AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Not the moon.” She smiles sadly and whispers, “Not yet, anyway. But someday, maybe.”
Nodding firmly, I tell her. “Just say the word.”
“Gwen York is here to follow a lead. She thinks that my daughter—I mean, the girl—is in Jersey. Would you mind if she stays with you?”
“Gwen’s always welcome to stay. I’d like to be involved in finding her.” I almost see the weight of her worries being lifted off her shoulders. “I also know you want her here because you’re worried about me. I’m not afraid of him. In fact, I hope he comes after me, because I’ll end him.”
“He’s in California, but he has connections.”
“And secrets of the stars to exchange for their help,” I add. “Your focus needs to be on Aggie and Danny.”
“We’d stay, too, CeCe, but we’re in the middle of another round of fertility treatments.”
“You’re going to have another baby?”
“I want Aggie to have a sister because, without you, I don’t know who or where I’d be.” She pulls me into another hug.
“Same.”
* * *
“Gwenie stay with Auntie CeCe, too?” Aggie asks around the two fingers she has shoved in her mouth as we pull into the driveway.
“She is.” Chloe smiles like all her secrets didn’t just get exposed.
“When we go home, Gwenie come to our house, too?”
“You know it, Texas Aggie,” Gwen calls her by the nickname only she uses. “You’d better save me a grape juice box.”
“Okay,” she says as she points out the window. “Daddy on a ladder with the doggy’s daddy.”
I glance past Chloe. Yep, Danny’s on a ladder, and Roman is out there with Elle.
Chloe’s lips twitch up as she parks beside my car. “He is. Let’s go say hi.” She smirks at me, and I roll my eyes.
I get out first, open the back door, unbuckle Aggie, and pick her up, squeezing her tight.
“You give the best hugs, Aggie.”
And she does.
Perhaps the feeling is universal—the feeling that the hug of a child emulates a feeling that everything will be all right, because it has to be. The kind of hug that lends the strength you need in order to make sure it is.
She leans back and rubs her nose back and forth against mine. “I know. Mommy says it to me all the time.”
And right there is confirmation.
I press my lips to her forehead, and that’s when I see Roman watching me. Typically, I’d narrow or roll my eyes at him, but the way he’s looking at me causes a lump to form in my throat. I see admiration, care, and concern emanating from those deep brown eyes.
Chloe comes up beside me, and I turn to her. “Does he know?”
She leans in and whispers in my ear, “Who? That beautiful man you should be letting yourself fall for?”
I shake my head as I swallow back the lump. “Does he know?”
“I’m not seeing a dump truck anywhere, so I’m sure Danny hasn’t unloaded the family dirt. But as you can see, Danny’s putting security cameras everywhere, so Roman Hart’s probably assuming some things.”
“I wanna dump truck,” Aggie says.
