Cadence of Cranberries - Valerie Comer Page 0,36

everywhere.” Then he stepped away and held up both hands. “I’ll be good. I promise.”

She loved that Charlie could tease about it. She loved the way she felt around him. The emotions surging through her body. They were life.

And Winnie was ready for life.

Chapter Fourteen

“An apron? Really?” At least the royal blue fabric looked manly compared to the floral frilly thing Winnie sported. Charlie’s hand stilled. It was Al’s apron. It had to be. He searched Winnie’s eyes. “Are you sure?”

Her smile was a little too bright. “Of course. You don’t want flour or butter all over that Redband Roasters T-shirt.”

“It’ll wash.”

She still extended the apron out to him. “Wear this. It’s okay.”

Landon came in from the dining room tying a black King of the Kitchen apron around his middle. He took one look at the apron in his mom’s hand and started chuckling.

“What?” Charlie took it and held it out. “World’s Okayest Chef? Wow, that’s a resounding endorsement.”

The teen’s face sobered. “Dad tried. That’s the best we could say. Squeak here is wearing the one he got Dad that last Christmas.” He thumbed toward Michael.

The boy’s dark green apron read Stand Clear. Man Cooking. “Stop calling me that.”

“Sorry, S—” Landon flicked a quick glance at his mother’s raised eyebrows. “Mikey.”

“Or you could just call me by my name.”

Landon threw his head back dramatically. “As you say, Michael.”

There must be a story. Maybe he’d ask Winnie later. For now, he’d just remember not to give the boy a nickname. Charlie looped the apron over his neck and tied it. “Okay, what’s my first task?”

“I’ve put you on Brittany and Landon’s team making shortbread. Gabby, Michael, and I will start on gingerbread cookies.”

“Sounds good.” It wasn’t like he could spend all his time kissing Winnie in front of her kids and not mess up the recipes. His reputation was on the line here, in more ways than one. Charlie gestured toward Brittany. “Tell me what to do.”

“She’s good at that,” Landon quipped as he ducked from his sister’s indignant swat.

Charlie grinned at the camaraderie. Had Katri and Evie ever been close like Winnie’s kids? He didn’t think so, but then... he hadn’t been around much. Regrets surged to the surface. He should have worked much harder on his marriage. Yet, Julia would never have been satisfied. From this vantage point a dozen years later, he could clearly see that. Also, he wouldn’t have been free to love Winnie.

He stopped in the middle of the kitchen, and Gabby dodged around him. Love Winnie? Where had that come from? He barely knew her, not really. Thanksgiving was less than four weeks in the rearview mirror.

And yet, he knew. Lack of decisiveness had never been his weakness. This time, though, he couldn’t leap. It wasn’t just him and Winnie — though she seemed totally on board — but all her children. Well, today was a good opportunity to start building relationships. First, with the easy ones, Landon and his sisters. Michael might take more time.

Winnie hadn’t laughed so much since their last family vacation before Al died. Charlie had fit right in, and the older three had lapped up his attention, ribbing him and being teased in return. When Landon and Charlie had snapped tea towels at each other in an island-circling mock battle, even Michael had cracked a smile before seeming to remember he was morally opposed to having fun.

The entire extended dining room table was covered in cookies, squares, and loaves, the dishwasher was running for the third time, and Charlie had insisted on ordering in Chinese food for supper. They ate in front of the TV, watching It’s a Wonderful Life. Winnie sat in her favorite chair while Michael draped himself across Al’s. Charlie and the girls took the sofa, and Landon sprawled on the area rug.

Winnie’s heart was full, healed, and whole. She could thank Charlie for that. Charlie and the Lord, who’d teamed up to offer her a second chance at happiness.

Charlie looked across the girls’ heads at her, his gaze warm as he sent her that lopsided smile she’d come to cherish. They hadn’t done more than brush elbows a couple of times in the past eleven hours, yet this, right here, was an intimate moment with no touch at all.

The movie was winding down when Winnie’s phone rang. She glanced at it and frowned slightly. Dominic? A quick text conversation was more typical. She pulled to her feet. “I need to take this.” She hurried down the