Page 129 of Daddy By Design

Berry’s eyes widened.

“Don’t you get her wound up.” Shelby poked Dex in the shoulder.

“What? I’m just curious.”

“You have a ghost?” Berry crawled over to me and Dahlia. “For real?”

Dahlia grinned. “Harriette is her name.”

“So you think,” I muttered.

“Don’t mind him. He’s just mad that Harriette doesn’t like him.”

“She hasn’t been around, actually.”

“Really?” Dahlia frowned. “At all?”

“It’s been pretty quiet. Then again, we’ve been mostly working on the kitchen and roof lately.”

She laced her fingers over her sandaled feet and tucked her chin on her knees. “Did you try and get into her room?”

“Still won’t budge.”

She sighed. “But you checked recently?”

“No. Not in a while, but I had someone come in and clean the tunnel.”

“And nothing happened?”

I shook my head.

“Maybe we could try again?”

I wanted to see her, but I also didn’t want her to get hurt. But I found myself nodding. “Yeah, we can try.”

“We can?” Her head popped up.

“Yeah. Maybe tomorrow?”

“Five-minute warning on the movie!” A woman with red hair had a bullhorn as she walked down the beach. “We’re watching Spider Man: No Way Home!”

“Stay for the movie?” Dahlia asked.

I glanced at Archer, who was laying on the grass with his head propped up. He nodded.

“Yeah. I can stay.” I rolled onto my hip to sit beside her.

“Good.”

I mirrored her with my arms looped around my knees and relaxed for the first time in days. It boggled me how just smelling her scent and feeling her heat had me wanting to inch closer.

To never fucking leave her side.

TWENTY-SIX

I didn’t get over to the house the next day, but I was able to push some things around on my schedule to do it the day after. It was a cooler day, and there was a nice breeze coming off the water as I parked in the driveway.

The grass and driveway were eaten up with all the work trucks that were coming in and out. Today, there was a cement mixer with a long arm pour directed into the basement. It had been an old coal cellar and still had a dirt floor.

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