Page 46 of Broken Grump

Luna giggles and kicks her legs. “I don’t have a job! I’m just a kid, silly! I have to go to school!”

“Oh!” Hayden smacks his forehead. “Of course. I’m sorry. I forgot.”

I’m not sure whether I should be happy or unnerved by their instant connection. For one thing, they obviously have a similar sense of humor. And then there’s the other elephant in the room regarding their looks.

Shit. Was all of this a mistake?I could hardly sleep last night wondering the very same thing.

Luna takes the rest of the drive to ask about a million more questions, but Hayden patiently answers every last one.

“We’re here!” he finally announces after what feels like forever.

“Yay!” Luna cheers.

As I suspected, Randall and his wife, who I believe is named Claire, are waiting near the front of the log cabin.

“Randall!” Hayden announces after parking the car and getting out. “How wonderful to see you again.”

“And you!” he responds. “Thank you so much for coming.”

“Thanks for having us.” Hayden then walks over to my door and lets me out.

“Ahh! Claire,” he guides his wife over by the small of his back, “this is the Mrs. Cohen.”

I look and see that my daughter’s door is still closed, and I’m glad.

“Addie.” I reach my hand out and shake hers.

“Pleasure.” She’s a gorgeous woman with caramel skin, deep, brown eyes, and the silkiest black hair.

“Likewise.”

“And this,” Hayden cues up before taking the handle and revealing my daughter, “this is Luna.”

Randall’s mouth flies open. “Oh. Uh, and she’s—”

I unsecure her, and she hides behind my leg.

Thank God.

Before I can explain who she is, I’m silently apologizing for her shyness.

“New people kind of freak her out.”

While closing the door again, Hayden’s pronounced eyebrows perch above his eye. “You sure about that?”

“Multiple. Multiple new people,” I mutter.

But he soon bends over, whispers something into my daughter’s ear, and she’s reduced to stitches, holding her forearm against her mouth as she chuckles.

“What did you say to her?”

“Doesn’t matter,” he replies, looking back at me over his shoulder and smiling.

Then, the next thing I know, the women are being pulled in one way, while the men are headed in the other towards the big barbecue.

It’s my turn to look over my shoulder at him, and I give him a reassuring nod. We’ve gone over our love story several times over the phone in preparation for this moment.

When we’re all gathered around a picnic table, a little girl, who could be Claire’s younger self, approaches and asks Luna if she’d like to play on the jungle gym a little farther down on the property.

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