Page 71 of Forgotten Desires

Thankfully, Rowan was here to oversee the project and make sure it would be up to Brynn’s standards.

“Do you like it?”

“Like it? I love it! It’s just too much!” She moves toward it. “It’s more than I’ve ever . . . you shouldn’t have done this.”

“You’re my wife. You love the chickens, said you needed a new coop, and I agreed.”

She turns to me, tears in her eyes, and one falls. “You had them build a chicken palace.”

I shrug. “If you say so. I just thought you’d want something that wasn’t falling apart.”

Brynn wipes her tears and leans in to give me a sweet kiss. “Thank you.”

Hell, if she’ll kiss me each time I do something nice, I’m going to make it a daily occurrence. “You’re welcome.”

Layla taps Brynn’s leg. “Are the chickens in there, Rin?”

Brynn gets down to Layla’s level. “They sure are. How about we go bring them some treats?”

“I want some treats.”

Her eyes lift to me. “I’m pretty sure we’re all going to get a treat today.”

Then she takes Layla’s hand and heads off into the chicken coop.

* * *

“Are you ready for this?” Brynn asks as we’re in the parking lot of the famous Sugarlips Diner. And when I say famous, I mean to the town of Sugarloaf only.

“Is this like facing a firing squad?”

“That’s a good analogy.”

Great. “It can’t be any worse than the business meetings I deal with.”

She cocks her head to the side. “Wanna bet?”

I grin and hoist Layla into my arms. “No one can be cruel with this face here.”

Brynn smiles. “That is true.”

“Come on, let’s get it over with while we have our secret weapon.”

We enter the diner and like a scene from a movie, the place quiets and everyone’s head turns to see the three of us. Brynlee doesn’t seem to care and waves. “Hey, everyone! This is my husband, Crew, and his daughter, Layla. We wanted to come say hi so I could introduce them to the warm and loving people that I described you as.”

The room goes from complete silence to being so loud it’s hard to think. There is clinking of silverware, scraping of chairs, and people moving around to come greet us.

The first to come is an older woman, maybe in her late sixties. “Hello, dear, I’m Mrs. Symonds. I was Brynlee’s principal in school. She’s a lovely girl, you’re very lucky to know her. I make the best chili in the town, just ask around.”

I’m not really sure why that last bit is a thing I need to know, but I just smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Another older woman shoves her out of the way. “Move aside, Alice.” The two of them glare at each other before she turns to me. “I’m Mrs. Cooke, but you can call me Marie. I’ve been around this one since she was a little girl. Her gran and I were close friends.”

“We were close too, you heifer,” Mrs. Symonds cuts in.

“Yes, yes, everyone is friends with you since you’re just a peach,” Mrs. Cooke says, sighing heavily.

“My gran loved you both equally,” Brynn says, resting her hand on both their arms. “We’ll be around to talk more soon, but Layla is hungry, and we need to eat.”

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