Page 80 of Life After

“Love you, Mum. I’ll talk to you soon.” As Jen ended the call, Suzanne came strolling into the living room. “Hi, babe. I was just on a call with my mum.”

“Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s fine. She’s invited us over for Sunday dinner this weekend, but I wasn’t sure if we were seeing Elsie or not.”

“Jeff isn’t around this weekend, and Josie is visiting family in Spain with Elsie. Her sister lives in Valencia. She’s been there a couple of years now.”

“Oh, lovely. I’m sure Elsie will enjoy herself.”

Suzanne smiled. “Yes. They fly out tonight and get back late Sunday night.”

“Okay, well, we can arrange to see her some other time. She seems like the type of kid to have a lot of friends, so we’ll work around whatever Elsie has planned.”

“You think a lot of my niece, don’t you?” Suzanne lay down beside Jen, her palm splayed against Jen’s stomach.

“I do. She’s great.”

“She thinks a lot of you, too. As do I…which I’m sure you know already.” Suzanne smirked as she lifted up onto her elbow and drew Jen into a kiss. “Mm. You taste delicious.”

Jen grinned when she wrapped her hand around the back of Suzanne’s neck, pulling her down for a much more heated kiss. She would never get enough of the taste of this woman on her lips. Stars exploding behind her eyes was an understatement. “Hey,” Jen whispered as she drew back a little. “Are you sure you want me to work with you?”

Suzanne took her bottom lip between her teeth as she nodded. “Mmhmm.”

“Then I’m in. If you think it’ll work, I’d love to join you.”

Instead of responding, Suzanne rolled on top of Jen, the weight of her body a constant comfort. She brushed her thumb across Jen’s eyebrow, searched her eyes, and beamed the most beautiful smile. “It would be an honour to have you at the company.”

Chapter 29

With a clothin one hand and her other pressed to the bonnet, Suzanne washed the exterior of her car, the sun shining down and drying it before she could remember which parts she had already tackled. Today marked the fourth week since Jen had reconnected with Lyn, but Suzanne had Jen all to herself today. She had done as Suzanne had suggested and taken on two fewer shifts a week at the courier firm, and now they spent every weekend together, plus an extra day through the week. Right now, life was blissful.

As she threw the cloth into the bucket of soapy water, Suzanne dragged her hair from her face and pulled it up into a loose bun instead. She hadn’t anticipated how warm it would be today, but she was looking forward to better weather with Jen. Strolls around the country, lazy days relaxing in the garden. Suzanne, for the first time since John’s death, could actually imagine those moments. They didn’t seem so blurred in her mind anymore. Actually, as she stood here today, her rose bush blooming so beautifully, she could see the future vividly.

The sound of a crying baby had Suzanne leaning over her front gate, the hedges obscuring her view from where she was positioned in the garden. A guy was pushing the pram, and he looked truly destroyed from a lack of sleep, his eyes red and puffy.

Suzanne smiled as their eyes met. “You’ve got a very lively one there.”

“Tell me about it. We only got an hour in the night. I’ve never been so used to seeing the sunrise at a ridiculous hour before.” He tried to stifle a yawn, but it wasn’t to be.

“Mm. I can imagine.” Suzanne opened the front gate when he stopped outside her house. She peered inside the pram, her heart aching for the little guy who was red-faced and screaming at the top of his lungs. “Is this a new development?”

“No, not really. He has colic, and for the life of us, we cannot shift it.” The guy ran a hand down his face. “I wish I knew how to take his pain away.”

Suzanne folded her arms across her chest and smiled back at him. “My niece struggled with colic for a while. I’m happy to say itdoescome to an end.”

“Any idea when?”

“Unfortunately not.”

“Babe?” Jen’s voice bellowed from the front door. “Where are you? Have we taken up nursery duties or something?”

Suzanne stepped back into the garden and eyed Jen. “We have a little one here who wants to make sure everyone knows he’s around.”

“Oh, bless him.” Jen took the steps down to the garden path, then joined Suzanne at the gate. She frowned suddenly. “O-oh. Dan.”

“You two know one another?” Suzanne asked, confused.

Jen lowered her eyes as she shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans. “Yeah, um…I know the gorgeous little boy in the pram. But his dad… Not so much.”

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