Page 16 of Willow Vale

I nearly dropped the bottle in my hand. “What?”

Dad let out a deep sigh. “I don’t know about you, but I amstarving,” he said before opening the door for Mom. “Why don’t we put the chicken back in the fridge and go to the steakhouse for a change? Make it a date night.”

“Don’t try to sweet talk me, Adler. Your tricks don’t work on me.”

“I remember they used to work like a charm before these kids came along,” Dad muttered.

They both disappeared into the house without another word, leaving me with a dumbfounded look on my face that made Finn spit his beer out through his nose. I gave him a look of disgust, narrowly avoiding the mess he made.

“Oh, man! The look on your face is priceless.” He started losing it, and I smacked him upside the head, which only resulted in him howling louder with laughter.

He was the only one laughing.

CHAPTER 8

Lila

“Didyou make up your mind yet, buddy?” I stood in the juice aisle in the grocery store, staring at the dozens of varied juice box flavors while River tried to pick which one he wanted. He pointed at one then another while he made his choice from his seat in the cart. Almost always changing his mind before making me reach for a different one.

“Hmm, maybe that one.”

He did the same thing two more times, all while smiling brightly at me which made it impossible to do anything other than smile back. I was such a sucker for him, and he knew it.

When he finally picked the juice he wanted, I practically shot out of the aisle after that, not wanting to give him a reason to pick outanotherflavor. I was pressed for time now that my first shift was tonight, and I had to drive to the ranch to drop River off with Amelia. I spoke to her over the phone after doing a lot of debating until I finally caved. What I expected to be a short conversation turned into an hour-long session of catching up and answering questions about River.

When I offered to pay Amelia after she told me to drop him off around four, she said it wasn’t necessary.

I’d find a way to pay her, one way or another.

I wasn’t going to make her watch my kid without doing something for her in return. It just didn’t sit right with me.

I suppose I had my mother to thank for my inability to accept help without feeling some form of guilt. Irene didn’t teach me many things growing up, which left me to fend for myself. Growing up, I became independent rather quickly and didn’t ask for much, learning that it was easier to put faith in yourself than it was to be disappointed when someone couldn’t be there for you.

I wouldn’t start depending on someone now without at least making it up to them in some way. If Amelia was as stubborn as I remembered she was—and Idid—then I had to get creative.

I pushed the cart forward, thinking about stopping by the coffee shop to get some muffins for her when River tugged on my sleeve to get my attention.

“Lila.”

“River.” I pushed the cart back down one of the aisles when I remembered to get a few snacks for him tonight.

“I love you,” he said, his little hand finding one of my curls and twisting the strands with his finger.

I smiled down at him. “I love you too.”

“This much?” He showed me a little space between his thumb and forefinger, placing it between one of his eyes as he squinted.

I hummed, pretending to think it over. River waited patiently for me to answer with a slight frown. Finally, I said, “I think I love you more than that.”

“This much?” This time he held both his hands about an inch apart.

“More than that.”

“This much!” His hands were splayed wide as he stretched his arms out on either side of him.

I chuckled which made him smile. We reached the end of the aisle when I said, “Way more than that.” I pushed the cart and, in focusing solely on River, I didn’t notice there was a shopper approaching us to our right. Our carts collided hard, and River let out an excited giggle when he got jostled.

Something clattered to the floor and I heard someone curse under his breath. “Damn it.”

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