Page 97 of Beauty and the Bayou

Tori smiled.“That’sso big.Did you know that the word alligator comes from the Spanish word el lagarto which means ‘the lizard’?”

“Yes!”Cooper had inched closer to her throughout the conversation and he was looking at her with wonder.

So, Sawyer had a fan, but Tori obviously did now, too.Juliet grinned.

“Really happy that Sawyer invited us down,” Gabe said.He’d moved closer to Juliet and was watching his kids as he spoke.

They were all talking to one another and Tori, peppering her with questions about other animals.She’d told them about the eagle she’d rescued—though she’d left out the fact that the bird was currently hanging out in Leo’s trailer—and about the river otters.Juliet knew she was worried about Gus.He hadn’t taken the bait in the cage yet, so he was still out, wild and free, and she was afraid he wouldn’t come back.Or that he’d come back just in time to be caught by the wildlife woman.

“Sawyer invited you down?”Juliet asked Gabe.She was mildly surprised by the invitation portion of that.“You didn’t just schedule a tour?”

“We’ve tried to schedule a couple,” Gabe said.“But Sawyer hasn’t been up to it.”

Juliet frowned slightly.“Yeah, it’s been rough for him.”

“It has.”

“But you guys came down regularly before?”

“Absolutely.I used the boat tour to win Stella and Addison over when I was first showing her how we could combine the parenting thing with the dating thing.”

Juliet smiled.“And it worked?”

“Definitely.Stella is an adventurer at heart and the bayou won her over immediately.”

“The bayou and Sawyer.”

Gabe grinned.“And Sawyer.But it really was about the boats and gators.”

Juliet shook her head.“It was the way he was clearly enjoying every bit of it, too, and how much he loved watching her discover it all.And the way he let her be curious and try things her way, but also let her know he was looking out for her.The way he made her feel safe and made her feel interesting and amazing and brave.”

Gabe looked at her with surprise, but he slowly nodded.“Yeah.It was all of that, too.”

Juliet swallowed.“Yeah.”

“And now I know for certain why I finally got that text from him inviting us down here.”

“Because of me?”she asked.

“Apparently you’ve made him feel safe and amazing and brave, too.”

That hit her directly in the heart.God, she hoped she’d made him feel those things.She really wanted him to feel those things.And to thinkshemight be helping him feel them…she got tingles thinking she was making him feel stuff he hadn’t in a while.Could hearts get tingles?It seemed they could.

“We haven’t seen him up in N’Awlins in a while, either.Glad to know that might change now, too.Missed having him around.”

Juliet nodded.That didn’t surprise her.Sawyer had really pulled back.That made her want to hug him.Then again, him walking into a room made her want to hug him.

Which he did just then.

“Hey, everybody!”

The kids squealed and Stella and Cooper beelined for him.

Juliet actually felt her heart flip over in her chest.He looked so good.He’d clearlynotoverdone on the moonshine.He looked great.Fully awake and ready to go.He was wearing khaki cargo pants and a black Boys of the Bayou shirt that clung to him.He had sunglasses on and a black cap set backward on his head.

She saw him take a deep breath, but she was sure that no one else would even notice—no one else was watching him as closely as she was—just before he took his sunglasses off, hooking them in the neckline of his shirt, and knelt and opened his arms.

A thought occurred to her just as Stella threw her arms around his neck.

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