Page 80 of Digging Up Love
“Why can’t you come now?” Judgment filled his mom’s next words. “Are you working on a Sunday, Quentin?”
“No, Ma. Not working, just busy.” He rubbed his forehead. “I’ll be over later, I promise.”
“All right,mijo. I’ll tell your dad. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
He puffed out his cheeks and hung up. “Sorry about that. I shouldn’t have answered. Force of habit.”
“No worries,” said Alisha. “Everything okay?”
“Yep, all good.” He rubbed a palm up his forearm. “She and Dad bought the twins a Nintendo Switch, and they’re just having trouble setting it up.”
“Aren’t the girls kind of young for a gaming system?”
“Probably.” He reached an arm across his chest, hugging one shoulder. “But they’re my parents’ only grandkids, and ‘spoiled’ doesn’t begin to cover it.”
She nodded in understanding. “Gotcha. Can’t Hector help?”
Quentin raised both hands. “Right? You’d think. But my brother’s about as technologically inept as the Neanderthal we just saw.” He jerked a thumb over his shoulder toward the museum.
Alisha laughed. “You’d better go help them, then. I’ll just see you when you get back to Hawksburg.”
“No, there’s no rush. We can still go eat.” He caught her hands in his, stepping closer. “Actually, I have an idea. But remember, you can always say no. Got it?” She nodded, a small line appearing between her brows. “You’re hungry, right?”
The line deepened, but she nodded again.
Was he nuts? Maybe, but he was going for it. “Wanna come with me to my parents’? Whatever my mom’s making for Sunday dinner is bound to be even better than the place I had in mind.”
She blinked at him, and he swung their hands between them, schooling his face into neutrality.
After a moment, the silence became too much. He squeezed her hands gently. “You can say no, Alisha. It was just an invitation.”
This time she turned her face to the sparkling waves.
“You know what? Never mind, it was a crazy idea,” he said, stomach bottoming out as he shifted his feet.
“Nooo ...” Alisha spoke toward the horizon, the wind carrying her words away, and though his heart was sinking like a rock dropped into the watery depths, he kept his tone level.
“Cool. I’ll just head over after you and I eat, then.” He released one of her hands, intending to lead her down to the street, but she grabbed for his fingers and licked her lips.
“No, not crazy. I meant ...” She stepped closer into his embrace and threaded his arms around the small of her back. The beat of his heart switched to a thudding hammer. “Yes. I’d love to go meet your family, Quentin.”
CHAPTER 29
ALISHA
Alisha stuck her tongue out in concentration and snapped the puzzle piece into place on the hardwood floor. No easy task with a forty-pound child bouncing on her back, gripping the tendons of her neck like a sailor scaling the rigging of a ship.
“Over there, Miss Alisha! The rest of Maui’s hook is right there, under Lily.”
Liliana lifted up her bare foot, and a puzzle piece came with it. She giggled and tugged it off, then passed it to Alisha.
“Why don’t you put it in?”
With a shy smile, Liliana took the piece back and snapped it into place. Despite the fact Lauryn was slowly asphyxiating her and she’d normally rather get a bikini wax than put together a jigsaw puzzle, Alisha had to admit she was enjoying herself. She hadn’t been around kids much since babysitting gigs in high school, but these girls were precious.
With the puzzle complete, Lauryn finally released her grasp of Alisha’s neck, and she took a gasping breath. That child had the grip of a honey badger.
