Stephanie Dees - Their Secret Baby Bond

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 wouldn’t.”

“I really would, Latham. Your home is beautiful, and Pop is great. I think I’d like spending time with him.”

“Me, too, but...”

“Really, it’s my pleasure. I do have one request, though.” There was a suspicious gleam in her eye that made him laugh as she leaned in.

“Name it.”

“In lieu of payment, can we work out a trade?”

Latham relaxed back into his chair. “I’m a little scared of that look in your eye. What did you have in mind?”

She grinned. “I’m moving into the cottage at Red Hill Farm, which needs some work. I propose that I get to enjoy conversations with Pop in the afternoon and you help me with the cottage when you have time.”

“You’ve got a deal.” How much could she want to do at the cottage? It was only eight hundred square feet, tops. Either way, it worked out. He really needed someone at his place in the afternoons, and if he helped her with the cottage, he would get to spend time with her.

Win-win.

“You know, I totally got the better end of the deal here. I get to spend afternoons with Pop, which I will love, and I get free labor on the reno. Win-win for me.” She laughed, and her eyes, for the first time since he’d seen her, were shining.

And he knew in that second that he would’ve done anything she asked, just to make her smile. “If your family doesn’t have plans for you, I could meet you out there after church tomorrow and look it over.”

“Bring Pop to family lunch at the farm and we can check it out after we eat.”

“I’m gonna end up holding a couple of kids while they smear peanut butter on me, aren’t I?”

“I see you’ve been to family lunch before.” She grinned. “I feel like we should shake on it. I’m pretty sure you’re going to regret this deal.”

He laughed and took one last swig of his coffee as he stood. “Not a chance. I’ll see you tomorrow afternoon.”

But he took her outstretched hand, his eyes on hers. He swallowed hard when her eyes widened at the contact. She pulled away, busying herself clearing the table, and he sighed.

He may regret this deal, but not for the reasons she thought. He’d spent a long time getting over her when she left Red Hill Springs. He just hoped he could keep the past in the past where it belonged.

Chapter Three

Wynn stood outside the attic door in her mom’s house. She’d been walking past it for weeks now, staring at the doorknob, wanting to go in, but not wanting to, just as much.

She shook her head at herself as her hand lingered over the knob. Who was this woman who didn’t have the courage to walk through a door? What happened to the little girl who punched a kid at Vacation Bible School because he was being a bully? Where was the little girl who believed in justice, even if it meant she’d be in timeout for the rest of the afternoon?