10. Locke #2
Her eyes narrowed. “So that’s your half trying to influence me,” she whispered, touching her belly quickly.
I laughed, taking my card out to pay. “I don’t think it works like that.”
“Don’t forget the pup cup!” Aisling cried, tugging on my sleeve, her lips already smeared with pink and blue ice cream. Ranger barked, whacking me with his tail.
“I would never,” I promised, signaling to the woman behind the counter.
Was this what it was going to be like when my own child was born?
How was I ever supposed to say no to anything when they were just so tiny and adorable?
Hopefully, having Isla as a partner would make that part easier. We could hold each other accountable.
I paid for the ice cream, the pup cup, and a sausage roll that Isla insisted on for Aisling’s tea later. Then we made our way back outside. We walked hand in hand, fingers linked.
“Want some?” Isla asked, offering me some of her cone.
“Nah, I’m okay.”
“Go on, you cherry fiend.”
I grinned, taking a lick of the cone. It was delicious. My lips tingled with the cold, and I couldn’t help watching the way her tongue darted out for her own lick.
“Let’s stop up there for a moment,” she said, tugging me along. “We can give Ranger his pup cup.”
“I can do it!” Aisling announced.
We paused next to a shop. Isla had Ranger sit and handed me her ice cream and Aisling the pup cup. Then she readied her camera. Ranger went wild for the tiny bit of whipped cream and the mini bone treat, and Aisling’s giggles probably echoed halfway across Braeburn.
Knock, knock, knock.
I looked up to see Jo in the shop window. We’d stopped outside the newspaper. Isla leaned into me, smiling as she waved to Jo.
“Ah, I see what you did here,” I murmured to her, my lips bussing her forehead.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, fiancé. I’m merely taking adorable photos of Aisling to use in Lena and Weston’s Christmas gift.”
While crafting the picture-perfect image of a loved-up couple in front of Jo? Yeah, she was good. “They’re going to adore whatever you give them.”
She tipped her head back, looking at me, and I realized how easy it would be to lean down and kiss her.
To taste the cherry on her breath and the frost on her lips.
I remembered how perfectly we’d fit together during that one night we’d shared, and I wanted that again.
Not because we were putting on a show, but just because I wanted her.
My pulse hammered in my chest as my eyes flickered up to meet hers.
Maybe she wanted that too. All I had to do was drop my head, close the distance and—
The door to the newspaper swung open, and Jo stepped out with a young woman who had a baby strapped to her front.
“Hello, you lot,” Jo said. I jerked back from Isla slightly. “I see you’re on babysitting duty. Hiya, Aisling.”
“Hi, Jo!” she cried, giggling as Ranger licked every part of her hand.
“Weston and Lena had some emergency wind farm business to attend to, so we’ve got company for the day,” Isla explained. She reached for the other woman, patting her arm gently. “Hey, Mel. How’s little Lucy?”
The woman shifted to give us a glimpse of a sleeping baby with perfectly chubby cheeks.
“She’s adorable,” Isla whispered.
“She’s in her sleeping-through-the-night and napping-twice-a-day phase. So I’m making the most of it, trying to pop in for visits while I can and take lots of walks.”
“Have you been out to the trails behind the old distillery?” Isla asked. “They’re perfect for a walk.”
Smooth, I thought.
Mel frowned, looking pensive. “Goodness, not for years. I didn’t realize there were trails there now.”
“Oh yes, certainly,” Jo cut in. “There’s that nice one that leads to the waterfall.”
“It’s fairly well maintained,” I added. “And quieter than town.”
“Oh, Mel, you’ve met my fiancé, Locke?” Isla said, hugging my arm. “He was at Lena and Weston’s vow-renewal ceremony.”
“Fiancé!” she exclaimed. “I had no idea you were engaged!”
Isla chuckled. “We figured Jo would have passed the news onto everyone already.”
“I’m working on it,” Jo said, checking her watch. “Speaking of, I’m on a deadline. I’ll catch up with everyone later.” She popped back inside.
“Well, congratulations, you two,” Mel said. “That’s very exciting. I remember what those days were like for me and Alex. Life felt so much slower.”
“And now you’ve got Lucy. The primary school. Town council,” Isla said, shaking her head. “I don’t know how you juggle it all.”
“Oh, she’s been coming to the council meetings with me,” Mel said, bouncing as the baby started to stir. “Everyone adores her.”
“Of course they do,” Isla cooed as Lucy’s eyes opened.
“I’d best be off,” Mel said. “I want to get her home and fed before she gets cranky. See you two around. Bye, Aisling.”
“Bye!” Aisling chirped from where she was trying to get Ranger to shake a paw.
“That was very well done,” I said, taking Aisling’s hand as we walked across the road to the green.
“What was?” Isla said, giving me a smug grin. She stopped to take Ranger off his leash. The dog shot off like a rocket. Aisling shot off after him toward a playground.
“You dropping the little hint about the trail and the waterfall,” I said, threading my fingers through hers again.
Taking her hand, playing the part of fiancé, was easier and easier every time it happened.
Did I want the property? Yes. Was she the mother of my child?
Yes. But aside from both those things, I genuinely wanted to give her everything I’d promised.
Access to the land and her childhood home, respect for her vision of what the place should be. Most of all, I wanted her to be happy.
“I figure we just have to do some subtle guiding, you know? Make people realize how magical that place really is so they know how important it is to keep it that way. Oh crap,” she muttered.
I turned to see that Aisling had gotten Ranger into the tower of the playground. “Uncle Locke, help!” she called down to me. “Ranger wants to go down the slide but he’s too scared by himself.”
Isla clapped me on the shoulder. “Good luck with that.”
“Why do I have to get him down?”
“Because I’m indisposed,” she teased, pressing her hand to her belly. She waved me toward the tiny ladder at the side of the playground.
I rolled my eyes. “I’m really about to take a deerhound down the slide, aren’t I?”
“Yes,” she said, lifting her camera. “And I will be getting the entire thing on film. So it can be enjoyed for years to come.”