The Broken Angel & Her Overprotective Brothers-Chapter 251: My mommy’s bakery (Daniel)

Daniel followed the direction of that sweet musical voice and found a very familiar little girl sitting on the top of the receptionist counter while facing him. Her bright yellow summer dress engulfed her entire body in the cutest way possible and the two little buns that were holding her hair up were protected by yellow teddy bear clips.

He couldn’t stop the huge smile that appeared on his lips. He stepped towards the counter and looked around to see if any elder was there to take care of little Claire. However, other than some customers, he couldn’t find any staff.

"Little One, why are you sitting here all alone? Where’s your mom?" He asked while coming to a stop a few feet away from the girl.

"She’s back there with Aunt Sarah and Uncle Tom," Claire answered as she pointed at the back of the bakery, probably where the kitchen was located.

Daniel couldn’t stop himself from following the direction of Claire’s hand as if he was expecting to see ’her’. However, he saw nothing but customers who were enjoying the sweets and quality time with their partners.

"Then why are you sitting here all alone?" He asked again while returning his attention to the kid who was now swinging her legs lightly while humming to some song. She was holding onto a little sketchbook in her hands in which she had drawn a huge ice cream of rainbow colors.

Daniel almost let out a chuckle as he realized just much infatuated Claire was with ice creams. He tightened his hold on the package that he was holding in his hands behind his back as he waited for a perfect moment to give it to Claire.

"I’m looking after the customers," Claire replied while puffing out her chest as if to show how responsible and hardworking she was.

Daniel chuckled again as he nodded his head as if to show his understanding. "You are such a good girl. You know how to help your mom. Well done."

His praise brought a huge smile to the kid’s face as she clapped her hands in excitement. Daniel suddenly felt his heart filling with so much warmth after seeing the beautiful smile. He was suddenly reminded of the memories when his siblings were also little and he used to look after them as Domenic was always busy with the company and the council.

"By the way, do you remember me?" He asked next and looked at little Claire while waiting for her reply. Though it was pretty clear that she couldn’t recognize him, he still couldn’t help but ask the question.

The confused look on Claire’s face answered his question even before she shook her head in response to his question. "Have we met before?" She asked sweetly while tilting her head on the right as if watching him from another angle would help her recognize him.

"Of course, we have. Maybe this will help you recall. I promised to find your mom first before fulfilling my promise. Though we found your mom that day, I didn’t get the chance to complete my promise. So, here I am." He added the last part just in case the ice creams alone won’t work.

As he handed Claire the package containing ice creams of all flavors and she got to take a look inside, a huge smile appeared on her face. The twinkle in her eyes and the sweet sound of her laughter were enough to tell him just how much she loved ice creams.

"You are uncle from the resort, right?" Claire asked when she again looked up at him.

Daniel nodded his head in affirmation and found something relaxing inside him as the kid recognized him. He would never say it but he was afraid of being not recognized by her.

"Thank you." Claire thanked him sweetly as she hugged the package.

Daniel just stood there while smiling like a fool. He had a sudden urge to pick the girl in his arms and hug her but he restrained himself considering the child’s feelings and also her mother or any other elder wasn’t there with her.

"Claire?"

The sweet and familiar voice pulled his attention towards the woman who was walking in their direction. Her long curls were tied in a loose bun with several strands falling around her face. She was wearing simple white pants and a loose light yellow shirt along with an apron.

"Oh! It’s you. I’m really sorry for the lack of service here. The staff was helping me in the kitchen because of an emergency." The woman said as she recognized the man standing next to her daughter.

"Mommy, see... Uncle bought me ice creams and a lot of them." Claire shook the package as she beamed happily at her mother.

"She probably demanded for them last time, right? I’m really sorry. You don’t have to really buy them. I’ll pay you now." The woman started walking towards the counter to take out some cash but a warm hand on her arm stopped her.

Daniel immediately let go of her arm before he cleared his throat to speak. "It’s nothing much. Please don’t mind. Besides, Claire didn’t demand for them. Instead, she requested for them very sweetly. I just wanted to complete my promise so I came here looking for her. As for the service, seeing such a sweet kid welcoming me is way better than someone else completing the formality."

As he finished his words, he finally got to see a small smile on the woman’s lips and his already crazy heart became even more hyper. "I’ll be taking my leave now but I’ll try to drop by some other time to buy something for my siblings. They all love sweet things." He hurriedly said and after giving the woman a quick nod and waving bye at Claire, he scurried out of the shop.

It was not until he was already sitting inside his car on the other side of the road, did he release the breath that he had been holding for quite some time. Why did he even think that it’s going to be easy?