Page 62 of Love Notes & Lifelines
“What’s this?” I ask, sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Mommy’s helping me.” She holds the bag up to my face.
The note says,Emmy loves French braids and pigtails.
Huh. Maybe not all secrets are bad.
“French braids and pigtails, huh? Those are my favorite too. Do you want me to do your hair?” I ask. She nods, and sunshine beams from her face.
“Tabby pulls too hard.” This drags a chuckle from me.
“Well, sweet angel, I happen to be very good at braids and pigtails. Which would you like today?”
“Bwaids.”
“Braids it is. Come here.” I lift her from the bed while she clutches the bag in one hand and a hairbrush in the other, then I carry her to the bathroom and set her on the counter.
Ten minutes later, she has two pretty braids going down the sides of her head.
“The braids are perfect. Are you hungry?” Her stomach chooses that moment to rumble. “Breakfast time, kiddo. You ready?”
She nods and lunges for me as if she’s part spider monkey.
We’re halfway down the stairs when I smell smoke and run to the kitchen. Tabby stands on the island waving at a smoke detector, and Beck’s on the deck with smoke billowing from a frying pan.
“What the heck happened?” I ask, peering around Tabby to search for Ruby. The little girl catches my eye, pauses for half a second, then makes a mad dash toward the door, laughing hysterically, but I scoop her up before she hits the open doorway.
“You’re trouble, kid.” She claps happily as though she understands every word.
Beck turns at my voice, and his cheeks look like they caught fire with breakfast.
“Ah, I haven’t made pancakes in…ever.” He tilts the pan in my direction, and the black smoke shifts in the air. The bottom of the frying pan is crusted with a thick coating of ash.
Good lord. I really am on my own here, aren’t I?
Embarrassment ratchets up the heat on his cheeks, and I take pity on him. Trading Emmy and Ruby for the frying pan, I gesture toward the house while dutifully studying the scorched mess he handed me.
“Play with them for a bit. I’ll fix this.”
The heat of his body warms mine, and I make the mistake of lifting my gaze. Beck’s attention is on Ruby, but it’s his smile that imprints on my heart. Ruby has a fist in her mouth, and she’s drooling more than a Saint Bernard, but he’s staring at her with such undeniable love that I’m pretty sure my ovaries explode.
He angles his body to mine before I can get away. “Okay. Thank you, Stella. And I’m sorry for…”
Beck clamps his lips shut and I shrug.
“It’s fine. It’s cold out here though. Take them inside and give me twenty minutes.”
He won’t meet my gaze, but he does as I ask, and twenty minutes later, we’re all sitting around the table having breakfast as a family.
Or, what I’ve always imagined a family to be. It’s only ever been my mom and me. That knife in my gut twists another forty-five degrees.
Pretty soon it’ll just be me. That thought steals my appetite, and I push my plate away from Ruby’s sticky fingers and focus on getting the food in her mouth instead of on the floor.
“Isn’t this…cozy.” The shrill voice behind me casts an arctic chill throughout the room. Emmy drops her fork and appears to shrink in on herself, and my instincts take over.
I stand abruptly, having no idea what the hell is going on here, but this woman terrifies the girls, and I won’t allow it, not if I can—not when they’re finally settling into the safety of their home.
“Um, the girls and I are heading to the beach now. We’re collecting stuff for an art project later.”
