“You don’t know that.” She jumped up and down as the woman behind the counter came to take our order. “A bubblegum cone, please!” Her eyes lit up as the woman gave her a massive scoop.
“That’s the kid size?” I murmured. “She’s going to be bouncing off the walls.”
Isla hummed in agreement. “Maybe we should take her and Ranger to the green after. They can run off their energy together.”
“And what about you?” I asked. “Which flavor?”
Isla inspected her choices. “Usually I’m a chocolate person, but I’m feeling cherry ripple today for some reason.”
“That’s what I would have chosen,” I told her.
Her eyes narrowed. “So that’s your half trying to influence me,” she whispered, touching her belly quickly.
I laughed, taking my card out to pay. “I don’t think it works like that.”
“Don’t forget the pup cup!” Aisling cried, tugging on my sleeve, her lips already smeared with pink and blue ice cream. Ranger barked, whacking me with his tail.
“I would never,” I promised, signaling to the woman behind the counter. Was this what it was going to be like when my own child was born? How was I ever supposed to say no to anything when they were just so tiny and adorable? Hopefully, having Isla as a partner would make that part easier. We could hold each other accountable.
I paid for the ice cream, the pup cup, and a sausage roll that Isla insisted on for Aisling’s tea later. Then we made our way back outside. We walked hand in hand, fingers linked.
“Want some?” Isla asked, offering me some of her cone.
“Nah, I’m okay.”
“Go on, you cherry fiend.”
I grinned, taking a lick of the cone. It was delicious. My lips tingled with the cold, and I couldn’t help watching the way her tongue darted out for her own lick.
“Let’s stop up there for a moment,” she said, tugging me along. “We can give Ranger his pup cup.”
“I can do it!” Aisling announced.
We paused next to a shop. Isla had Ranger sit and handed me her ice cream and Aisling the pup cup. Then she readied her camera. Ranger went wild for the tiny bit of whipped cream and the mini bone treat, and Aisling’s giggles probably echoed halfway across Braeburn.
Knock, knock, knock.
I looked up to see Jo in the shop window. We’d stopped outside the newspaper. Isla leaned into me, smiling as she waved to Jo.
“Ah, I see what you did here,” I murmured to her, my lips bussing her forehead.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, fiancé. I’m merely taking adorable photos of Aisling to use in Lena and Weston’s Christmas gift.”
While crafting the picture-perfect image of a loved-up couple in front of Jo? Yeah, she was good. “They’re going to adore whatever you give them.”
She tipped her head back, looking at me, and I realized how easy it would be to lean down and kiss her. To taste the cherry on her breath and the frost on her lips. I remembered how perfectly we’d fit together during that one night we’d shared, and I wanted that again. Not because we were putting on a show, but just because I wantedher. My pulse hammered in my chest as my eyes flickered up to meet hers. Maybe she wanted that too. All I had to do was drop my head, close the distance and?—
The door to the newspaper swung open, and Jo stepped out with a young woman who had a baby strapped to her front.
“Hello, you lot,” Jo said. I jerked back from Isla slightly. “I see you’re on babysitting duty. Hiya, Aisling.”
“Hi, Jo!” she cried, giggling as Ranger licked every part of her hand.
“Weston and Lena had some emergency wind farm business to attend to, so we’ve got company for the day,” Isla explained. She reached for the other woman, patting her arm gently. “Hey, Mel. How’s little Lucy?”
The woman shifted to give us a glimpse of a sleeping baby with perfectly chubby cheeks.
“She’s adorable,” Isla whispered.
