AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Better to be overprotective than not protective enough. Even in my small hometown.
“I’m taking them over to get some snacks in a little bit,” I said to Tara.
“Okay, well...it was nice seeing you,” she said, finally giving up and walking away.
I sat back in my chair, relieved she’d given up. I hadn’t foreseen women using sexual innuendo in front of my kids, and I definitely didn’t like it.
“Maybe we should get some ice cream for the man who ate fire,” Marley said.
“That’s a great idea, peanut.”
We stood and I asked Shea and Spencer if they wanted anything.
“Shea loves strawberry ice cream cones,” Spencer said.
Shea grinned. “That’s true, but I’ll go get one in a little bit.”
“One strawberry cone, coming up,” I said. “What about you, Spence?”
“Chocolate cone, please.”
Marley and I went to get the ice cream, and she only came close to dropping her dish of vanilla with blueberry topping and Spencer’s cone twice on the walk back. I’d almost made it when I noticed Shea’s cone was about to drip, so I swiped that spot with my tongue.
“I gave it a little lick so it wouldn’t drip on you,” I said as I handed it to her.
“Thanks. It looks delicious.”
“You can try mine if you want to,” Spencer said as his sister handed him his cone.
“Thank you.” Shea gave Marley a warm smile. “That looks so good, Marley. You have great taste.”
Marley thanked her, blueberry topping already smeared around her mouth.
“What did you get, Dad?” Spencer asked.
“Chocolate peanut butter cone.”
“My dad loves peanut butter,” Spencer told Shea. “We should make him some peanut butter cookies.”
“That’s a great idea.”
I met her gaze in a quick, grateful look. Spencer was crazy about her, and seeing him so happy meant more to me than my own happiness.
There had been a lot of tears and counseling sessions between Andrea leaving and now. And while I’d promised my kids we’d thrive in our new town, it was gratifying to finally see it actually happening.
CHAPTER TEN
Shea
“Shea.” Avon closed her eyes and moaned with happiness as she took another bite of raspberry filling while standing in the nearly empty kitchen at The Sleepy Moose. “I would maim for that. It’s definitely going to be the cake filling, but can I also have a separate bowl of it just to eat?”
I laughed, pleased by how much she liked it. “You’re the bride. You can have anything you want.”
“What I really want is for Grady to stop stressing about the wedding. Did I tell you he’s trying to train Wayne to walk down the aisle?”
I scrunched up my face in confusion. “Your dog?”
“Our dog. He wants him to be the ring bearer, but there’s no way Wayne can walk past that many people without stopping. At the first aww, he’ll be waddling over for snuggles.”
