Free Coming Back To You by Donya Lynne

up the six-by-nine card and
followed along as Natalie relayed the ingredients and instructions.
Then Natalie demonstrated the first few steps before turning
everyone loose.
    Brad poured cream into a saucepan and set it
on the stove while Karma unwrapped the chocolate.
    “So, have you read any good books lately?”
Brad asked.
    “No.” Karma snapped the bar of chocolate in
half and set the pieces on their wood cutting board. “I’ve been
kind of busy.”
    Busy mourning the loss of the greatest man
ever to happen to me.
    Brad picked up one of the two chef’s knives
and helped her chop the chocolate. His forearm brushed hers. “Me,
too. My office picked up a new project and things have been a
little crazy. Lot of long days”
    “You’re an engineer, right?” Karma remembered
that from the business card he’d given her.
    “Yes. And I’m the office director, too, which
means I oversee all our projects.” He looked genuinely impressed…as
if he figured she hadn’t given him a second thought after meeting
him but was glad to hear she’d paid enough attention to remember
what he did for a living. “What do you do?”
    “I’m an executive assistant for a company
that manufactures lawn care products and does landscape
design.”
    “Sounds interesting.”
    “It can be.” She scooped up shards of
chocolate and dropped them in a glass mixing bowl. “My degree was
in journalism, though. I’m hoping to move back into that
someday.”
    “Ah, a writer, huh?” Brad checked on the
cream, making sure it wasn’t boiling.
    She shrugged and chopped up the last of the
chocolate. “Maybe someday.”
    They worked in silence for a couple of
minutes, and the sounds of the others talking and laughing filled
the empty space.
    “I think the cream’s ready,” Brad said,
removing it from the heat.
    He set it on the counter.
    Karma checked the recipe. “We need to let it
cool for about twenty seconds then pour it through the sieve into
the chocolate.”
    “So, you enjoy cooking?” Brad picked up the
sieve and watched the clock.
    “Yes. You?”
    “Some.” He picked up the pan. “I’m usually so
pressed for time, though, that I don’t cook as much as I
should.”
    Karma grabbed the whisk. “Pour it slowly,”
she said as he began pouring the cream into the chocolate.
    As he poured, she stirred.
    “Do you have any kids?” Brad asked.
    Kids? How old did he think she was? “No.
You?”
    “One. A daughter.”
    That was a surprise, but then it really
shouldn’t have been. Brad looked old enough to be divorced with a
kid.
    “How old is she?”
    “Twelve going on twenty.”
    Karma laughed at the tired,
I’ve-already-had-enough-of-her-drama way he said it. “That bad,
huh?”
    He tossed the sieve aside and opened the
bottle of Grand Marnier while she continued slowly stirring the hot
cream into the chocolate. “Oh, it’s not that bad, but sometimes I
can’t keep up with the mood changes. Everything’s a crisis or
unbelievably ‘awesome.’ I’m praying for the end of puberty.”
    Memories of Karma’s own childhood crept into
her mind. Her life had been a wreck when she was twelve. If not for
her dad’s steadying influence and encouragement, she might not have
turned out as emotionally healthy as she had. And that was saying
something, because she still carried a lot of baggage into her
adult life from the bullying she’d endured. She could only imagine
that life for a preteen girl these days was even harder.
    “Give it time. I’m sure everything will work
out. Just be there for her, and I’m sure she’ll grow up well
adjusted.” She frowned at what looked like lumps in their cream and
chocolate mixture.
    “I hope so.” Brad poured a tablespoon of
Grand Marnier. “You ready for this?”
    Scowling at the lumpy consistency of the
ganache, she nodded. “Sure.” Hopefully, the rest of the chocolate
would melt by the time they scooped it into balls.
    Brad added the liqueur, coffee, and vanilla
then set