AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Aiden’s eyes briefly flicked to mine, then moved to his daughter. “They might have plans, gingersnap.”
“We don’t,” Emmett said. “We were just going to hang out here all day.”
The kids turned their pleading gazes to me, and I tried to force a smile. “It’s fine with me, but I’m leaving the decision up to your daddy, Anya.”
Aiden fitted the new circuit into the slot, attached the wire, and quickly tightened the screw. When he flipped the main breaker into the on position, the hallway flooded with light. Along with it, some of my tension seemed to ebb naturally. If I hadn’t felt the way he wanted me, I’d have thought I imagined the whole thing. Because when Aiden tossed the tools back into the bag and turned to us, he looked perfectly normal again.
“You sure she wouldn’t be an imposition?” he asked.
I shook my head. “If she doesn’t mind frozen pizza for lunch, she’s more than welcome.”
He ruffled his daughter’s hair. “You win, kiddo.” The kids whooped loudly as Aiden returned his attention to me. “Thank you. I shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours.”
“She’s doing me a favor,” I told him. “Now I don’t have to entertain Emmett.”
Emmett rolled his eyes. “Come on, Anya. Lemme show you the trampoline we have in the gym room.”
They darted into the room to my left, and Aiden watched with a slight smile on his face.
“You’re sure?” he asked now that they were out of earshot, though his gaze stayed firmly on the kids.
For that, I was thankful.
I kept my tone light and even. “Now I don’t owe you for the circuit breaker.”
His eyes found mine.
“Thank you,” I told him.
Aiden didn’t answer. But he must have clenched his teeth because that muscle popped again. As I walked him out, neither of us speaking, I knew that I had to pull my shit together. Because the more this happened, the wilder I felt anytime I was around him.
At the front door, he paused. “I’ll be here no later than one,” he promised.
I nodded.
With the door firmly closed behind him, I sank against the wall and let out a deep breath.
Chapter Seventeen
Isabel
Apparently, if I’d ever wanted to delve into the Hennessy family history, all I needed to do was hang out with Anya for a few hours.
Over frozen pizza hot from a working oven, she told me all about her uncles (Beckham, Clark, and Deacon) and her aunt (Eloise). She told me about her grandparents and their favorite foods and how Eloise bought her pretty princess things.
She was a sweet girl and shared information in the way that only a girl well and truly loved could. There was no moment of pause as she talked about how she wished she had cousins, and how she slept with a picture of her mommy by her bed.
“What happened to your mom?” Emmett asked.
I watched them carefully but didn’t chastise Emmett for asking. I’d learned, from my own experience, that it was something worse when people avoided the reality you’d grown up in.
Anya finished chewing her pizza. “She’s in heaven. She got cancer.”
Emmett glanced at me, wide-eyed, and I nodded in encouragement.
“I’m sorry she died,” he told her.
“Me too. I only kinda remember her, though.” She shrugged. “My daddy tells me stories about her a lot. So I don’t forget.”
