Free Return of the Last McKenna (Harlequin Romance) by Shirley Jump Page A

promised to help her, not fall for her.
    Damn. Holding back the truth only made it worse. Everything in
Brody, all the practical, logical, deal with the facts sides of him, wanted to
tell Kate who he was. But Andrew had been firm—
    Don’t tell her. I don’t want her to dwell
on what happened to me or to blame herself for suggesting I enlist. I want
her to move forward.
    Telling her, Andrew had said, would leave Kate hurting, in pain
again. That was the last thing Brody wanted to bring to Kate Spencer’s life—more
hurt and pain. He was here to make her laugh, not cry.
    “Here.” Kate thrust a bright pink apron between them. “Sorry I
don’t have any in more manly colors.”
    “This’ll be fine.” He slipped it over his head. “Reminds me of
med school when one of my roommates did the laundry one week and washed the lab
coats with a red sweatshirt. We were all pink for a while.”
    Kate laughed. “My brother said the pink made him look
approachable to the ladies.”
    “I’ll keep that in mind.”
    “Though, I have to say, Andrew was one of the most manly men
I’ve ever known. When the war started, he told me he wanted to make a
difference. So I said he should…” She shook her head and her eyes misted. “He
joined the National Guard, and really took to the job. Everything Andrew did, he
gave a hundred and ten percent.”
    Brody swallowed hard. “I’m sorry for your loss.”
    Such inadequate words. He’d said them many times over the years
of being a doctor, but never had they run more hollow than right now. Maybe
because he knew Andrew, and knew that loss didn’t even begin to describe the
hole now left in the world.
    “It’s okay. I’ve always wondered and wished…” She shook her
head again and bit her lip. “Anyway, he died doing what he loved. And although I
miss him every single day, I’m proud of him.” She swiped at her eyes, and let
out a long breath. “Now let’s to get to work so he can be proud of me, too.”
    Brody followed her into the kitchen in the back. Stainless
steel countertops and machines gleamed under the bright lights. Here, the sweet
scents were stronger, a tempting perfume filling the space. “So, where do we
start? With Riley and Stace’s cupcakes?”
    “Not yet. We’ll be making those closer to the date of the
wedding, so they’ll be fresh. Right now, we have another cupcake order to
complete.” She pointed to a huge sack on the floor. “You offered to be the
muscle, so let’s see how much muscle you have. I need five pounds in that mixer
there.”
    He lifted the heavy bag, then gave her a blank look. “Do I just
dump the whole thing in?”
    She laughed. “No. Weigh it in that container on the scale, then
when I tell you, you’re going to add it, a little at a time.” She dropped sticks
of butter into the mixing bowl, then added sugar and turned on the beaters.
“Have you ever cooked anything before?”
    “Does making grilled cheese with an iron count?” He grinned.
“Old college trick. Some wax paper from a cereal box, a loaf of bread, a package
of cheese and an iron, and dinner is done.”
    “All I can say is thank God you went into medicine instead of
the restaurant industry.” She added eggs, one at a time, keeping the beaters
whirring until the mixture blended into a pale yellow ribbon. She crossed to
Brody and added the rest of the dry ingredients to the flour. “Now remember, add
a little at a time, otherwise the flour will go everywhere and we’ll get
covered. I’m baking cupcakes, not you and me.”
    Heat flushed her face. What was that? You and me?
    Focus, Kate, focus.
    So she did, concentrating on the recipe instead of on Brody
McKenna. And the reasons why he was here. Why he had cut his schedule in half to
help her. And why work with her, of all the people in the city of Boston?
    A few minutes later, the two of them scooped the batter into
cupcake liners, then popped the trays into the oven. Kate started melting some
chocolate, then