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“Then, we’ll go to the bakery and I need you to start on the stuff we need to get baked and ready for the usual hours tomorrow.”
“Coffee on the way?”she asked hopefully.
“Yes.Coffee on the way.I also need coffee.”
“Is that Maddie?”Rick’s voice floated out from inside, and then a second later he appeared, with Toby on his hip.The image of him, all sleep-rumpled, with Toby clinging to him, jam smeared over the toddler’s mouth, sent my hormones into overdrive.
“Hey,” he greeted me.His slow, warm smile would be my undoing.His eyes were soft from slumber and there was a sleep crease on his left cheek.
“Hey.”I wanted to pull him back to his bed and get in there with him.I was pretty sure he’d be amenable.
However…
My resolve not to have a hot-as-the-surface-of-the-sun fling with him was weakening by the second.
Ihadto tell him about what happened with Seb.He deserved to know, and if I was going to be intimate with this man, he deserved honesty.
But first, I had alotto do.And my primary reason for being here was to cover my cousin’s bakery, not have sex with her hot neighbor.
Sadly.
“Mom’s busy for the first couple of hours this morning,” Jenny informed me.“So, Rick’s watching Toby.”
“Thank you for your sacrifice,” I said, mock-gravely when Toby yanked his uncle’s hair.
“Hmm,” Rick replied.“Well, it’s a great— ow!—opportunity to spend time with—ow, quit it!—him.I’m taking’ him to the park and over to see Dad, so we can work up some estimates.”He held the toddler at arm’s length.
Toby swung his arms, delighted at the new game.
His joy was contagious and I found myself chuckling.“Ready to go to Sureway?”I asked Jenny.
“Am I ever.”She ducked back into the porch to get a handful of reusable bags and then practically bounded down the steps.“Bye, Rick!Thanks for watching Toby!”
Toby chose that moment to stick a finger up his uncle’s nose without even a second of warning.
Rick’s face promised retribution, and I suppressed another giggle as we headed to the car.
“He’s a good brother.”
Jenny grinned.“Thebest.I never expected him to come home from the Army, you know?At least, not right away.But he did.He saw that we needed help, Dad and Mom and me, and he came, and he never made out that we owed him or anything.”
My heart squeezed.
“Rick bought the house next to Jess,” Jenny continued.“He moved all his stuff out of that tiny apartment he kept in Louisville.I had no idea.I was staying my Mom and Dad, and he just turned up, and said he’d bought a two bed so I’d have more space for Toby.”She swiped at her eyes with one hand.“He didn’t have to do any of that, Maddie.He had a great career going.”
“Did he like it?The Army, I mean.”
“I think so?He doesn’t talk about it a lot.”Jenny drummed her fingers on the steering wheel.“Sometimes when he’s had a few drinks on a weekend night, he’ll open up a little.He has that one tattoo for friends he lost, and I know he’s told Dad more than me.”She rolled her shoulders pensively.“Men don’t talk, you know?They should.Stupid society.Making men think they can only fight or fuck.”She slapped a hand over her mouth and then laughed.“I swore!I thought for a moment that Toby would hear and then I’d bethatmom, you know.”
“You’re safe here.Swear away.”
She laughed.“Rick goes to a veteran’s group though.It’s more than some people do, so I have to be content with that.”She sighed, pushed a hand through her hair.“You want to get coffee on the way?”
“Yes.” She drove a little further until a sign for a coffee shop came into view.As she flicked on her indicator and took the exit, I thought about all there was to do today, and without preamble, an image of the unopened letter from Seb flashed in my mind.
I needed to deal with it… Later.
We pulled up at the drive-through and Jenny leaned out of the window, glancing back at me.“Want anything?”
