Their Secret Baby Bond. Stephanie Dees

around the corner and saw Pop sound asleep in the recliner with Levi asleep on his chest, one small pudgy arm wrapped around Pop’s neck.

      “I’ll just put these in the fridge for later.” Wynn’s smile lingered as she walked back into the kitchen.

      “Join me for a cup of coffee? It’s decaf this time of day.”

      “Sure.”

      As he poured the coffee, he laughed. “I was thinking the other day about the time you hid under Ash’s bed and tickled his face with a feather every time he started to drift off. Joe and I were watching through a crack in the door and finally woke him up because we were laughing so hard. You were an evil genius.”

      “Me? What about the time you and Joe set off the smoke alarm with a cigarette and blasted Ash with a Super Soaker when he came running out of his room?”

      He slid the mug in front of her. “One hundred percent Joe’s idea.”

      “Whose idea was it to hide Jules’s cat in the dishwasher?”

      Latham choked on his coffee. “I had no part in that!”

      “Me, either.” She crossed her heart in the air and took a tentative sip of coffee. “We had some fun times, though.”

      “We really did.”

      “I had such an awful crush on you that I could barely stammer. It made me so mad because when have I ever not been able to speak my mind?”

      He was quiet, spinning the mug in slow circles. “Why’d you come back, Wynn? Ever since high school, all you could talk about was leaving. Why come home now?”

      The coffee burned in her throat, the question she’d been dreading hanging in the air. Latham’s house was cozy, the fire burning low in the family room, the lights glowing warm against the gray winter afternoon sky. She longed to stay right here in this moment, before she answered the question he asked.

      “It’s okay, Wynn,” he said, gently. “If you don’t want to talk about it, it’s fine.”

      She looked up from the black coffee and into his face. His eyes on hers were warm and safe, like his home, like him... They lingered on hers with a hint of curiosity but mostly understanding. The thing she hated the most was to see that look fade from his eyes.

      Unblinking, she blurted. “I’m pregnant.”

      A horn honked outside. Levi woke up with a start, wailing in Pop’s arms. Wynn hurried into the family room to pick up the little boy.

      Jordan blew into the house like a whirlwind, Levi diving into her arms. They were gone almost as quickly as she came, Wynn swept along with them, stopping only long enough to grab her keys from the counter and send Latham an apologetic look.

      Following Jordan’s dust trail down the long driveway, Wynn took in a deep breath, her window down, letting in the bracing January-cold air.

      A person who wasn’t a coward would’ve stayed for the conversation. But Wynn had seen the shocked expression on Latham’s face when she told him she was pregnant.

      She didn’t need to hear the disappointment in his voice.

       Chapter Five

      Wynn perched on a stool in the kitchen at Take the Cake, with a cup of herbal tea cooling on the table. Her sister, Jules, was using a tool to core the cupcakes for filling. “What kind are those?”

      “Caramel apple. Apple filling, caramel frosting.” Jules had her hair, a slightly darker version of Wynn’s, tucked into a tidy bun. Everything about Jules was tidy. She picked up a piping bag and filled the cupcakes with quick efficient motions. When she had them all filled and frosted, she slid one over to Wynn.

      “I was hoping you would let me taste test.” Wynn took a bite. “Jules, this is incredible. Like seriously.”

      “I’ve been working on the combo for a while.” Jules slid the tray of cupcakes into the cooler and pulled out another tray, this one full of red velvet cupcakes, which she began frosting with a different piping bag. “So what did Latham say when you told him you’re expecting?”

      “I left before he could say anything at all. I just didn’t want to deal, and yes, I know—I’m a coward.”

      Jules’s eyes softened. “It’s okay. Anyone would feel the same way.”

      Wynn choked on her tea. “Um, how would you know? You never got in trouble, even when we were kids.”