmly back in place. The moment of sharing whatever it had been was over. Which suited him because, honestly, it was a little embarrassing that he hadn’t gotten over his adolescent crush sometime in the last ten years. No wonder the barn cats were his best companions.

      He finished off the second doughnut, which he’d intended to save for this afternoon, and took a swig from his mug. “So are you going to be filling in for your family members often?”

      Wynn laughed. “Mercy, I hope not. I don’t know what I’m going to do, though.”

      Latham took a breath and then thought, what could it hurt, since he’d already taken the awkward quotient through the roof? “Would you be interested in staying with Pop in the afternoons for a couple of weeks? His current caregiver had a family emergency.”

      She blinked, and heat rushed his face. “I know it’s way below your pay grade... I shouldn’t even ask.”

      “I’d love to.”

      He narrowed his eyes. “No, you СКАЧАТЬ