Page 58 of Sweet Poison

I showed her and she began to laugh uproariously. “I look funny,” she said, between bouts of more laughter.

Everyone was looking at us. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up," I said.

She pointed to somewhere behind me. "There’s a tap in there."

"Okay, little soldier. Let’s go.” We began to head over to it.

“It’s Miss Moore, Dad!" Anya screamed suddenly.

And so it was. Montana was standing in front of four medium-sized ovens. It looked like she was in charge of baking the raw dough and cake batter that the children were bringing in from another shed. I headed over to her counter to watch as she pulled out a batch of seriously burnt muffins and laid them on the table.

"Yikes," I couldn’t help but say.

"You couldn’t even pretend," she scolded under her breath, but her eyes were twinkling.

My whole body felt warm. It must be the ovens. "Is that your fault or theirs?"

"At this point, I have no fuck— " she stopped when she noticed the mud-covered girl by my side. "What's that on your face?"

She produced a tea towel which she dipped in some water and went over to wipe Anya’s mouth.

"What's this, sweetie?" she asked.

My traitorous daughter pointed to me. "It's Dad's fault."

"Of course, it is," Montana agreed.

"Are you guys ganging up on me?" I asked.

She looked at me then and my heart skipped several beats. Her irises were like sunlight on a gorgeous golden-green pond.

"You haven't answered my question yet," I said.

"What question?"

"Are the burned muffins your fault or theirs?"

She looked around her. “Truthfully?”

I smiled slowly. “You’re going to say it’s my fault, aren’t you?”

She looked deep into my eyes. “It’s been your fault from the first moment I laid eyes on you, Cole Swift.”

"I-," I began.

"Hello, hello, Mr. Swift," a woman’s voice called. I turned. It was the woman I’d met from last time, although I could no longer remember her name.

"Hey," I said and nodded to the five other moms behind her who were advancing quickly upon us.

It looked, smelled, and felt like an ambush so I winked at Montana, snatched my little girl's mud-covered hand, and began to walk away.

"I need to find a tap for Anya to wash her hands, so I’ll catch up with you guys soon?"

Without waiting for their response, I was out of there, dragging my kid with me.

Chapter 36

Montana

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