Chapter 32: Sweet as Sugar
Moana

The children all began to cheer once Edrick agreed to stay longer so that we could make cookies. I lifted my gaze from Clara to see the Alpha billionaire standing in front of me, but he wasn’t looking at me; he was looking at the children.

We all made our way down to the kitchen. I lingered at the back of the group, still in utter shock as I tried to wrap my head around Edrick’s sudden change in demeanor. Had the tour of the orphanage and seeing how disadvantaged children lived given him a bit of compassion?

Once we were in the kitchen, I put on an apron and started to get out the ingredients to make the cookies while the children watched hungrily, licking their lips in anticipation for the sweet taste of sugar in their mouths.

“Do you like to bake, Mr. Morgan?” Clara asked, standing on her tiptoes as she gripped the edge of the counter to see.

“No,” Edrick replied, avoiding eye contact with the little girl. “I don’t.”

“Not even cookies?”

“No, not even cookies,” Edrick said. Then, in a slightly lower voice: “I’ve never baked anything.”

The children erupted into gasps, causing me to stifle a laugh. “Here,” I said, grabbing an extra apron and tossing it to Edrick. “I’ll teach you.” Edrick caught the apron and gave me a puzzled look while the children exploded with a chorus of giggles.

“I think I’d just mess it up,” he replied. “You can do it.”

my chest. “There will be no cookies if Mr. Morgan doesn’t help,” I said, to which all of the children began to protest loudly, some even going so far as

the apron on, coming over to me. Without thinking, I reached out and rolled his sleeves up for him. Our eyes caught for

of protest became even louder

away from Edrick, shaking my head as I felt my face get hot. Next, I showed Edrick

of flour into this bowl,” I said, “and the baking

them to roll the dough into little balls and place them on the trays, while Edrick

said — she seemed to have taken a

a ball of dough

you have

“I do,” Edrick replied.

into a misshapen ball between her tiny hands, then slapped it down on the tray with an unprecedented amount of force for such a small girl. Then, she turned toward Edrick and looked up at him inquisitively. “How come you never bake with your mom? If I had a mom,

mouth to speak, but the words

interjected from across the room, “That’s

drooped her shoulders and dug into the bowl

down to Clara’s level and looked at her with unexpected honesty in his eyes. “My dad doesn’t always think that boys should do the same things that girls do,” he said. “So, I grew up thinking that if I tried to ask to do things like bake with

baking and doing traditionally feminine things, but I also had all of the opportunities in the world

mouth, suddenly spoke up. “That’s dumb,” he said, his voice garbled through the cookie dough. “Baking

the little

the children erupted into laughter again.

were happily stuffing their chocolate-covered faces. Sophia led Edrick and I to the door; we hadn’t realized it, but we had been there so long that the sun was already beginning to

to us. We’ve really been struggling lately — the government isn’t so generous with their money when it comes to

Sophia’s arm. Edrick fell silent and appeared to be thinking,

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