Free Take the Cake by Sandra Wright Page A

Jack.”
    “And you’ve honored him well, sis,” Paul said with a grin.
    “But how come you’re not in the photo?” Emily asked.
    Paul smiled. “Who do you think was holding the camera? I’m still there.”
    “You’re always there,” Kate replied with a gentle smile.
    “Yep, you might not see me, but I’ll always be with you, Kat.”
    ~~~
    Michael peered around in the gloom, smiling when David raised his hand to give a languid wave. He worked his way through the Friday afternoon crowd and saw that David had somehow managed to get a bar table and already had a beer and a shot waiting for Michael’s arrival.
    “Forrester,” David greeted him with a lazy nod.
    “Watson,” Michael replied, picking up the shot and raising an eyebrow at David.
    “Down the hatch,” David said.
    Michael threw the shot back, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and quickly took a sip of beer. “I’m glad you called,” he said as he set his glass down.
    Michael watched his friend cast a happy gaze around the patrons of the bar, a good proportion of which were women, then thought about his own productivity for the day. He’d gone home from the bakery and, after much thought over a few hours, had written a sentence. Not much to show for the day. Certainly nothing to a journalist with deadlines like David, but given Michael’s productivity of late, it was notable. David had called him earlier that evening and invited him out for a drink, and Michael had accepted. It seemed a better option than staring at his computer all evening.
    David gave a happy shrug. “Deadlines are met, so my weekend has started. Let’s play, Forrester.”
    “You’re on,” Michael muttered as he picked up his beer again. He was taking another sip when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He fumbled for it and answered, one hand pressed over his other ear so that he could hear better. “Hello?”
    “Hey, son, sounds like you’re having fun somewhere.”
    “Dad.” Michael couldn’t stop the happy grin on his face. “How are you?”
    “Doing good at this end, but we miss you. Your mother wanted me to call. What are you up to this weekend?”
    That was, Michael knew, code for “ We both miss you. Come home .”
    “I’m having a drink with David tonight. … Yeah, the Watson kid.” He grinned as David raised his glass in acknowledgment. “So maybe Sunday?”
    “That sounds great. Listen, I won’t keep you on the phone, then, but please come over on Sunday. I know your mother will jump at the chance to feed you.”
    “You won’t hear me arguing,” Michael replied. “See you on Sunday, Dad. Love you.”
    “Will do. Love you too, son. I think your mother’s cooking already.”
    ~~~
    “You mean I don’t get a home cooked meal?” Paul said, his eyes pleading. “C’mon, Kat, I’m starved.”
    Paul had spent the afternoon hanging out at the bakery, making the girls laugh and performing some quality control checks on the cupcake supply. As it turned out, his visit had been well timed in more ways than one. Kate had signed for a delivery of ingredients and had immediately pressed Paul into service with the heavy lifting. He had helped Kate clean up the store after closing and now wanted to do something for dinner. Kate’s first instinct had been to suggest take-out, much to Paul’s disappointment.
    “Oh, come on, then,” she said, sighing and picking up her bag. “But I’ve got to stop for a few things on the way home.”
    “No problem,” Paul replied with a grin.
    “And you’re paying.”
    “Fair call,” he agreed.
    They stopped at a grocery store on the way home, and Kate picked up a few things, after sending Paul to a liquor store further down the block to get a bottle of wine to enjoy with their meal.
    Once home, Kate kicked off her shoes and changed shirts, then busied herself making dinner while Paul uncorked a bottle of white and kept up a steady stream of conversation. She directed Paul to “make the