LITMIR.BIZ

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I don’t. And please, I don’t want you talking about it with all your church friends, either.” He patted her hand. “I meet people all the time but Marla is...different. Let’s just leave it at that, okay?”

      “Okay, then. All in due time.” His aunt took another nibble of cake. “But I’m so glad you’re making new friends.”

      Bless her. She made it sound as if he was back in middle school, but Aunt Hattie would honor his wishes because she’d been raised to be polite and discreet. Even when she “shared” information with the other matrons in town.

      Aunt Hattie didn’t pursue the subject of Marla Hamilton, thankfully, and soon they were talking about the weather, his plans for the rest of the week and her upcoming doctor’s appointment. Angus woofed and yawned and glanced longingly toward the window.

      His aunt got up after they’d finished their cake. Alec stood, too. Aunt Hattie came around the coffee table and gave him a quick hug. “I’ll see you later at dinner. We’ll keep it light—just fresh sliced tomatoes and cucumbers and some cheese and crackers.”

      Then she glanced out the window and turned him around on his heels. “Oh, and by the way, your new friend is out there taking a stroll around the lake with her little girl.”

      Alec gave his aunt a frown but he moved toward the window in a flash, with Angus right behind him.

      “You should go out there and visit with them,” Aunt Hattie said, the hope in her voice shouting at him.

      “I’d rather not,” Alec admitted. “Not right now. Not yet.”

      “She’s seen your scars, Alec,” his aunt said on a soft note. “And Marla is the kind of woman who can deal with any scars you might have.”

      “Yes, she’s seen my wound.” He touched a hand to his face. “But her daughter hasn’t. And she won’t. Not until Marla thinks she’s ready.”

      “I hope that’s soon, then,” Aunt Hattie replied before leaving him alone.

      He turned back to the window and watched as Marla walked behind a bright pink-and-white miniature bike with training wheels attached. The little girl on the bike could be a tiny version of her mother from what he could see of her long reddish blonde hair. The sight of them together, laughing and having fun, tore at Alec in a way that nothing else had in recent days.

      And made him ache for something unattainable, something unexpected.

      Gabby looked adorable.

      And so was her mother. Marla wore a flared floral skirt and a simple blue T-shirt. But her long hair spilled out around her shoulders in bright hues of gold and red.

      Alec almost headed out with Angus, but he’d promised her he wouldn’t push. And he didn’t want to scare Gabby before they’d been properly introduced.

      So he waited until they’d circled the park and when he didn’t see them coming back around, he finally took his dog out for a lonely walk. For now, that would have to be enough.

      * * *

      Marla and Gabby left the park and headed back to Lake Street, but she couldn’t help but think about the big white Victorian house that stood on a prime piece of real estate right across from the lake. Caldwell House had always been a fixture of Millbrook Lake, and she’d been by the old house many times through the years. But back then, she’d never connected the house with the man she’d recently met.

      Funny how their paths had never crossed when they were younger—but then, Marla had lived outside of town on a farm and attended a different school from him.

      Alec Caldwell had lived up there, in that wedding cake of a house, growing up. And now he was back as a grown man. A marine who’d served his country and was now trying to help wounded veterans have better lives.

      What about his own wounds?

      While Gabby had fed the fussy ducks, Marla had ventured a glance toward the rambling white house with the dainty scrollwork on the porch posts and the big bay windows on each floor.

      And she’d wondered if Alec was in there, working hard at making his dream become a reality. Had he inherited a lot of money? Did he want the responsibility of running a massive charitable foundation? What had made him go from being a soldier to becoming a local businessman? Did he have another dream that he’d put on hold?

      So many questions that she wanted to ask and so many questions that she needed to leave alone. Checking on Gabby, she watched her daughter and smiled. Gabby loved riding her bike through the park but she always stopped and waited for Marla if she saw any men approaching. Knowing that her only child was frightened of grown men broke Marla’s heart, but as a mother, she stood between her little girl and any imagined dangers. Gabby was improving, though her therapist had told Marla it might take a while before Gabby got over her fears.

      Which meant that Marla couldn’t think about Alec Caldwell in any way other than as an acquaintance.

      Because how could she bring together a man with a noticeable scar on his face and a child who had hidden scars that held her back? And how could Marla heal her own scars enough to even get up the courage to try?

      She had to think of her child right now, and if that meant she couldn’t go on a friendly date, then so be it.

      After all, she wasn’t ready for anything too heavy. She had Gabby and she had her work and she had friends and family to help her through. For now, that would have to be enough.

       Chapter Five

      Marla brushed at her hairnet and checked the fifty cupcakes she had baking for a birthday party out on the lake: twenty-five yellow-cake-flavored and twenty-five chocolate-flavored that she would turn into Suzie Sunflower Lemon and Cocoa Marshmallow Crème for a ten-year-old named Susan, who just happened to love sunflowers, chocolate and marshmallows.

      “How we doing?” her assistant, Brandy, asked, her short hair spiked underneath her hairnet and her dangling gold earrings sparkling. “I have the yellow icing ready and I’m working on the chocolate.” She glanced down at the pattern they’d created on the iPad. “Love the flower-shaped icing.”

      “About five more minutes,” Marla said in answer to her question. She glanced at the clock. Almost eleven. “Mrs. Fontaine wants these by three since the party starts at five.”

      “Piece of cake,” Brandy replied with a red-lipped grin.

      That term was a joke around here. Marla laughed and hurried back to the sheet cake she planned to put in the oven next, for an anniversary party Sunday night at the church. White cake with cream-cheese icing and some colorful sparkles. The couple had been married forty-two years and they had five grown children and twelve grandchildren. They wanted the sparkles since they maintained they still had some spark in their marriage.

      Marla smiled at that. She loved her job because, for the most part, she was involved in a lot of happy events—weddings, parties, showers and celebrations. Once, she’d even made cupcakes for a funeral—per a woman’s three grown children.

      “She loved cupcakes,” one of the sons had explained. “She’d want us to have some at her memorial dinner.”

      Happy or sad, family was important. Marla was blessed to have her family nearby, but she did dream of having a special someone. Someone to hold and love, someone to make her laugh. Someone who knew she loved cookies and cupcakes.

      When she thought of how those things had been sorely lacking in her own volatile marriage, she pushed away the guilt of not being a better wife and mother and went back to creating marzipan icing for the cupcakes. The mixture of sugar, almond paste and egg whites could be molded and formed into just about any shape or design. When the bell on the front door jingled, she glanced into the pass-through, expecting to see her mother with Gabby. Gabby had spent the night

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