Page 82 of Just My Luck

She shrugged. “Okay.”

A small laugh bubbled in my chest. “Okay? That’s it?” I noted her tiny frown. “You don’t look too happy about it.”

Tillie’s brow furrowed. “Well... I just would have wanted to go too. I would have worn a party dress.”

My heart swelled, and I stroked a hand down her hair. “If it makes you feel any better, I didn’t wear a dress either.”

She looked at me in horrified disbelief. “Why not?”

“Remember when I said that friends help each other out? Well... our marriage was mostly to help each other.” I swallowed past the lump that expanded in my throat.

“But you love him.” Her words were so sure.

With a small laugh, I rearranged her covers. “Okay, chicken. Let’s get you to bed.”

Tillie scooted until she was lying back on her pillow with her covers tucked under her chin.

I kissed her nose and she smiled up at me. “He loves you, too, you know.”

The simple confidence of her statement gave me pause, and I studied her heavy eyes and sleepy smile as I stroked her hair. “What makes you think that?”

Tillie didn’t even hesitate. “He watches you. He watches you and he smiles.”

Heat bloomed across my chest. “Huh,” I choked out. “I guess I never noticed that.” I tried to breathe, and it was nearly impossible.

Tillie closed her sleepy eyes and cuddled deeper into her bedsheets. “I’m glad he’s our new dad. Benny is too. We already talked about it.”

I stared down at my sweet little girl as though she hadn’t just upended my entire universe. My hand gripped over my mouth to muffle the sob that threatened to escape.

Feeling brave, I leaned close to her ear. “Can you keep a secret?”

Her eyes widened as she nodded.

“I do love him,” I whispered. “I just haven’t told him yet.”

Tillie grinned. “I knew it.”

“Okay. Bedtime, baby.” I patted her back as she finally closed her eyes and cuddled into the warm bed. Her view of the world was so simple and pure. She was too innocent to know anything about fake marriages and complicated, not-so-fake feelings.

He watches you and smiles.

A lump formed in my throat as the threat of tears tingled my nose. I watched Tillie’s body relax as she drifted off to sleep, hoping that somewhere in her innocent view of love, there was a thread of truth, and he really did love me back.

TWENTY-NINE

ABEL

The day neededto just fuckingend.

I rubbed a kink out of my shoulder as I looked over the cases of freshly bottled barrel-aged whiskey. The Michigan market was running without any hitches, thanks to my team and our hard work. The company’s sights were set on expanding to Illinois—Chicagoland, specifically—and it took a hell of a lot of work to prime the market and be ready to distribute.

But we’d done it.

I looked over the slip and triple-checked it against the sheet on my clipboard. All seventeen pallets would be hauled out in the morning and travel from Kalamazoo to Chicago-area bars, restaurants, and liquor stores. Another twenty-five still needed to be packed, labeled, and shipped by the week’s end, but at least we’d squeaked by and would have the first shipment ready by morning.

All it took was seven brutal hours of overtime.

“We got it,” I called to the employees. “Let’s wrap it up and get the hell out of here.”

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