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“I remember you.” Noelle smiled. “And there’s no way anyone could ever forget your daughter.”
“Hi, Miss Noelle!” Annalise came from around her father’s legs and latched on to Noelle’s.
Noelle hugged the child and patted her back. She saw over Annalise’s head Wes whisper to Mike, “Why isn’t she in school?”
Mike only shook his head, a look of frustration mixed with defeat on his face.
The little girl still wrapped around her legs, Noelle rubbed her back. To lose a parent was difficult. Noelle understood that all too well. But to lose one at such a young age was something she couldn’t imagine.
“So, you’re working on the baking thing.” Mike didn’t even attempt to hide a wicked grin toward his brother.
“Be careful. You’re next in line. God only knows what Dad might volunteer you for.”
That wiped the smirk off Mike’s face, and fast.
“You just wait.” Wes moved away from the counter and patted his brother on the back.
Mike groaned. “I like the changes Dad’s making, but I’d be fine if he left us out of whatever is going on.”
Noelle wasn’t sure what Mike meant by that. Warmth and kindness was what she saw in Daniel St. Claire, but she didn’t know him beyond smiles and waves when he picked Annalise up from dance class, so who was she to judge?
“Yeah. He even answered the door for Noelle.”
Mike’s eyes grew wide. “Seriously?”
Feeling a bit of an outsider in their conversation, Noelle peeled Annalise off her legs. Why their father answering the door was such a big deal was beyond her, but it was none of her business. She knelt down before Annalise so they were eye to eye. “What are you up to today?”
“Daddy said he’d color with me. Then we are going to make a snowman out back. You wanna come too?”
“I have to help Wes…your uncle learn how to bake, remember?”
“Yes!” She clapped her tiny hands together.
“That’s our cue.” Mike took his daughter’s hand and led her toward the door. “Have fun, you two. Don’t burn the house down.” His laughter echoed down the hall as he left.
Wes might have whispered, “Just you wait, brother…” but she couldn’t be sure with Wes’s back to her.
Noelle stood up again. “Okay. Well. Since you don’t know your way around the kitchen, I will just have to search for aprons.”
Wes turned to her. “You say that plural, as if we are both wearing them.”
“Oh, but we are.”
She opened the door to the pantry. The laughter at Wes’s face when she said they were both wearing aprons faded as she took in the size of the room. Most pantries weren’t called rooms. They were tiny closets, or even cupboards. This one had its own zip code. Noelle didn’t even know where to start. However, it didn’t take long to see that Glenna was uber-organized. Small hooks lined the wall to the right of the door. There were two aprons hanging near the back that looked unused. The other hooks sat empty. Noelle grabbed the two aprons then stepped back into the kitchen.
Wes stood looking over the recipe, his face pale.
“You’re gonna do great. Don’t worry.” She placed a hand of comfort on his arm, her body tingling from the connection.
He looked at her, blue eyes sparkling. “Your faith in me is…misplaced.”
She laughed and handed him an apron. “Here. Put this on.”
“You’re serious.”
“I’m serious.”
The apron string hung from his finger, the look on his face saying he had no clue what to do with the foreign object. “I was hoping you wouldn’t find any.”
