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She smirked back at me, eyes widening with the innuendo.
Her brother grunted again.
I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to bethese twowho were the problem.
“Hey, wait, I know you!” A little voice suddenly cut through the tension, and I looked up to find Nolan racing through the backside of the tent, his arms in the air as he came, that sweet, adorable smile on his dimpled, freckled face.
It lanced through me again.
Javelins of pain and adoration.
Adoration that shouldn’t be mine, but there was something about the little boy that had made an impact.
“What are you doin’ here, Miss Charleigh? You got a doctor’s tent?”
There was no stopping the affectionate giggle that rippled out with my words. “No. I came to say hi to your aunt Raven.”
His brows jumped toward the sky. “You know my auntie?”
“That’s right, she does. Charleigh lives in the apartment above my store, and she’s my new bestie.”
Raven hooked her elbow with mine, and my nerves fluttered, both in a thrill of gratitude and a dose of worry. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to be her friend when River was her brother. Wasn’t sure I could handle being in his vicinity.
But I didn’t know how to move from the spot, either, when Nolan kept bouncing my way. “It’s really good you got a new best friend and she’s my auntie because she’s AWESOME!”
He jumped and punched for the sky when he said the last.
I choked over his sweetness.
“She is awesome.” I sent her a soft smile before I turned back to him. “How’s your mouth today?”
“It doesn’t even hurt a bit! And look it!” He came right up to me, clenching his jaw and twisting his mouth in what appeared close to a grimace though it was anything but, and he used his finger to pull down his bottom lip to show off the gap where his tooth had been. “I got a big boytoofright there, so it wasn’t even nothin’ that I knocked the little one out. And I can eat and everything.”
My chest squeezed.
“Well, that’s really good news.”
“Yup, I always got the good news, and my uncle Otto said things always work out for the best, so I don’t got nothin’ to worry about. And we got a bunch of puppies right over there.” He pointed to the big canopy on the opposite side that was closed in by a short fence. “I’m thinkin’ I’m gonna keep four or five if my Daddy-O says yes, but he keeps sayin’ no because gettin’ a puppy is a really way big responsibility.”
A giggle rolled up my throat, and I attempted to ignore the way his father ran a flustered hand down his face.
I couldn’t do anything but reach out and run my fingers throughthe baby soft curls of brown on the little boy’s head. He beamed up at me and leaned into my touch.
That vacancy inside me moaned. But it was different this time. It was as if looking at him and a piece of myself was soothed.
“And this one is Otto.” Raven’s voice lowered when she said that, and I looked up to see a giant of a man strolling up with a confident kind of casualness. His messy brown hair glinted in the sunlight, and a massive grin played on his handsome face.
“Hey, Ravi Girl. This your new friend?” The man’s startling blue gaze flitted between us. I was pretty sure my newbest friendwas shaking.
“Yup, this is her. Charleigh. She lives right upstairs from the store.”
The man’s grin deepened. “Good to meet you, Charleigh. This one won’t stop talking about the new resident of Moonlit Ridge she met. Welcome to town.”
He waved a flourished hand, and it was the first time I realized all four of the men had the same tattoo on the backs of their left hands.
Two stacked Ss with an eye in the middle. Though I’d noticed each varied a bit.
River’s had a knife that cut through the middle.
