Page 69 of Luci’s Lullaby

Charlee stands and begins clearing the table. The silence is as awkward as we are about being ‘just friends’. I’m an idiot. She’s an amazing woman, and I’m pretending to be something I can never be.

“I brought dessert.” She flashes it to me and waits for me to respond.

I rub my stomach. “You’re spoiling me.”

“Are you watching your figure?” She wiggles her brows.

“No, I’m not.” I stand and stalk toward her. “Let me see that?”

She holds it away from me with a hand in the center of my chest. “Hey, now. You need to say please.”

I pout. “Please.”

“You’re a mess.” She giggles as she sets it on the counter. “It’s apple dumplins, there’s vanilla ice cream in the freezer.”

“Did you just say… dumplins?”

She wrinkles her nose, searching the ceiling. “I think I might have. Have you forgotten what that is with your highfalutin schooling?”

“The longer I’m around you, the more I miss home.”

Her eyes sparkle. “I’d do anything to see you smile.”

“I can believe that. What was with the ‘Charlee’ and handshake that day?” I take the ice cream out and set it on the counter.

She peeks up at me from under her lashes. “You said to start over, so I was starting from the beginning.”

“Had you been starting from the beginning, you would’ve let me knock you down.”

“You’ve done that already.” She flashes me a wicked grin. Is she flirting with me?

I nod. “I’ll make damn sure to land on top of you next time.”

Her face flushes and I have to admit, I love it. “Stop it, young man. We’re friends, go sow your seeds elsewhere.”

I wish I could. I sink my teeth into my bottom lip when she bends over in her cut off jeans. “I wish I could, but that life’s over.”

“Why would you say that? Don’t say that kind of stuff,” she admonishes me.

“How am I going to do shows with Luci?”

“The same way women have raised children, worked, kept a home and worked on their relationship. You can do it too.” She pins me with a glare.

“I submit, women are better. A helluva lot better than men.”

She smirks. “I have to agree.”

She hands me a bowl of ice cream and dumplings. I take a huge spoonful and hear a wail. We’re both standing as if we’re frozen. Her eyes cut to mine as she presses her fingers to her lips.

Luci cries out again.

“I’ve got her, eat.” She goes toward Luci’s room. “It may be your last time for a while.”

I inhale the food and pick up the kitchen. Charlee still hasn’t returned, so I go in search for her and Luci. I hear a soft voice singing. I step up to the bedroom door but the sound comes from behind me.

I turn, pushing it open and find Charlee giving Luci a bath and she’s not screaming. “How did you do that?”

She’s standing at the bathroom sink instead of using the tub Reese got her. “Run a little water, put a towel in the sink to line it, and bathe her here. You’re more comfortable, therefore, not nervous. She can sense it, and it scares her.”