Just One Kiss (Whisper Lake #4) - Barbara Freethy Page 0,54

gaze. "You've made mistakes. You just need to recover and do better."

"I'm going to try, but—"

"No buts. By getting sober, you're giving yourself a second chance, and I'm giving you one, too. Don't let me down."

Trevor nodded. "Okay."

He got to his feet. "I'll be back in thirty minutes."

"Thanks."

He headed out the door and jogged to his car. On the way to the store, he punched in Adam's number. If Adam could track Trevor's car, maybe they could find Kelly. It was the best lead they'd gotten so far, and it felt good to be doing something proactive. Hopefully, the information would pan out and Hannah would get some good news.

They'd just started pulling ingredients together for the cookies when Hannah heard the pitter-patter of little feet coming down the stairs. Apparently, Brett's nap today was not going to be a long one. She moved toward the kitchen door as Brett came running down the hall. He launched himself into her arms, and she gave him a hug.

"Did you have a good sleep?" she asked him.

He nodded, his gaze moving toward her mother, who was standing frozen in the middle of the kitchen, a look of shock on her face.

"Who's that?" he asked.

"That's my mom. And she's also your mom's mom, which makes her your grandmother."

"Hi," he said, with his usual friendly smile. "I'm Brett."

Surprise flashed across her mother's face at his warm greeting. "Uh, hello." She paused, giving Hannah an awkward look. "I'm not sure what he should call me."

"How about Grandma?" She looked at Brett. "What do you think about that?"

"I never had a grandma before. My friend Albie has two."

She couldn't help wondering about his father's parents, but, apparently, they didn't exist—at least, not in Brett's world.

"Are you going to bake cookies with us, Grandma?" Brett asked.

Her mother sucked in a quick breath at the title Brett had so quickly accepted. "I am," she said.

"We're going to make sugar cookies," she told Brett.

"I was thinking about that," her mom said. "Why don't we be a bit more creative? Remember when we used to make sweater weather sugar cookies?"

Her mom's words took her way back in time. "Yes. The cookies all looked like Christmas sweaters."

"I want to make sweater cookies," Brett announced.

"We could also do white chocolate cherry shortbread cookies," her mother added. "Those were your favorites."

"I don't think I have the sweater mold or the ingredients for the other ones."

"We could do peanut butter, too," her mom said. She was either completely caught up in the cookies or trying to avoid thinking about the little boy who was calling her grandmother.

Hannah suspected it was partly the latter.

"I love peanut butter," Brett said, getting more excited by the minute.

"And bittersweet chocolate crackle cookies," her mom continued. "Those were Kelly's favorites."

"Kelly is my mom," Brett said.

Her mother looked pained at that reminder. "I know." Her gaze moved to Hannah's. "He looks like Tyler more than Kelly, but she's there in his eyes. I don't know if I can do this, Hannah."

"Of course you can. Because all we're going to do is make cookies. However, I think one of us needs to go to the store."

"I can do that."

"Okay. But, Mom, you need to come back." She was slightly terrified that her mom would go to the store, walk down the liquor aisle, and use alcohol to stop thinking about Kelly and Brett. "I can't make all those cookies without you. And Brett wants to do them with you, too."

Her mother slowly nodded. "I'll come back, Hannah."

She wanted to make her mother promise to return, but what was the point? There were too many broken promises between them already.

As her mother left the kitchen, she set Brett on his feet. "How about a snack while we wait for Grandma to come back?"

"Can I have a banana?"

"Absolutely." As she walked over to the kitchen island that was already littered with ingredients, she really hoped the baking bonanza would work out, for a lot of different reasons. Not only would she have the cookies she needed for the party, but her mom would get a chance to bond with Brett. Plus, it would be the first time she and her mom would attempt to recreate one of their favorite shared experiences. While she had always been impatient with the cooking portion of baking, she had loved hanging out with her mom while she baked. It would be fun to do it again, but she had a feeling that it wouldn't just be the