Page 47 of Forbidden Flame

“It’s the golden egg,” Izzy said with wonder as Cole lifted her so she could grab it herself.

“And it’s all yours,” Cole said proudly.

“Thank you for helping me,” Izzy said to Cole as she opened the egg to find the ticket for the bike.

“I can’t believe you won the bike,” I said more to myself.

Her lip quivered. “But I don’t know how to ride it.”

I placed a hand on her back. “I’ll teach you, or one of your uncles can.”

Cole led the way toward the table. “Let’s go claim your prize. Then I can give you a few pointers.”

Izzy skipped by his side, still clutching the ticket for the bike. “You get to live here year-round?”

“I didn’t grow up here. This is my aunt’s house. My cousins have cabins on the property.”

Izzy slowed to a walk. “I live on a tree farm too.”

Cole nodded. “It has its perks. At Christmas, it’s all lit up with holiday lights.”

“And at Easter, it’s covered with candy eggs. We don’t do that on our farm,” Izzy said, wonder filling her voice.

“It is pretty cool,” Cole agreed.

When they reached the table, Izzy slowed. There was a crowd of kids surrounding the table to collect their prizes.

Cole took her hand and drew her over to Marley.

Marley squatted in front of her. “What do we have here?”

Izzy lifted her ticket. “I found the golden egg.”

Marley’s eyes widened. “That’s amazing. They were hidden in a supersecret hiding place.” You’re the first one to win the bike, so you get to choose which one you want.” Marley led Izzy to them. One was a teal with a white seat and the second was blue.

Izzy considered both for a few seconds then pointed at the teal bike. “I want that one.”

Marley smiled. “Good choice. Why don’t you get on and see if it fits.”

Cole held the handlebars while she got on, her feet automatically reaching for the pedals, but she could only touch them with the tips of her shoes.

“The seat’s too high for her. We can take it back to Heath’s cabin, and I’ll grab my tools to lower it,” Cole offered.

“You don’t have to. I can get my brothers to do it when we get home.”

Izzy looked up at me, her lower lip protruding. “But I want to ride it now.”

“Izzy—”

“I don’t mind fixing it. It was our prize after all. We want her to be happy,” Cole said as Marley moved onto the next child who held a ticket.

Did Cole want Izzy to be happy because this was a promotional thing for his family’s business, or was it something more? My heart was hoping for more even as I tried to remind myself, he’d cooled considerably since the wedding.

“Can we?” Izzy asked, her lower lip protruding.

“I don’t see why not.” When Izzy got off the bike, Cole picked it up like it weighed nothing and led us over to his truck. He placed it in the bed, then opened the passenger side door.

I helped Izzy inside, then climbed in after her. When Cole rounded the hood, my heart flip-flopped. This felt like something a family would do.

---