Kate's Kisses (Sweet Treats Bakery) Read Online Free Page A

a sense of duty— always did run strong and deep among the Spencer girls. “Friends?” He offered her a hand.
    “Maybe.” She took it grudgingly, gave it a slight shake. “We’ll see.”
    “Good.” He laughed and crumpled the paper cup before tossing it into a trash can. “Fair enough.”
    “So, what’s it like on the outside…away from here?”
    “Not what you’d think.” He shook his head, because he saw the wandering gleam in her eyes, same as he’d seen in his own at that age, every time he looked in the mirror. “But you’ll have to find that out for yourself, when the time comes.”
    “I guess so.” Tessa reached for another kiss. “Boy, these things are good. Just one more and I guess it’s time to herd the kid, scrape the dirt off him, and run him home for a nap. I’ll see you around, then?”
    “Count on it.”
     
    ****
     
    That evening, Logan surprised Kate with her favorite flowers…daylilies accented by lavender tulips, tied with a shimmery pale pink bow.
    “You remembered.” She pressed her face to the blooms and inhaled their springtime-sweet fragrance.
    “Of course. You used to pick them by the bushel in the fields when we took long walks together.”
    “And at your parents’ house,” Kate added. “Your mom kept a garden. She always let me fetch a bunch to take home to my mom, before…”
    She paused, because as welcome as the memory was, the unexpected loss of her parents still hurt.
    “I remember.” His eyes told her he felt the loss as well. He’d been close to her parents—especially her dad. He’d spent countless afternoons helping her father work in the shop he’d built out behind their house, heads bowed over this project or that. Sometimes Kate felt Logan’s passion for designing buildings was borne in that workshop, where her dad had fashioned fine furniture while her mother hummed in the kitchen, baking the afternoon away.
    “Come in.” Kate took a step back from the doorway.
    “Do you have a vase?” Logan eased past her and entered the house, bringing a brush of cool air that clung to his clothes.
    “In the cabinet above the kitchen sink, just down the hall to your left.” She followed him through the living room and into the kitchen, and motioned toward the far wall. He found the vase, filled it with a bit of water, and let her arrange the flowers to her liking before he set them in the center of the small kitchen table for her to admire.
    “Smells like bananas and oranges in here,” Logan sniffed the air and gazed at the walls she’d painted a cheerful yellow.
    “I was trying out a new bread recipe.” Kate nodded toward a platter on the counter where a nicely-browned loaf cooled beneath the last rays of a waning sunset. “Wanna sample?”
    “Sure.”
    She sliced a piece for him and waited while he tossed a bite into his mouth, chewed.
    “So…?”
    “It’s…fabulous.” He nodded and bit off another chunk. “Wow.”
    “Well, that’s certainly a nice stamp of approval.” She laughed. “OK, I’ll add it to the line.”
    “You’d better. And send a dozen loaves over to the construction site tomorrow, sliced, of course. The workers will thank you.”
    “I’ll get right on it.”
    “After dinner,” he said. “No more work now—for either of us.”
    “Where are we going…for dinner, I mean?” Kate asked.
    “Where would you like to go?”
    “Your parents’ restaurant. I want to thank them again for the library.”
    Logan nodded and took her hand. “Then that’s where we’ll go. They’ll be happy to see you.”
    The aroma of grilled onions and barbecued chicken made Kate feel at home as soon as she stepped into the bustling lobby. She could almost taste juicy, melt-in-your-mouth grilled shrimp.
    “Kate!” Logan’s mother rushed over. “Oh, don’t you look pretty.”
    “Hi, Mama Daniels.” Kate closed her eyes as the woman wrapped her in an embrace. A hint of garlic mingled with lavender and brought comforting