Page 38 of Love and Cherish

Febe couldn’t know, could she? What happened last night was last night. No one had been there. It was her and Haylee in the rain on the street corner. This was just a coincidence.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Febe gave her a sharp, commanding look.

There was no way Cherish could argue with her. “Very good, Ms. Aarts.”

Cherish could have been swept into the twilight zone as she stepped out of Febe’s office. Haylee’s lips were pursed, her brows furrowed as she stared intently at the screen. After a few seconds, a small smile touched the corners of her mouth and she started humming. Cherish was certain she knew the song, something older than she would have expected Haylee to know, but she hadn’t been able to place it yet despite the number of times over the last month she’d listened to Haylee hum it. It was an earworm without a name and had drawn her to distraction more than once.

“Cherish, I did it.” Haylee looked up, and Cherish felt like a deer in headlights.

“Did what?” Oh good, her voice didn’t waver or hitch. Cherish strode to her desk.

“I fixed the roster issue for the three new therapists.”

“Good work.” Cherish let herself indulge in a small smile. “Do you have anything else you need to get done this morning?”

“I was going to work on the reports.” Haylee looked up, her dark brown eyes fixing on Cherish from across the room.

“They can wait until this afternoon. Ms. Aarts has an errand for us.” Cherish snagged her purse that she’d barely put away and hitched it onto her shoulder. She stood straight and waited for Haylee to catch up.

“Us?” Haylee’s brow furrowed once more. “But we can’t both be out for long.”

“Ms. Aarts has assured me that she will be fine. As long as we’re back in two hours.” That subtle note from Febe had been clear, and Cherish hadn’t missed it.

“Two hours?” Haylee leaned back in her chair, the furrowed brows now taking a one-eighty and almost disappearing under her hairline.

Cherish’s fingers twitched, remembering the feel of the shaved head hidden beneath the strands that looked a little lackluster now that Cherish focused on them. Did Haylee try to hide herself in here as much as Cherish did? Wouldn’t that be ironic?

“Yes, so we need to go now.”

“All right.” Haylee shrugged, tapped a few keys on her keyboard and stood up. She wore loose fitting pants today that flared at her hips—hips and ass that Cherish distinctly remembered the feel of in her hands. When had she done that?

The tan color looked so smooth against Haylee’s skin, like if Cherish were to run her fingers over it she would know the ins and outs of Haylee’s body. The white blouse had a run of lace on the edge that dipped down Haylee’s cleavage. Why was Cherish’s mouth suddenly so dry? She dashed her tongue against her lips to wet her parched mouth as Haylee bent down to grab her purse.

Cherish could do this.

They could buy the gift and be back in an hour. And better yet, Cherish could staunchly remind herself why last night never should have happened.

“Where are we going?” Haylee asked as they stepped into the elevator.

“To buy a gift for Febe’s new grandson.”

Haylee said nothing until they got to the rideshare Cherish had ordered. They were nearly at their destination before Haylee looked Cherish fully in the eyes.

“I didn’t even know Febe had kids, let alone a grandbaby.”

Cherish sighed. How much did Febe want her to share? Usually Cherish kept every bit of personal information on Febe as tightly wrapped as she could, but she had specifically sent the two of them on this errand. Even after Cherish had questioned it. “It’s complicated, and nothing that needs to be mentioned at work.”

“Yet she’s sending us off to go buy the little cherub a birth gift?” Haylee gave her an incredulous look.

“She’s very busy, Haylee.”

“And she knows you’ll never say no.” Haylee chuckled, a smirk on her lips.

Cherish could see the playful humor in Haylee’s eyes, but the words stung a little more than she expected. Because they were true. Cherish would do anything for Febe—anything. She had already, including moving hundreds of miles from Idaho to Portland, Oregon for a job in a city where she literally knew no one. Cherish never had dreams of living the city life like Febe had, but when she’d asked, Cherish had answered with when.

“So,” Haylee asked, stepping into the children’s store. “What do we know about said grandbaby?”

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