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.”

of the children began to protest loudly, some even going so far

shrugged off his suit jacket and put the apron on, coming over to me. Without thinking, I reached

“They’re gonna kiss!” Now, the group’s cries of protest became even louder as some of the boys even went

shaking my head as I felt my face get hot. Next, I showed Edrick which ingredients to pour into the bowl, and how

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

enough, we had enough cookie dough for an entire army. Sophia took half of the children as a group, helping them to roll the

Morgan?” Clara said — she seemed to have taken a liking to him, which reminded me of

asked as he rolled a ball of dough between

have

“I do,” Edrick replied.

side a bit as she focused on rolling a wa d of cookie dough into a misshapen ball between her tiny hands, then slapped it down on the tray with

speak, but the words didn’t seem

the room, “That’s an awfully

Sorry, Mr. Morgan.” Clara drooped her shoulders and dug into the bowl of cookie

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 my mom, I

feminine things, but I also had all of the opportunities in the world to try traditionally masculine hobbies. I couldn’t

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

the little boy. “Don’t eat raw cookie

erupted into laughter again. When I looked up,

enough, the cookies were out of the oven and the children were happily stuffing their chocolate-covered faces. Sophia led Edrick and I

really can’t thank you enough, Mr. Morgan,” Sophia said as we stood in the doorway. “Your donation means the world to us. We’ve really been struggling lately — the government isn’t so generous with their

reached out and squeezed Sophia’s arm. Edrick fell silent and appeared to be thinking, his brow furrowed almost

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