A Brighter Spark (Xcite Romance) by Mary Borsellino Read Free Book Online

dreaded curse of morning breath, she made her way downstairs. There were cartoons playing on the television and two kids seated at the breakfast table.
    ‘Um, hi,’ Suzy said, any chance of a more impressive opening line deserting her entirely. Which was stupid, really, since she saw a variation on this exact scene three or four mornings a week at home with her own kids, depending on the schedule of which nights they were at her place or at Drew’s. Cartoons and orange juice before school was one of the few disaster scenarios which Suzy could honestly claim to be expertly equipped to deal with.
    Or so she’d thought. Of course, that hadn’t factored in that these kids were Daniel’s children, and therefore well behaved and well groomed, unlike her own snarling, filthy monster-children. Also relevant was the fact that she was some weird lady wandering around their house in rumpled clothing and a blouse held together with a safety pin first thing in the morning.
    “Awkward” wasn’t even gonna start covering this.
    ‘Well, this is awkward!’ the girl – Hannah, Daniel had said her name was Hannah – said brightly, getting up from her seat and collecting another plate off the draining board. ‘Pancakes cure awkwardness, though, and luckily I made enough for everyone. Sit.’
    Suzy liked her immediately. ‘I like you immediately. Pancakes would be delightful.’
    Hannah had the same dark hair and gorgeous skin tone as their father, the same dark-lashed eyes. The puppy-fat plumpness of the old photo Daniel had shown Suzy had started to mature and settle, giving the girl a pretty, pear-shaped figure that complemented her quirky, old-fashioned vibe. She gave Suzy a shy smile and held out a hand for shaking.
    ‘Pleased to meet you.’
    ‘You too,’ Suzy replied, smiling in return, and sat down at the table opposite where Hannah’s brother was still seated. ‘Hi there.’
    ‘Hi,’ Henry said, glancing up at her for the barest instant before returning his attentions to his plate.
    Both the kids wore glasses; Hannah’s were a cute cat-eye style, part of a general retro aesthetic she had going in the way she wore her hair and the clothes she’d chosen, and Henry’s were the basic wire frames of a boy in his young teens who could not care less what his glasses looked like.
    Suzy had planned on complimenting the pancakes no matter what they tasted like, because Hannah had used them as a method of saving them from an extremely dire first meeting and they were therefore the best pancakes to ever exist regardless of culinary quality. But when she actually tasted the first forkful, it was good enough to make her eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
    ‘This is spectacular ,’ she told Hannah. ‘Do you have magical powers?’
    ‘Hannah’s an extremely talented cook,’ Daniel said as he came down the stairs, pride obvious in his tone. He collected a plate of his own and joined them at the table. As he passed behind where Suzy sat, he paused and gave her shoulder a tender squeeze. It sent a shiver through her. ‘She’s won her school’s subject prize for having the top mark in Home Economics for the past three years.’
    ‘Holy crap ,’ Suzy blurted out, before remembering that it probably wasn’t all that classy to say stuff like “holy crap” to someone else’s teenage kid. ‘I mean, um. Wow. When I did Home Ec, I was politely asked to leave after I destroyed a saucepan while trying to boil water. No joke. I stand in awe of your talent.’
    Hannah giggled shyly, pleased at the praise. ‘It’s not that hard, really. I love doing it.’
    ‘Pfft.’ Henry made a rude noise, stabbing at his syrup-drenched pancake. ‘Like baking is a real subject. It’s stupid.’
    ‘If you keep up that attitude you can take that plate straight over to the trash and make yourself toast instead,’ Daniel warned. Henry glared at him, then at Suzy.
    ‘Your hair is stupid.’
    ‘Henry!’ Hannah and Daniel said in unison. Suzy