Page 54 of On the Rocks

“And was Uncle Aiden there?”

Hailey nodded as I twisted the first elastic around the end of her tiny braid. “He had cake too.”

I shifted her around on her stool so I could tackle the other side. “And did Uncle Aiden…talk about me?”

Hailey nodded again, accidentally tugging her hair out of my hands. “Daddy said he saw sparks, and everybody laughed at Uncle Aiden.”

Hmm…Had Dominic been talking about sparks flying between Aiden and me?

“Then his face got all red.”

“Uncle Aiden’s?” I asked, getting the second elastic around the end of her other braid.

“Yeah.” She touched her cheeks and tilted her head. “Like this.”

“Oh, I see.” I poked her belly, and she giggled. Hailey apparently had excellent hearing and zero filter. She was a good little informant.

“Sometimes Uncle Aiden takes me for ice cream.”

“That’s so nice of him.”

She nodded, but it was less enthusiastic than before. “Daddy asks him to. So he can have grown-up talks with Mommy.”

“Grown-up talks are important,” I said diplomatically. It was crazy how much children picked up on, even as hard as Dominic was working to keep Hailey’s world as normal as possible.

“But why do grown-up talks have so much yelling? Daddy always tells me big girls are supposed to use their inside voices. But those are their outside voices.”

I sighed, hugging her close. “You know, I think you’re right.” I tapped her nose with my fingertip. “But as long as you remember to useyourinside voice, that’s what matters. Right?”

“Right!”

I tugged on the bottom of one of her braids. “Hair looks good to me.”

Hailey lifted her hands, running them over her head.

“Like it?”

She beamed at me. “I love it.” She threw her arms around my neck, squeezing me with the strength of a tiny octopus.

“I feel like I’ve just been demoted in the hair department,” Dominic said, walking over with Aiden. I tried not to flush at the sight of him.

“Cora did it,” Hailey announced, standing up on the stool and launching herself into Aiden’s outstretched arms. Watching Hailey go to him so freely stirred something inside my chest.Seeing this sweet side of Aiden wasn’t helping the not-blushing thing.

“I see that,” Dominic said.

“She did a very good job,” Aiden said.

“I’m a little rusty,” I admitted.

“Better than I could do,” Dominic assured me. “But I’ve learned pink ponytails are a must.”

“Gotta be pink,” I said, laughing as Hailey nodded seriously.

“Uncle Aiden, you want to come see Uncle Vincent’s baby?” Hailey asked. “Daddy said we can go after work.”

“Uncle Aiden has to go on a little trip,” he said to her. “But how about we go next time?”

“Kay,” Hailey said, squirming to get down.

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