Chapter 5
Five
Poppy
I’m just lifting my ice cream cone to my lips, the taste of rocky road oh so close to my tongue when Holly blurts out,
“Look, Mom! There’s your friend!”
I drop my hand, sending a wistful glance to my cone, then glance out the window to where Holly’s pointing.
Just in time to see Storm…well, storm by.
His face is stony, his strides short and rapid.
“He looks like he can use some ice cream,” Holly says solemnly.
“Yeah,” I reply just as solemnly. “He certainly does.”
“Let’s get him some!”
“Baby—”
But I don’t get any further beyond that before she’s dropping her spoon into the paper cup housing her ice cream and running for the door.
Running out the door.
“And there she goes,” I mutter as she zips down the sidewalk after Storm. I shove to my feet, snag her ice cream, and follow my daughter out. Cedar Hollow is safe and quiet, but Holly is six and she doesn’t always look both ways before crossing the street.
The bell dings as I hit the sidewalk, gaze searching, heart pulsing when I see her already at the corner.
Shit.
Thankfully, Storm has stopped before the intersection, and his eyes come to mine as Holly chatters away at him.
I hurry over, force a smile at him, then crouch down. “Honey, look at me.”
“…and then I told Asher—”
“Holly,” I warn and her gaze finally meets mine, her words trailing off. “You can’t run out like that.”
“But your friend needed—”
“You cannot run off like that,” I say more firmly. “And you won’t do it again, understand?”
“But—”
“It’s not safe, and you will not do that again, baby. Promise me.”
Stubborn gray eyes on mine. An even more stubborn set of her jaw.
I don’t budge, though, just hold her stare and wait.
She’s headstrong—I don’t know where she got that from—but I’m more patient.
I’ve had to learn to be.
“I won’t do it again.” A sigh. “Can your friend get his ice cream now?”
I exhale, shift out of Protective Mom Mode and nod. “If Storm wants ice cream, he can get ice cream.”
Holly looks up at the boy who broke my heart and smiles brightly. “Well?”
There’s still tension in his frame, but his mouth kicks up. “Well, what?”
“Want some ice cream?”
Storm looks at me—and God, his eyes are so much like Holly’s, so beautiful and dynamic and unique, it’s a miracle he hasn’t realized…
“What kind of ice cream?” Storm asks as I realize precisely how dangerous this interaction is.
Holly sweeps her arms wide with all the drama she comes by naturally. “Scoops has every kind of ice cream you can dream of.”
“Every kind, huh?” His face has gentled, and his tone is edged with a hint of indulgence I haven’t seen in…
Well, since summer days and sand between my toes and popsicles and cold river water splashing over my naked skin.
“Every kind,” Holly replies solemnly.
“What about bubblegum?”
Her eyes—those damn, distinctive gray eyes I both love and hate—go wide as she snags the cup from me. “That’s what I got. See?”
“Is it?” His gaze flicks to mine then back to Holly. “That’s my favorite. Is it any good?”
A sage nod. “The gumballs are the best.”
“Then I’ll have to get some.” Another flick of his gaze to mine, something unreadable in the gray depths. “As long as your mom is okay with it.”
“Scoops is for everyone, isn’t it, Mom?”
“Yeah, baby,” I say. Not that it matters. She’s already grabbed Storm’s hand and is dragging him back toward the ice cream shop. “Oh, God,” I whisper as I follow them.
How could I have let this happen?
“Chloe!” I hear as I push through the door, just in time to see my daughter take off running again—this time across the old-fashioned tile and pull her friend, Chloe, into a tight hug. They jump up and down, Holly’s ice cream wavering dangerously before she rights it.
“Hey, honey.”
I turn and fold my friend, Finn, in my arms. “You look great.”
Her mouth kicks up. “A trip to Switzerland and a hot hockey boyfriend will do that to a girl.”
“Is Rhodes”—her boyfriend plays for the Oakland Eagles—“still treating you right?”
She lifts her hand, the sparkly diamond on her ring finger on full display.
“Oh, my God!” I squeal, doing an impersonation of my daughter as I jump up and down, albeit without the side of nearly dropping my ice cream.
Scoops’ rocky road is far too delicious to risk, no matter how delightful the news of my friend’s engagement is.
She pulls back, presses a hand to her cheek, as though her smile is so wide it aches there. “I know,” she whispers. “I can’t believe how lucky I am.”
“Not lucky,” I remind her, ignoring the bolt of jealousy slicing through me. “It’s well-deserved.”
Her smile softens. “You deserve to be this happy too.”
I force a laugh, very aware of Storm standing just a couple of feet away.
He’s ordering at the counter, but I have the distinct feeling that he’s listening to every word that Finn and I are exchanging.
“I have a daughter and a bar,” I tell her. “That’s enough well-deserved for me, thank you very much.”
Finn laughs and then Holly is bouncing over to Storm, who’s now paying for his cup of bubblegum ice cream. “Wanna come to the park with us?”
Finn’s wide-eyed gaze comes to mine and her voice drops. “Um, wanna share who the hottie your daughter is picking up is?”
No. I really don’t want to share that.
But I have to stop my daughter from torturing me first.
“Honey,” I interject, “I’m sure Storm—”
Finn jerks, and if I thought her eyes were wide before, now they’re freaking saucers.
I ignore that, push on. “—doesn’t want—”
“I’d love to come to the park with you,” he interjects, his eyes connecting with mine for a heartbeat.
But only a heartbeat because then Holly’s grabbing his free hand and nodding to Chloe. “Great! Let’s go! I want to do the big slide at least ten times.”
“The big slide?” Chloe says, her tone awed.
“Uh-huh.” A look at Storm. “Are you gonna do the big slide too?”
“I—” He pauses to stow his wallet and snag his ice cream. “Maybe I’ll watch you do it first.”
“That’s a good idea.” She starts for the door, then stops and looks back at me. “Is that okay, Mom?”
My heart is racing, and my stomach is twisting itself into knots, but I nod, glad part of our earlier talk about not running off without me seems to have stuck. “Yeah, baby.”
“I’m not a baby.”
Finn chuckles.
“No, you’re not,” I say. “But you’ll always be my baby.” I nod toward the door before she can give me the business—or more of it, anyway. “I’m right behind you.”
“Um,” Finn begins as she grabs some napkins and her own ice cream.
“Don’t,” I order softly as we follow them outside. “Go and do your blanket selling thing. I’ve got this.”
“You know,” she says just as quietly. “I’ve never doubted you before today, but…if that’s who I think it is—”
“Don’t,” I say again, more firmly. I can already hear the whispers, can already feel the gazes on me. The knowing gazes. “I—” I close my eyes. This will be over soon. Then he’ll be gone and I can go back to normal. “I can’t do this right now,” I whisper. “I…just can’t.”
She falls silent.
Then squeezes my arm, her tone gentle. “Okay, babe,” she says. “But I can keep Chloe with me if—”
“God no,” I mutter. “I need all the distractions I can muster. Go, be successful. Sell out of your gorgeous creations. I’m going to do the big slide.” Despite the circumstances, my lips twitch. “Like ten times.”
“I hear it’s fast,” Finn quips.
“The fastest,” I quip back.
She laughs and hugs me. Then steps back, turning for Bits & Bobs and her booth at the monthly craft fair.
“Finish your ice cream,” she orders. “You’re going to need it.”