AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Have you got your verse for the week memorized?” Charli asked.
“Yep.” Layla’s brow furrowed, then she took a breath and said, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Colossians chapter three, verse two.”
“Good job.” Charli held up her hand for a high five. “Do you remember what we talked about it meaning?”
For the next few minutes, they discussed the verse. When they were done, Charli leaned forward to press a kiss to her forehead.
“Love you, Momma,” Layla whispered. “More than all the candy in the world.”
As she looked at her daughter, Charli was glad that she was basically a mini version of herself. That had probably been what had helped the memory of Blake slip away. If Layla had looked more like her father, it would have been a lot more difficult to forget him.
And the fact that she didn’t look like Blake would hopefully also help keep him from suspecting that Layla was his. For a little while anyway. She knew that the pair would cross paths, sooner than later, most likely.
If it was inevitable, maybe she needed to approach it with a confidence that said she wasn’t worried about Blake thinking Layla was his. Even though the thought really did terrify her.
“Love you too, sweetie. More than all the books in the world.”
Blake’s reappearance might have shaken her up a bit, but Charli would absolutely make sure that Layla never saw that. Protecting her had always been Charli’s top priority, and that hadn’t changed.
Would never change.
CHAPTER SIX
Blake helped Amelia into her booster seat in the back row of his truck, then climbed behind the wheel. As he started the engine, Blake looked into the rearview mirror to see Amelia staring out the window at the school.
“How was school today?”
She turned to briefly meet his gaze in the mirror. “It was fine.”
“And you still like your teacher?” Blake wasn’t sure why he kept asking her that. Maybe he was trying to get a feel for the type of person Charli was now, and Amelia was his only connection to her at the moment.
“Yeah. She’s nice.”
Charli’s email in response to his had been short, and he hadn’t heard from her since. Which was fine, except that he really wanted a daily update on how Amelia was doing. He needed to know that Amelia hadn’t been negatively affected by his decision to move her to Serenity.
But honestly, it didn’t matter if it was the right decision or not, because it had really been the only one he could make. Hopefully, in time, Amelia would find some joy in their life in Serenity.
Perhaps starting that night.
The school had sent home information at the start of the week that they were having a back-to-school carnival that evening. He’d seen some bouncy castles and slides in the large field behind the school when he’d picked Amelia up, so it looked like it would be a fun event.
He would have been fine to give it a pass, but when he’d asked Amelia if she wanted to go, she’d said yes. And if she actually wanted to do something associated with school, he was going to make sure she was there.
When they got to their apartment, he pulled out the strawberries and blueberries he’d bought at the grocery store the night before, then quickly prepared them for Amelia’s snack. He could run out of pretty much everything else, but as long as he had berries of any kind, Amelia was happy.
“Here you go,” he said as he set the berries on the coffee table in front of Amelia. “I’m going to go take a shower. Do you want to watch some television?”
After he had her set up with one of her favorite shows, he went to take a quick shower. The last thing he wanted to do was wander around with Amelia smelling like sweat, grease, and oil. He loved his job, but he didn’t like the way he smelled after a day at work.
After he’d showered and dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, he joined Amelia in the living room.
“Finished your snack?” he asked.
She held up her empty bowl. “All gone.”
He took the bowl from her and carried it back to the kitchen. “Do you want to change before we go to the carnival?”
Getting to her feet, she looked down at herself. “I can change?”
