Page 46 of Forbidden Flame

Did that mean he didn’t want me here? “They passed around the flyers at school. Apparently, the school gets ten percent of the proceeds from the hunt as a fundraiser.”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Marley probably arranged that. She’s always thinking of ways to involve the community.”

“I couldn’t say no to Izzy.” It was for a good cause, and there weren’t many good egg hunts in the area. I nodded toward the field of colorful eggs. “I hope you don’t run out of eggs.”

“There’s no chance of that. There must be thousands.”

“We were at one once that ran out within seconds. There were a lot of tears.”

Cole winced. “That’s not happening on my watch. I’ll go buy some more if I have to.”

“It looks like it’s about to start.” I gestured toward the table where Marley stood with a microphone next to Heath .

“Thank you for coming out this morning,” Marley said. “We’re going to start in just a minute. There are two golden eggs that contain tickets for bikes, and many other prizes and candy. There are enough eggs for everyone so no need to run. You can take your time.”

Cole moved to stand next to me.

Marley handed the microphone to Heath who counted down from ten. The kids readied themselves at the start line, and Heath teasingly sent them behind the line a few times before he finally finished the count and said, “Go.”

I was surprised when Izzy didn’t make a move toward the eggs. In fact, she inches closer to me. “What’s wrong, baby girl?”

Izzy’s brow furrowed. “There’s a lot of people.”

I wasn’t sure how to make her feel better in this situation. It was a little overwhelming.

To my surprise, Cole held his hand out to her. “Come with me.”

She didn’t hesitate to put her hand in his, and he led her onto the field.

I blew out a breath that the crisis had been averted, then snapped a picture with my phone. I took it from behind them. Cole holding my Izzy’s hand as she clutched her basket. I blinked back tears.

I’d always longed for her to have those male connections, even if it was just with my brothers or my dad. But Cole was a man who didn’t have to spend time with her. I was overwhelmed with emotion that he’d taken the time to make sure she felt comfortable. The gesture was doing crazy things to my insides.

“Are you coming with us?” Cole asked me over his shoulder.

I hurried to catch up, stopping every few seconds when Izzy found an egg in the grass and leaned down with her free hand to put it in her basket. When Izzy couldn’t find any more eggs, Cole would point to one at the base of a tree or another perched in a bush.

When her basket was full, Izzy finally dropped his hand long enough to fall to her knees in the grass. She pulled eggs out of her basket, one by one, and unwrapped the candy she found inside. She held out a wrapped chocolate to Cole. “Did you want one?”

Cole took the offered candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into his mouth. “That was good. Thanks for sharing.”

My heart fluttered. He was patient and kind to her. I tried not to think about the fact that Trent couldn’t be bothered with her.

Marley announced over the loudspeaker that no one had claimed the golden eggs yet.

“Do you want to find the golden egg?” I asked Izzy.

Izzy’s eyes widened as she scrambled to throw the eggs in her basket. “Where do you think we should look?”

“Come on,” Cole said as she took his hand again and he led her to a line of Christmas trees. “Do you think the golden egg’s in here?”

Izzy giggled. “I hope so.”

I got caught up in their excitement as we hurried through the line of trees. When I spotted a flash of color, I asked, “Is that gold in the tree?”

Izzy pulled Cole to a stop. “Where?”

I pointed in the direction where I saw the reflection, and they shifted through the branches until the egg appeared.

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