Page 8 of Dagger

I recognized Cara, of course, from when she was engaged to Robert Junior. Layla I’d known since she was a baby, but I’dsadly lost my connection with her after Stevie died and Kelly hit the bottle.

My eyes widened as my daughter entered the room last alongside the stunning blonde lawyer, Kennedy, who’d moved to town the year before. My daughter carried a baby in her arms and had a huge diaper bag thrown over her shoulder.

She made an immediate beeline for me, her eyes flicking over my body, assessing as she approached. “You look a lot better.”

My heart clenched as I studied her gorgeous, wonderful face.

I couldn’t believe she was so close after all these years of yearning for her. Realizing she’d been here for so long without knowing, cut me up inside. All I’d ever wanted was to look at her, touch her, and hug and kiss her, but now she stood, flesh and blood before me, I didn’t quite know how to act. My tongue was tied, and my emotions hit me from all angles.

Constance carefully slid onto the edge of my bed. “Belle needs a nanna snuggle.”

My eyes went to the tiny baby and my breath caught in my throat.

“This is Belle, your granddaughter,” she murmured, gently transferring the gorgeous bundle into my arms. “Make the most of this. Danny won’t usually give her up for anyone. You’re honored.”

I froze. My eyes fixated on Belle’s tiny face, and I wondered to myself if I’d ever had my arms filled with so much goodness before. She was everything I’d once imagined my own daughter to be, back when she was a baby. Tiny, beautiful, and adorable. Dark, fuzzy hair smattered across her perfectly shaped head, and her eyes, although closed, appeared slightly almond in shape, just like my mom’s, mine, and my daughter’s. The clean, cotton, baby scent I’d dreamed of for years hit my nostrils just as Belle gave a cute whimper through her sublime pink rosebud lips.

A tendril of warmth infiltrated through the impenetrable walls I’d built, and I felt a jolt as my soul sparked back to life. Tears welled in my eyes as the shards of ice around my heart began to melt.

“Are you okay?” my daughter whispered.

I looked up, almost startled, my eyes misty with emotion, and croaked, “I haven’t felt this good in thirty years.”

“Babies will do that to you,” Cara said from her chair under the window. “They always make everything seem better. Even my Satan child.”

My gaze swung to the group of girls who all sat around the room watching me with Belle. Kady’s eyes caught mine, and she cocked her head, eyebrows furrowing as if she was trying to work something out about me. “You’re warm.”

I stilled.

She left her mom’s side and scrambled onto the bed beside me, her little head resting against my side. “When I came in here, the room was cold, but you held Belle, and now it’s warm.”

Kennedy’s eyes softened on her daughter. “You feel okay, baby girl?”

A tiny arm slid across my belly, and Kady pressed closer. “Yeah. Duchess is snuggly. I like it.”

My breath caught again as heat from Kady’s body seeped into mine. I could feel it penetrating my pores, filling every cell, and making me glow from the inside out. My mouth fell open, and I studied her gorgeous face, almost bewildered. She was like a tiny furnace of heat and goodness, and she was generous with how she shared it with me.

“You done?” Kennedy asked her gently. “Don’t get overtired.”

My eyebrows drew together as I tried to work out the secret conversation between mother and daughter.

Kady beamed up at me. “For now.”

“Good girl,” Kennedy said approvingly. “You two better get your little tushies to the kitchen if you wanna bake cupcakes with Iris and Sera.”

“Wanna stay with Duchess,” Sunshine declared.

My eyes went big because for the life of me, I had no clue why she would want to do that.

“The cupcakes are for you, Sunny,” Layla reminded her gently. “You told Iris you’d help her bake them, so you have to take care of that and not break your word.”

“And you said you’d help,” Kennedy told Kady.

Kady sighed resignedly.

Sunshine heaved a breath so hard her little chest compressed, and she flung her arms across it angrily.

“Sunny,” Layla said, a thread of warning in her tone. “You know you have to keep your promises.”

---