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“Oh, right. Always an education with you, Sparkle.”
Ashley hated to interrupt but she had a mom duty to perform.
“Maybe we should put those flowers in water? Then we can set them in a vase on your vanity and they’ll be the first thing you see when you wake up.”
“Okay, Mom. And I can show Dex my art project.” Bad day forgotten, she shifted over to make room for Dex. He took it, twisting around so that they sat side by side. On her way out Ashley caught his wink, which made her heart gallop all over again.
Heading downstairs, she found Maeve and Vera waiting in the kitchen.
“What’s going on?” Maeve asked, sounding genuinely perplexed.
“He heard Willa was down and came by to cheer her up. He brought flowers.” She pulled a vase from the cupboard and placed it under the tap while trying to calm her racing pulse. Getting overexcited about this wouldn’t do.
“He also brought that.” Vera pointed at a Trader Joe’s shopping bag that Ashley hadn’t noticed. “Wonder what’s in it?”
Before Ashley could object, Vera and Maeve were unpacking the bag’s contents. Chocolate-covered Laceys. Sea salt caramels. English breakfast tea. Massage oil.
Vera whooped, “what have we here?” and held up a pair of pink fur-lined handcuffs.
“Ha, ha, very funny.” Her sister had quite the collection and that was obviously a plant.
“Just giving you some ideas to keep it interesting.”
Maeve looked like she had something to say.
“Okay, out with it.”
Her sister winced. “I was going to say that I’m impressed.”
“You are?”
Her oldest sister seemed surprised at her own reaction. “It’s unexpected. And sweet.”
“It is, isn’t it?”
Barely stopping herself from bounding upstairs, Ashley returned with the vase and took a moment to spy through the door. Dex was stretched out on the bed, his sneakers off, one strong arm around Willa while she showed him her butterfly art. Just the sight of them made Ashley’s heart feel far too big for her chest.
He’d brought tea. Cookies. Gas station flowers. (No handcuffs but she might keep them all the same.) But mostly he’d brought comfort to her daughter. If she wasn’t half in love with him already, that just about tipped her over the edge.
32
Blu
Domestic short-haired cat
Likes: Playing with the toilet roll
Dislikes: The patriarchy
Word about the Bunking with Butterflies event had spread. Dex had made sure to invite everyone on the Rebels roster with kids over the age of five, and while the recommended age range was 5-11, the Nature Museum was okay with older kids, too.
What Dex hadn’t reckoned on was the “kid-at-heart” subset.
“Grey, what are you doing here? You don’t have kids.”
Hudson grinned while his usual blush lit up his cheeks. “Jude’s on a shift at the firehouse tonight. Kershaw said everyone was invited.”
Typical. “Yeah, it’s fine. But at this rate we have more adults than kids.”
