Return of the Last McKenna (Harlequin Romance) by Shirley Jump Page A

all thumbs in the kitchen?”
    “Well, yeah, but I can measure out doses.” The urge to help
her, to do something other than buy a damned basket of chocolates, washed over
him in a wave. She wouldn’t let him back her next location, and he didn’t know
enough to just go out there and buy one for her, but he could take up some of
the slack for her. He followed her into the back room. “I’m sure I can measure
flour and sugar and…whatever. And if I can take the temperature of a patient, I
can add stuff to an oven. I may not have the best handwriting in the world—”
    At that, she laughed.
    “But I can handle putting some flowers on some cupcakes.”
    “I appreciate the offer, but I’m sure you’re busy with your
practice, and this would be a heck of a job to just jump into. I’ll be fine.”
She had pulled a paper off the wall and read it over. The order that needed to
be delivered, he surmised. At night, maybe to a less than desirable
neighborhood, alone.
    A thick stack of orders were tacked to the wall, waiting to be
filled after she did this one. Piles of bakery supplies lined the far counter.
Sacks of flour and sugar, tubs of something labeled fondant. A huge work load
for anyone. Not to mention someone still reeling from a big personal loss.
    Once again the urge to walk away, to distance himself from this
reminder of his greatest mistake, roared inside him. If he did this, he’d be
around Kate for hours at a time. At some point, the subject of her brother would
come up. How long did he think he could go before the truth about why he was
here came out?
    Promise me.
    Damned if he’d let her struggle here on her own. Andrew
wouldn’t want that.
    Once she was stronger, ready for the rest, he would tell her
how he had come to be in her shop that day. Andrew had warned Brody that his
sister looked tough, a cover for a fragile heart, and cautioned him against
telling Kate the truth. Brody suspected Andrew did on his deathbed what he’d
done all his life—protected the sister he loved so much.
    And now he’d given Brody that job. He’d deal with the rest when
he had to, but for now, there was Kate and Kate needed help. He took a step
closer. “Let me help you, at least with the delivery, and if we work well
together, then maybe I can help you in here, too.”
    “I don’t know. I—”
    “It’ll only be for a few days, you said so yourself. And I’ll
work for free. We can get that cupcake order done for my brother and I can be
the hero of the wedding.” He grinned. “Just let me help. I’ll feel better if I
do.”
    She leaned closer, her green eyes capturing his. “Why?”
    “Because you need the help. And I…I need something to occupy my
nights.”
    “Why?”
    He could have thrown off some flippant answer. Something about
being single and bored, or a workaholic who needed more to do, but instead, his
gaze went to the far corner of the room, where a sister had pinned up an article
about a brother who’d given his all, and the words came from deep in Brody’s
heart. Not the whole truth, but something far closer than he’d said up until
now. “I’m working through some stuff. And I just need something to…take my mind
off it, until I find the best way to handle it.”
    She worried her bottom lip, assessing him. “Okay, we’ll start
with the delivery. It’s a simple one, just getting those cupcakes,” she pointed
to a stack of boxes on the counter, “over to a local place for a party they’re
having tonight.”
    “Okay.” He hefted the boxes into his arms, careful to keep them
level, then followed Kate out the back door and over to a van she had parked in
the alley between her shop and the one next door. The words Nora’s Sweet Shop
reflected off the white panels in a bright pink script. Kate slid open the side
door, and he loaded the boxes on racks inside the van.
    She climbed into the driver’s seat and waited for him to get in
on the passenger’s side. “Before we go, I better