Page 53 of Hunted

“Thanks for what?”

“Blowing off lessons to spend time with you, my grandparents, and giving me another live in the moment experience.”

She nods. “That surprise Mack is planning in the nursery…”

“What about it?” I take a big bite of cherry pie.

“You don’t know what it is, do you? Usually I can pull most things from him, but he’s being so closed mouth. Have you snuck into the nursery to see what it is?”

I cough and laugh. “Adela!”

“It has to do with the baby, so makes sense it’s some toy. Maybe a playhouse?” Grandpa nods as if he’s worked it all out. “I heard Bennett ask if he needed help, so it must be some project.”

We eat pie as we consider Mack’s surprise.

“I haven’t heard any banging, so it can’t be that,” I eventually say. “I guessed a rocking horse, but he laughed. He said it covered a large area. Whatever that meant.”

Grandpa’s expression is thoughtful. “Maybe one of those big train tracks that covers the entire floor.”

Grandma shakes her head. “For ababy? No. It has to be a swing set or something that he’s building in the nursery and will sneak out after you’ve had the baby, so you don’t see it.”

We fall silent as we think about what this big surprise could be. Mack has never locked the nursery door. In fact, I don’t thinkthere’s even a lock on the door, so I could open it whenever I wanted.

But I don’t want to.

I’ve had precious few happy surprises in my life, that this is one I want to draw out and have fun guessing what it might be. From the enthusiasm of my grandparents and Adela as they make suggestions and swiftly reject them, they’re enjoying this guessing game as much as I am.

18

MACK

“How was lunch?” I kiss Aerin hello as she enters the house.

She’s getting home much later than I thought she would. Adela said they’d have lunch together, but the sky is deepening into early evening outside.

When she called to let me know, I told her to stay for as long as she wanted, and I did something I haven’t done much lately. I picked up a book and read for a couple of hours.

She winds her arms around me and leans into my caress, her belly pressing on my chest as I tuck her closer. Every day she’s a little fuller, her eyes softer and warmer.

Every day, I struggle to believe this beautiful woman is mine.

“It was fun. We didn’t get any practicing done.” She smiles. “But I have a feeling you knew when you told me not to work too hard.”

I hide my surprise. “Really?”

Adela hinted that she intended to turn their practice into a tea and cake lunch, giving Aerin an opportunity to spend time with her grandparents and just relax.

“Yes, really. You see, you had this sparkle in your eye that made me wonder if something else was going on.”

I kiss her. “Maybe that sparkle was just a figment of your imagination.”

“It wasn’t.”

“Sorry I’m late,” she says, leaning against me.

“No need to apologize. Did you have fun?” I search her expression and can see that she did. She seems more relaxed than before she left.

“My grandparents picked up pie from the diner and we spent the afternoon watching trashy TV and drinking tea. It was very self-indulgent.”

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