Hunting the Hunter (Second in Lone Wolf series)

Chapter Twenty-Two

　

“Hard at it I see.” Brendon said the next day as he stepped into Dawn’s bakery and saw Ella organizing cakes, pastries and cookies beneath the glass display cases.

“Yes.” Ella replied and Brendon couldn’t help but notice that her eyes lit up when she looked up at him. Those eyes had seemed so lifeless and dead just weeks ago and now he was learning how to read them and loving what he saw.

“You look good in flour.” he teased as he leaned across the counter and kissed a smudge of the white powder off her cheek.

Dawn came walking in from the back and Brendon quickly cleared his throat and stood straight.

“Hello, Dawn.”

“Hello, Brendon. Are you feeling better today?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Brendon replied with a tip of his hat. “Sorry about yesterday. I didn’t hurt you with that couch did I?”

“No, she hits herself with couches all the time just to stay prepared for that off chance that a Hunter will throw a temper and toss one at her.” Grange growled matter of factly as he came into the bakery and immediately went to Dawn.

Brendon watched them both as Grange swept Dawn into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. Dawn kissed him back seeming not to care that he was covered in sawdust, sweat and dirt from working all morning.

Creed cooing loudly from the papoose on Dawn’s back had Grange chuckling and pulling away from her. He walked around her and lifted the boy out and up into his arms.

“Let’s give your mothers back a break for a while, son.” he said with a happy smile. He laid a kiss to his sons head and the boy wrapped one fist tight around Grange’s thick dark hair.

Brendon found himself chuckling at the look on Grange’s face which was a mixture of love, pain and amusement and then Brendon looked at Ella who was watching Grange, Dawn and Creed as well.

Her pale green eyes were full of longing and Brendon felt a pain in his heart. Ella deserved that. She deserved a man who could settle down with her. A man who could give her children and be right there to help her raise them.

She deserved that man and Brendon was going to be that man for her. He just had to convince the council to let him.

“Brendon!” Maggie exclaimed as she came running out of the kitchen toward him. Brendon scooped the limping girl up into his arms with surprise and she held a cookie, that smelled like cinnamon, under his nose.

“Try it! Try it!” she insisted. “Ella made them! Dawn said she’s really good.”

“Dawn is too nice.” Ella countered as she closed the glass display case she’d been organizing. Brendon smiled at Ella. That had almost sounded like a joke.

“Let me have that cookie.” Brendon grinned and took a big bite and then instantly wished he had taken a smaller one.

He forced his jaws to chew the hard, and extremely dry, cinnamon cookie and as he tried to swallow and force the lump of lumpy, bitter cookie down his throat, he nearly choked and began coughing loudly.

“I think your cookie killed him.” Maggie said matter of factly as Brendon sat her down gently on her feet and then clung to the counter, his lung burning from lack of air as he continued to cough.

Ella came around the counter and patted him on the back several times. “I told you Dawn was too nice.”

“Well I’ve never had that problem.” Trig said with a laugh as he walked in to the bakery. “She’s never had a problem being mean to me.” Dawn glared at him.