AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She pointed them out, and I grabbed them from a shelf in the kitchen. I hadn’t even noticed them, so Gran or maybe Peggy must have put them there for safekeeping.
Much to my disappointment, Zeph wasn’t lingering in the parking lot. Nor was he inside the daycare when I picked up my grubby daughter who had to have rolled around in the sandbox, the painting area, and spilled half her lunch all over herself.
“You’ve had a good day!” I greeted her with a laugh.
She scowled up at me.
I cringed at her expression. “Or not. What’s wrong?”
She folded her little arms over her chest. “Nothing!”
I glanced over at her teacher with a raised eyebrow, silently asking if she knew why my normally sunshiny girl was suddenly all storm clouds and death looks.
“No nap today,” she explained.
Ah. That would do it. Amelia had always loved to sleep. With my weird work schedule, she often went to bed late and was up early. It had never mattered because she could have that nap at daycare. That would have to change when she started school but worked just fine for now. As long as she actually took the nap.
“I don’t like naps!” Amelia stormed to the front door but was too short to let herself out. “Naps are for babies.”
Distraction was the best technique when she was like this. So I found her little backpack, thanked her teacher, and picked up Amelia’s hand. “Guess what? Zeph left his sunglasses at our apartment. I’ve got them to give back to him. Shall we go see if he’s home?”
Her face brightened. “Yes, please. Can I give them to him?”
“Sure you can.” I led her over toward the priest’s residence, but the open doors of the church and conversation floating out caught my attention. I pointed it out to Amelia. “You know, Slugger. I think he might be in there.”
We changed direction and headed that way, pausing in the doorway.
Zeph lifted his dark-brown eyes, and a smile flickered across his face.
“Daddy Zepherin! We have your sunglasses!” Amelia’s little-girl voice echoed around the stone walls of the church.
Pink flushed Zeph’s cheeks, as it always did when my daughter called him the wrong name.
But the older couple he was speaking with turned around, the woman’s lips pursed together in annoyance.
A sassy retort to her dirty look scalded the tip of my tongue, but I was aware this was Zeph’s workplace and I didn’t want to get him in any trouble.
“We’ll just leave them here,” I called to him. “Sorry to interrupt. Amelia, just put them on the seat there.”
But Zeph motioned me over. “No, wait. Lyric, come here.”
I didn’t know why his deep-voiced commands always did things to my insides, especially when I hated commands from any sort of authority figure. But I found myself walking up the aisle to meet Zeph and the couple halfway.
His arm brushed mine, sending ripples of attraction through my heated skin.
“Hey.” He smiled at me.
“Hey, yourself.”
I couldn’t stop watching him. The urge to reach up and hug him was strong, but that wasn’t something either of us did. It would be weird. And yet, I wanted to feel his arms around me.
The woman cleared her throat, and I realized Zeph and I had been staring at each other for an unusual amount of time.
Zeph snapped his gaze away from mine and focused back on the other woman. “I’m sorry. Mom, Dad. This is Lyric.” He smiled down at Amelia who had gone shy and was hiding behind my legs. “And that’s Amelia.”
I widened my eyes, instantly self-conscious. I wasn’t exactly dressed for meeting anyone’s parents, especially not Zeph’s since I knew they were churchy. I tugged my booty shorts down and reached one hand out to his mother. “Lovely to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you.”
That wasn’t exactly true, but I’d heard something, and it seemed like the thing to say.
