Free Take the Cake by Sandra Wright

just like Kate’s. Just like hers because they were related . Michael clenched his hands into fists and sighed; he’d been a fool. He could have said something, asked her something, anything. If only he could think of something to say, but it was too late to go back now. He walked on, thinking about the touch of her hair, the warmth of her skin, and the feel of her hand in his. He’d visit the bakery again soon, to set things to rights.
    ~~~
    “It’s so good to see you!”
    Kate had stopped kissing her brother’s cheeks and had instead wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him and wiggling to be set down.
    “Easy there, Babycake,” he said in a laughing voice as he let Kate down, then looked across to the counter to see Wren grinning at him, and his face lit up with glee. “Pocket Rocket!”
    “Oh, no,” Wren muttered, her grin faltering as she began backing away from the counter. Paul rounded it, moving toward her with surprising grace despite his immense size as she looked around for a convenient means of escape. She feinted to her left, but he stepped to the right, neatly blocking her access to the kitchen, shaking his head as he began to laugh in anticipation. Wren sighed and straightened up from her crouching stance. “Oh, go on then, you big lug.” She opened her arms in surrender.
    He whooped and picked her up, giving her a hug that sent the breath out of her in a whoosh before dipping her back onto her feet. Wren staggered back a pace then laughed as she pushed at his chest to get him to move. “Jesus, Paul, and I thought you were the size of a house the last time you were in.”
    Emily, who had appeared in the kitchen doorway to investigate the ruckus, shrank back when Paul rounded on her.
    “And who do we have here?”
    “Easy, Bear. Play gentle,” warned Wren. “This is Emily.”
    Paul grinned at Emily, who offered him a shy smile in return as he reached out and shook her hand.
    “Great to meet you, Emily. I’m Kate’s brother, Paul.”
    “You’re related?” Emily’s confusion was plain to see as she looked from Kate to Paul and then back again. Paul towered over Kate, and his scruffy jeans and tight-fitting T-shirt only served to emphasize his tanned and very muscular arms.
    “Tell me about it.” Kate smirked. “Mom used to say that after birthing him ,” she said, jerking a thumb toward Paul, “she was pretty gun-shy for a while, so I’m lucky to be standing here.”
    “Yeah, right,” scoffed Paul. “As if Mom and Dad could keep their hands off each other.”
    “Eww, parental sex lives, too much information.” Wren winced, making Kate laugh.
    “Well, they’re not here to deny it,” Paul said. “Speaking of which …” He moved toward Kate again and draped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her in to kiss her temple. “I saw the window display. Jack would’ve loved it.”
    Emily, who had been filled in on the significance of the day by Wren, gave a nod of understanding. “How come you guys refer to your dad by his first name?”
    Kate nodded at Paul, who began to explain. “After Mom died, Dad wanted to take us on a holiday to get away, so we came to New York. One day we were in the Natural History Museum and lost sight of Jack. So the two of us were walking along, hand in hand, calling out ‘Dad …  Dad …’   and we could see him in the distance, but he wasn’t responding, then—”
    Kate cut in, “Then Bear here called out ‘Jack,’ and Jack’s head snapped around and he came straight back to where we were.”
    Wren smiled. She’d heard this story before, but she loved the way Kate’s and Paul’s faces glowed whenever they recounted it.
    Paul continued, “And when he caught up to us, we said, ‘Didn’t you hear us calling?’ And he said, ‘Sure, but there are heaps of dads here. You could have been calling to any one of them.’ So from then on, he was Jack.”
    Emily laughed. “That’s so cute!”
    Kate smiled. “That’s so