I’d always been a good student.
Even better with numbers.
Had always believed I wanted to do something with that.
Funny how it turned out thatsomethingwas cooking Crimson Crows’s books.
Meems was right.
I was going to be a chef, after all, just not quite the one she imagined. But I had to admit, I’d gotten really good at making Silas’s favorite pie.
“You do, huh?” I whispered, trying to focus on the task at hand.
Impossible when my husband started kissing up and down my neck.
“Like everything about you, actually,” he murmured against the skin.
A little moan worked free, and I struggled to focus.
“Look.” I pointed at the screen. “I found this veterinary center right here in Crimson Creek that’s known to give free care to animals belonging to low-income families. They just received a twenty-thousand-dollar grant.”
“That’s fucking good, baby,” he enthused in his low, rough voice.
Though he didn’t give up in his needy pursuit, sliding the chair out with me in it, leaning further over so he could drag up the skirt of my dress.
Then he went flying back when the lobby door suddenly opened and a bright wedge of light flooded into the room. Squinting, he ran a flustered hand through his hair, doing his best to appear casual as Elena walked in with Kai.
She smirked. “You might as well drop the act, big brother. Do you actually think I couldn’t feel you in here getting handsy from a mile away?”
“Hands, Daddy!” Kai pushed both of his hands out, waving his little fingers in the air.
We both choked over a laugh, though Silas was murmuring, “Hey, little man. That’s right, you’ve got two hands, don’t you?”
“One, two,fee!” He bounced on Elena’s hip, letting go of one of his adorable little squeals.
I stood, shaking myself off a bit.
This was my favorite time of day, after all.
The time when Elena brought Kai to the shop so we could all have lunch together. For most of the summer, we’d had picnics out beneath the trees, but since the weather had begun to cool, we’d taken to either eating here in the lobby or out in the shop.
“Mommy!” He reached for me.
My heart did a somersault in my chest.
Racing as it stretched and expanded.
We thought we’d test it out. Calling Silas ‘Daddy Silas’ and me ‘Mommy Brinley’, wondering if it would be awkward.
If it would feel like a lie.
It hadn’t because that’s what we’d become.
His parents.
Silas and I might have loved each other, body and soul, but this little boy was the light of our lives.
“Hi, my sweet boy.” The words were thick with adoration.
