Page 60 of Honey Bee Library
Willow’s eyes were wide when she met my gaze. She held it for a moment before she spoke. “Do you want me to come?”
That wasn’t even a question. There were a lot of things I wanted to do with Willow, but she was so determined to keep me at arm’s length that I was certain I was going crazy.
“Of course,” I said. With the dishwasher now loaded, I leaned against the counter and folded my arms. “But only if you want to.”
Willow blinked at my qualifier, but I wanted her to admit that she wanted to spend time with me. I needed to hear it. Her words were better at lying than her kisses were. I knew she wanted me. She knew she wanted me. I was ready for her to openly admit it.
She glanced to the side as she shifted her weight and then folded her arms. “I’d be happy to go with you.” She hesitated. “But who will watch Jasper?”
I waved away her worry as I stepped closer to her. “Maddie’s got a kid sister who is majoring in child psychology and has already agreed to do it.” I was a foot away from her now. “You said you’d be happy to go, but do youwantto?” Those were two very different things, and I needed her to differentiate.
Willow’s eyes were wide as she stared up at me with her lips slightly parted. “I…” She swallowed, but I wasn’t going to back down. I needed to hear her say this. “I want to go with you,” she whispered.
I held her gaze for a moment longer before I nodded. “Good.” I sidestepped her. “Now, let’s get the munchkin. I wanna take him to Miami Seaquarium ’cause he’s going tolosehis mind.”
19
SABRINA
It had been exactly32 hours since I’d last seen Liam, and I hated that I knew it had been exactly 32 hours since I’d last seen Liam. The uneventful and peaceful days I imagined when I took the job at the library were now filled with unwanted anxiety.
Every time the door chimed, my gaze would instantly snap in its direction to see if it was Liam coming in. There was a moment earlier this afternoon when I swore I heard him talking, but when I rounded the bookshelf, the only person in the area was an elderly woman sitting in one of the sun-bleached armchairs by the window, reading.
I was officially losing my mind.
By the time I opened the front door to my apartment and stumbled across the threshold, I was exhausted. Waiting for my next encounter with Liam was going to be the death of me. I closed my eyes and took a breath only for my phone to chime, startling me back into the present. I shut the door, and once it was fully closed, I dug around in my purse until my fingers wrapped around the cool metal of my phone.
I glanced down to see that Isabelle had messaged me. I leaned against the wall for support as I swiped at the text.
Isabelle: Hey girl! Don’t forget that there’s book club tonight! I just emailed you the talking points. You’ll have a fun group of ladies to wrangle. You’re the best!
Crap.
Book club.
I tipped my head back and closed my eyes. Thankfully, Isabelle had given me the book when I left work yesterday, and I’d spent last night skimming through it. It was a cute murder mystery about a group of older women solving crimes. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what I was going to talk about, I was just way too tired for this, yet I knew that didn’t matter. This was my job, and I was going to have to go. I glanced down at my phone screen.
5:30.
I had an hour and a half to eat, make myself presentable, and spend some time with Samuel before I had to leave. I pinched the bridge of my nose. I could do this…Ihadto do this.
I pushed off the wall and headed further into my apartment in search of Abigail and my son. Each room was eerily quiet as I came up empty. Had Abigail taken him somewhere? Normally, she texted me if she wasn’t going to be here when I got off work.
I was in the process of scrolling through my contacts in search of Abigail’s name when I heard the front door open, and Abigail’s voice filled the silence. I stuffed my phone into my back pocket as I headed in their direction.
Relief filled my chest when I saw her standing in the middle of the kitchen with Samuel propped up on her hip. She was talking to Bash, who was carrying two white plastic bags in his hands. He was quietly nodding along with what she was saying, and she didn’t pause to let him speak.
Typical.
“Hey,” I said as I focused my attention on Samuel, who was squirming in Abigail’s arms.
I wrapped my hands under his arms and around his chest before I lifted him from Abigail’s hip. He giggled as I raised him up over my head and lowered him so I could blow raspberries on his tummy.
“I missed you,” I said as I lifted him above me once more.
He squealed and laughed, drool dripping from his mouth.
I kissed his cheeks before I settled him onto my hip. Abigail was gathering some plates from the cupboard while Bash was unloading the boxes of Mr. Cheng’s Chinese and setting them on the counter.
