Love Takes the Cake Read Online Free

that easy, musical laughter that used to come so easily. The laugh reminiscent of a few years ago, before life got so complicated. Before everything changed because of one rainy night and one bad decision on his part.
    Will reached forward and tucked the blanket tighter around Melissa’s feet, covering her toes that peeked out from under the edge of the fringed quilt. Sitting with her here, both of them on the couch, surrounded by pillows and snacks, almost made him forget she was paralyzed.
    Almost.
    The wheelchair by the edge of the sofa was a stark reminder, as was the lower placement of the light switches on the wall and the ramp he’d built to the front door.
    â€œNot the wedding.” Knock on wood. Just let Adam get that idea next. He definitely didn’t need his best friend getting any crazy matchmaking schemes. “Only the wedding cake.” And the other prewedding events, which apparently involved even more desserts, but he wouldn’t think of all that yet. Charlotte could help figure that out . . .
    â€œYou know the cake is like the secondary star of the show, right? Next to the dress.” Melissa nibbled another bite of her cookie, then pulled it away and studied it. “Are you trying to make me fat, by the way? It’s not like I can go jog this puppy off my hips.”
    She grinned, her bright green eyes twinkling, but Will was reminded once again that her handicap still bothered him a lot more than it bothered her.
    But that’s because she didn’t have the guilt of it weighing on her shoulders, a constant shadow by day and heavy ache by night. He shifted on the couch, simultaneously glad she could joke about it but wishing she wouldn’t. It was awkward. It hurt.
    He couldn’t fix it.
    Growing up, he’d fixed all of Melissa’s problems. That’s what a big brother should do. Broken doll? Superglue. Friend mad at her? Make prank phone calls. Boyfriend trouble? Fistfight in the parking lot. It was always easy.
    But this . . .
    He tried to shake it off. “Whatever. You weigh, what? A hundred and ten pounds? Your weekly snickerdoodles aren’t going to hurt.” His sister was tiny. He’d always been able to throw her over his shoulder whenever he wanted.
    Well, until the last two years, anyway.
    â€œWill. Come on, now. Stop it.” Melissa’s voice, so much like their late mother’s, softly pulled him back from the brink. “I think this wedding will be good for you. You need to do . . . stuff. Things. Anything , really.” She reached over and squeezed his hand, just like she did that time they went to the state fair when she was five and she was afraid she’d get lost. Like she did during that scary movie he’d talked her into seeing in the theater six Halloweens ago. Like she did at their mother’s funeral.
    Like she’d done when he stood by her hospital bed after the accident.
    â€œYou’re turning into a hermit.” She wrinkled her nose at him. “And it’s not flattering.”
    â€œHey now, enough with the insults.” But inside, he was just grateful she still had a sense of humor. She could call him anything she wanted and he’d embroider it on a pillow. What Melissa wanted, Melissa got. It was his job to see that happen.
    Which was precisely why he didn’t have time for this wedding, or anything else that didn’t involve paying the bills and making sure Melissa had everything she needed.
    â€œMaybe not a hermit. But you’re heading toward antisocial at best. It’s not healthy.” She settled back against her nest of pillows. “You don’t even work anymore. Besides part-time personal training.”
    â€œI just do that to kill time until I decide what’s next.” Will had cut back to reserves after Melissa’s accident, so he could be around when she needed him. Thankfully, he’d been wise with his finances over the years and had been