Page 77 of Always Be Mine

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, pulling her attention as she left the car in the parking lot behind the plaza.

Did the birthday girl like her surprise this morning?

Lucy grinned and tapped out a response to her mom.

She loved it. And Craig made her a pancake in the shape of a six. He does it every year.

She smiled to herself at the image of Craig working hard over the stovetop to create the perfect pancake. It was one of the sweetest things she’d ever seen.

That’s so sweet. Tell Meri happy birthday for me. I hope to meet her one day.

Lucy hoped that, too. Only maybe by the time her mom met Meri and Craig, she’d officially be more than just the nanny.

She ended the text exchange with her mother and tapped the buttons to pull up her to-do list for the morning. She was in charge of the last-minute supplies for Meri’s party up at the big house while Craig took his daughter out for their traditional day together.

Every time she heard about another little tradition the two of them had together, the more she fell for him. He was absolutely the best dad she’d ever met. And that was exactly why she trusted him when it came to the right time to talk to Meri about their relationship. Besides, now that Meri was six, he’d committed to talking to her about her mother. And that was probably enough for a little girl to handle all at once.

Ten minutes later, she was questioning her judgment as she wrestled two huge bouquets of helium-filled pink and purple balloons through the door of the Sugar Shack. She probably should have picked up the ice cream for the party first, but she didn’t want to risk it melting while she waited for the balloons.

“It looks like you have your hands full there.”

Lucy jumped at the voice behind her. Caught off guard, she didn’t have a chance to put a smile on her face before she turned around to face Ross.

It had been weeks since she’d run into him, and she’d been so caught up in her life—and Craig—she’d hardly given him, or the fact that he was still in town, a second thought.

“What are you…”

“Ice cream.” Ross shrugged. “Maria has a craving and once she discovered how good the ice cream is here, she wants it all the time.”

Right.

Pregnant wife.

“I guess pregnancy cravings are a real thing.” She raised her eyebrows and tried to move past him, unwilling to have any further conversation with him when he stopped her.

“Lucy, I’m actually really glad I ran into you.”

She shook her head and tucked the balloons into the corner behind a table, using the weights of the bouquets to keep them from flying away.“I don’t really have time to?—”

“I wanted a chance to say…”

Was he going toapologizeto her? Lucy hesitated. She might just have time in her day forthat.She straightened her shoulders and waited as he continued.

“Well, I appreciate it that you didn’t say anything to Maria the other day about…well…”

“Us?” The word was delivered with a lot more venom than she’d intended. “You appreciate that I didn’t tell your pregnant wife that wedated? Is that what you appreciate?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Did you really think I would, Ross? That I would take some kind of perverse pleasure in destroying another woman’s happiness?” She narrowed her eyes, unable to reconcile the man she’d once cared about with the piece of shit in front of her. “I’m not that woman,” she said with a final shake of her head. “That’s exactly why I broke up with you, remember? Because I refused to bethatwoman.”

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest to keep from vibrating. “Do I think it’s pretty shitty that she doesn’t know what an asshole her husband is? Yes. Do I think she deserves better? Absolutely. No woman deserves to be with a man who doesn’t put her first. But it’s not my job to tell her that, Ross. But don’t think for a second that I stayed quiet to protect you.”

She scoffed. “That’s the last thing you deserve. But I’m not worried about that either, because life has a way of working out. You’ll get what you deserve. But as for me, I’m done with you. Now if you’ll excuse me, my boyfriend’s little girl is turning six today and I have a party to get to.”

She didn’t wait for a response before she walked away, but as Lucy disappeared into the relative safety of the back room, she did hear him mutter something that sounded a lot likecrazybitch, and that was just fine with her.

ChapterNineteen

The big househad been completely overrun by children and already Craig was exhausted, even if the kids showed no signs of slowing down.

It was good that Meri was having so much fun with her friends, she wouldn’t even notice that heruncleAndy had to cancel his trip to town. His best friend had called an hour earlier to let him know he’d been held up in Vancouver and wasn’t going to make it to Meri’s birthday after all.

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