Page 83 of Love Notes & Lifelines
“Wedding planning.” He stares at me expectantly with rakish charm radiating from every pore. “I don’t care if this is a sham.If it lets us into Beck’s life, even momentarily, I’m sure as hell going to take the opportunity. Maybe a team effort will show him what he’s been missing out on by living for revenge.”
The word revenge makes an image of Silas flash in my mind. I blink multiple times to rid myself of it.
“You okay?” he asks as Emmy hands him a wad of wipes.
“Yeah,” I say too quickly. “I got sand in my eye.”
Emmy’s face breaks into a bright smile and she waves with both hands toward the house. Curiosity has me glancing over my shoulder to find Beck standing as stiff as a statue and Daisie barreling toward us. If she runs into Emmy at that speed, she’ll break her.
Leo and I move in unison, but I should know better. Daisie comes to a screeching halt that kicks up sand at Emmy’s feet and the little girl throws both arms around her neck.
“We’re on his side,” Leo says quietly.
Everything in me hopes that’s true—for Beck’s sake.
Then he whistles loudly and rocks back on his heels. “And that’s not the picture of an indifferent man. That’s a man on the verge of becoming infatuated.”
Beck stands with the doors to the deck wide open while he stiffly waves to Emmy. I can’t make out his face, but his stance is menacing. His glare can be felt from a mile away as it sweeps over me, then Leo.
I take two quick steps to the side and Beck’s shoulders visibly relax. Even I can see that from here.
Leo laughs as freely as Tabby, and I get the sense that he does it as often.
“Yeah, I have a good feeling about this,” he says as he rolls up the mats. “Go ahead, I’ll meet you inside.”
I don’t need to be told twice. Taking Emmy’s hand, we walk to the man standing as our sentinel.
Too bad he’s too late to protect me. I squeeze Emmy’s hand and she squeezes back. It’s too late for me, but there’s no doubt in my mind he’ll do what he says with these girls, and that outweighs my conflicted feelings about his threat toward Danica.
I have to let go of the emotions from my life that are carrying over to how I perceive Danica. We’re not the same people and the situations are nowhere near the same.
It’s funny how different circumstances can change a person’s truth, one I’ve held onto with both hands—not all men leave, not all men cheat, and not all men hurt women simply because they can.
Beck is not Silas. I owe it to him, these girls, and myself to at least attempt to give him the benefit of the doubt.
He’s not Silas.
Danica is not me.
Our situations are not the same—this is the truth I cling to now.
With effort, I eventually tamp down the voice asking me if the differences really matter and enter the house.
Please, Beck, don’t make a liar out of me.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
BECK
My body is sostiff even a feather could crack me in two. Something primal, something white-hot and explosive, swirls through my body when Leo puts his hands on Stella.
Daisie whines at my side and scratches at the door.
“Relax,” Tabby says behind me. She places Ruby in her jumpy contraption and begins pulling out ingredients from the pantry, saying something about cupcakes, but I can’t pay attention. Not when Leo is draped around Stella’s limbs like a pretzel.
My mind went completely blank when I caught sight of Stella and Leo on the beach—blinded with jealousy is probably a better description.
These feelings for Stella are dangerous. Rationally, I know this, but it doesn’t negate the fact that I have them, or that Tabby sees it.
