Page 61 of More Than a Helping Hand

Lettie grins. “You’ve gotten the lemon-filled before. More than once. What happened to surprises?”

“I happen to like the lemon-filled donuts. A lot.”

“Good to hear.” She hands over a bag and an empty cup. “Have a great day. Lids and everything else are over there. But you know that.”

“Thanks. And just for the record, I was talking about donuts.”

“Yep.” Her laugh rings out as I grab a lid.

I’m still licking powdered sugar off my fingers when I pull up outside Brooke’s apartment. Instead of knocking on the door and possibly waking her roommate, I shoot off a text.

Me:In the parking lot.

Brooke:Be out in a sec.

Five minutes later, she rushes out and climbs into the truck. “Hi! I want to hear all about your new friend.”

“Let’s get to where we’re going. Then I’ll tell you.”

“You pick. Something kind of healthy though because my jeans are getting tight.”

“We can go shopping after breakfast. If you need new clothes or groceries or whatever.”

She rests a hand on my arm. “Anderson, you don’t have to shop for me or take care of me. I’m capable of handling things. And I’m not doing any strange diets or anything. I’m only eating less sweet stuff and adding more veggies to my meals. Nothing crazy.”

“Good.” I head over to a place where she can get veggies with her breakfast. “And I know you are capable of taking care of yourself, but promise you’ll call if you need me.”

“Always. You’re my big brother.”

I shoot her a smile. In spite of the horrible turn of events that changed the course of our lives, she turned out okay. And I’m proud of that.

Once we’re tucked into opposite sides of a booth and have given the waitress our order, Brooke leans forward, grinning. “Okay, so you’ve spent way too long caring more about others, but I get the feeling this is different. Tell me about her.”

I blink, processing what Brooke said, then nodding. “I never would have put it that way, but yes. She makes me happy. It’s not about helping her or her little girl. I mean, I’m totally happy to do that, but I’m dating her for completely selfish reasons.” I rub my face. “I like her, and I’m hoping she feels the same way.”

“Squee! So exciting. How did y’all meet?”

“I had an unfortunate accident at work.”

Her eyes widened, and I put a hand up.

“I’m fine. But I went to a local clinic, and the nurse that called me back was super cute. So I kind of flirted.”

Brooke crinkles her nose. “You didn’t do that hello-nurse thing, did you?”

“Maybe.”

“And she still went out with you, so you must’ve made a good impression.”

“I’m a memorable kind of guy.”

Brooke continues peppering me with questions, and I tell her about Primrose and Bailey, but I don’t use their names. Not yet.

The questions continue until we’ve finished breakfast. Then Brooke asks the question I’ve been hoping to avoid.

“When do I get to meet them?”

I need to explain about keeping dating a secret, but it was nice to forget about that for a bit. “Not sure. Our relationship is a secret right now. She doesn’t want her daughter to know.”

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