Page 12 of Crossed Lines

I chuckle at her excited, makeup-covered face and wonder how I’m supposed to get all of that off her. “Good. I’m glad.”

I set her up to watch a movie while I shower. The whole time, all I can think is that this is going to be a long summer for one of us.

CHAPTER 5

Willow

Jade and I spent the morning at Blue Haven Library, and she loved every second of it. Not only did she sit still for the entire story time, which honestly surprised me with how much energy this girl has, but she also picked out several storybooks for me to read to her. I read two at the library, and then we checked out a few others to bring them home.

It brought back so many fond memories of being at the library. When I was younger, Sawyer would take me every other weekend so I could get a few books to read. It was often the highlight of my week, especially after our parents died. Getting to escape into a book gave me a semblance of happiness back then. I still love to read, but my time is limited between classes and homework right now. Just one more year and then I can put school behind me.

“How’s the milkshake?” I ask Jade as I strap her into her booster seat. After the library, we stopped at Blue’s Diner for lunch. Of course, we had to order milkshakes to go. Wouldn’t be a trip to Blue’s Diner without a milkshake.

“It’s so yummy!” Jade ordered the birthday cake milkshake while I went with cookies and cream.

“Good.” I was a little embarrassed to have Beck in my car this morning, putting in her seat. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for my car. It gets me from point A to point B, but sometimes I wish I could have something a little nicer. Macy drives a Mercedes, which is why we always take her car any time we go somewhere together. I know her situation is different. She has parents who make a ton of money. I understand it, but it doesn’t mean I’m not a little jealous.

I swallowed all that down this morning while Beck was leaning into my back seat. He knows what kind of car I drive, and he knows how old it is. Hell, I’m pretty sure he went with Sawyer to buy it. But it was a stark wake-up call for me that he is an actual adult with a nice house, a fancy truck, and a real job. It made me feel young again, and that is not how I want to be feeling around him.

“So, is there anything in particular you want to do this afternoon, or do you want me to pick?” I ask Jade once we’re on the road back to Beck’s house.

“Can we go see Daddy?” she asks.

“Of course we can.” Beck told me we could stop by the stables any time. “You missing your daddy?”

“Yeah.” Her little voice makes my heart melt. “And I want to show him my new books.”

“Alrighty then. To the stables we go!”

Instead of veering off toward Beck’s house, I head for the main lodge at Moonlight Ranch. The place is packed, which is a good sign for Blue Haven. A lot of the places in town rely on tourism from the ranch to keep their businesses going.

The main lodge is huge, and while I didn’t spend a whole lot of time in here when I was little, I do remember coming here with my parents every now and then. Particularly around Christmas time, we would all come check out the Christmas decorations and then eat dinner in the lodge restaurant. Everything looks the same and yet somehow not dated at all.

My plan was to head straight to the door that leads to the pool and the stables, but Jade escapes my grasp and beelines it to the front desk, where she must recognize someone.

“Ms. Aspen!” she yells.

The woman at the front desk turns around, and a smile breaks out on her face. “Hi Jade!”

She comes around the counter to give Jade a hug. “What are you doing here today?”

“Willow is taking me to see Daddy. We just wanna check on him.”

I groan internally. She makes it sound like I’m the one who wanted to check on him. While I will take any excuse to check out Beck Sullivan, I’m certainly not going to announce that to a total stranger.

The woman looks up at me and extends her hand. “Hi, I’m Aspen.”

I shake her hand, noticing that she can’t be too much older than me. “Willow.”

“You must be the nanny for the summer?” she asks.

“That’s me.”

“It’s great to meet you! We’re all so glad you were able to help Beck out. He was super stressed there for a bit.”

“Happy to help. And I love getting to play with Jade,” I say, rubbing the little girl’s head.

“She is the best, isn’t she?” Aspen adds, booping Jade’s nose. “Do you want a lollipop before you go see your dad?”