Page 57 of Lilly's Little Labor Day

“My goodness!” he said.

Lilly wanted the ground to open up and swallow her. She burst out crying.

“What is going on with you?” Edward said, cocking his head to one side.

“You’re… going… to leave me now,” she said. “It’s what I wanted. Or what I thought we needed. And—” She began sobbing harder.

Just then, Edward’s phone rang for the fifth time in an hour. He looked to see it was Holly—as it had been all the other times.

“Hang on,” he said.

He held the phone up to his ear.

“We need to talk,” Holly said.

“Now’s not really a good time,” he said. “Besides, aren’t you supposed to be enjoying the holiday.”

“Oh, I took off work. Someone else did not. It’s Collin.”

“I’ve already requested an investigation be opened up and—”

“Edward,” Holly said, steel lining her words. “He knows where you are. He knows who you’re with. He sent a drone onto the property, got some footage of you, and then went through social media and your online presence to realize you were with your stepsister. He’s threatening to go before the board. Release the information to the media. He wants to force you out.”

Edward sighed.

He clutched the phone and shook his head.

He looked around him. The chaos was over. Folks were putting things back to normal. Lilly was still crying. Master Derek looked as if steam were about to come from his ears.

Despite all the craziness, Edward couldn’t help but smile and chuckled.

“You’re laughing?” Holly asked.

He continued chuckling, taking a minute before he could regain his composure. Finally, he said, “Let him. He probably thinks I’ll act shocked. That I’ll try to hide this or make an excuse. But I’m not going to run.

“I love Lilly. More than anything. I’m never leaving her. Public be damned. Board be damned. Anyone and everyone who tries to separate us! She’s my little sweetie. Always has been. Always will be.”

Lilly, having heard, stopped crying. She looked at Edward through hopeful eyes. “You… m-mean that?”

“I love you, baby doll. More than anything,” he said.

He forgot about the phone call as she rushed into his arms.

Everyone around them broke into applause, cheering wildly as Edward spun his sweet Little in a circle, showering her with kisses.

“I’m going to get a spanking, aren’t I?” she whispered in his ear.

“So, so bad,” he said with a smile. “But after the picnic.”

He put the phone back to his ear and said, “Holly, have a happy Labor Day. I know we will. We’ll deal with this later.”

He could hear the happiness in her voice when she said, “Go get ‘em, boss.”

The crowd cheered as he kissed Lilly once more.

“Well, there’s no damage done,” Master Derek said loudly. “Let’s get back to it, folks. What do you say?”

The crowd clapped and hollered.

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