Page 62 of June 7

Liz's gaze softened. "Adults will be attending the party, watching their kids and grandchildren."

She knew that.

She'd tried to ignore that part of the party all morning.

But through everything that'd happened, she'd talked herself into completely ignoring the adults and focusing on the kids. In a week and a half, they'd all return to school, and her schedule would change.

There would no longer be public swimming lessons, but school swim teams, and since all grade school children were required to take swimming for physical education, considering they lived on the coastline, Daisy's days would be centered around office work and not so much time spent in the water.

"Where do you want me?" Liz walked with her to the office.

"Right now, we need to open the door." She wrote down the pool temperature on the chalkboard so those entering could see the information. "We're going to give them a half hour to get their suits on and in the water. Then, we'll start the games." She grabbed a piece of paper. "Here's the list of activities and the estimated times they start and stop."

"Man, you are organized." Liz folded the paper in half. "I'll play it by ear and see where I'm needed."

"Sounds good." She walked around the counter and unlocked the door before she chickened out.

As the door swung open, kids in line cheered and jumped in excitement. She waved to everyone.

"Hi, Miss Hill." Mason pushed his way to her and hugged her waist before running to the boys' locker room.

"Miss Hill, I got new goggles for my birthday yesterday." Jenna dug through her bag.

"That's awesome, and happy belated birthday." She moved Jenna to the side. "Why don't you go inside, and I'll look at your goggles at the pool?"

More kids ran through the door while parents hung back. Most adults would hit up the local coffee shop or go back home and wait until the party was over to pick up their kids. The lifeguards, bless them, were half heroes and half babysitters.

At the end of the line, several adults, holding the hands of the children who weren't in school yet, walked inside, totally ignoring Daisy. She was used to the stand-off attitude toward her. If they could pretend she wasn't there, she could ignore them, too.

If she had to guess, twenty kids arrived. More would show up soon. On average, they usually had about forty-five kids attend the parties. It was a good number, considering it was the end of summer and a lot of families were busy with shopping sprees and last-minute vacations.

She used her toe to put the stop on the bottom of the door down and caught sight of someone sitting on the concrete wall by the steps. Before she focused on the person, her stomach fluttered, knowing by the blackness of the outfit it was Bane, watching the door from his perch off the sidewalk.

He lifted his chin. She pressed her hand to her chest above her heart. How had she fallen so hard and fast for a biker? A biker who proved day in and day out that he would do anything to make sure she was loved and taken care of.

Every day, she spoke about how much she appreciated him, but he probably thought she meant she was glad he was here because of the threats toward her. She needed to tell him how much he meant to her.

Her feelings had nothing to do with the awful situation she was in.

She'd fallen in love with Bane.

Blowing him a kiss, she stepped back inside so Bane could go to work next door and she could get the cartoon party started. She had a bunch of kids depending on her to make today special, and she wasn't going to disappoint them.

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