Page 43 of Beauty and the Beard

And the twinkle of fun in his eyes as he laughs with his brother and nudges my foot under the table causes me to reach for my drink.

If I have a few drinks, I can blame all the emotions bubbling over on the alcohol.

Definitely not because I’m possibly falling in love.

Chapter 12

Leaf

Being at the Log Jam with Perry and Sasha was difficult at first. Too many memories of nights with Perry and Connor here kept coming back, and the old game of juggling grief and happiness kept poking in when it wasn’t welcome.

But watching Sasha eat chicken wings for the first time is easily a highlight of my life. Babies get excited with new food and it’s cute. Sasha gets excited with a new food and he’s planning how to own his own restaurant so he can have chicken wings every day.

And the dill pickle flavour he turned a nose up at? He loves it.

Perry excused himself after we had a few drinks and called himself a taxi home. Sasha and I linger a little longer before I finally make a move to get the night moving.

“Are you up for a walk before we go home?”

He pats his belly. “With the amount of food I’ve consumed tonight, yes. I should walk some of this off.”

As I go to wave down Violet for the bill, Sasha pulls out his wallet.

“You’re not paying. This is a date I asked you on.”

His mouth moves, but no words come out. I motion to Violet that I’m ready to settle the tab.

“I hope you enjoyed yourself. There were a lot of laughs coming from this table tonight.” Violet smiles warmly when she passes me the payment machine.

Tapping my card to pay, I nod and smile back while waiting for the song of an approved payment.

“It was a great night.” Pausing, I look up at the young girl, who’s now a young woman, with great fondness. “It was great to see you, Violet. I miss you.”

And I really do. I avoided her because she couldn’t erase the guilt over Connor. Any time she came over after he died, it was like she was afraid to speak and it was too painful for me. I had to grieve for my husband and I didn’t have it in me to set her heart at ease then.

She blinks rapidly and nods. “Thanks. I miss you, too. It’s great to see you out again.”

“It’s good to be out.” Swallowing hard, I take her hand in mine. “Listen, come by the lodge before you go off to school in the fall? I don’t want to miss you before you go.”

“Can we fish off the dock this summer?” her voice cracks and I swallow back the lump in my throat. I still see her with her pigtails laughing as we fished for hours, catching perch that fit in the palm of your hand.

“Let me know when and I’ll make it happen, Vi.”

Standing quickly, I take her in my arms and she clutches me tight.

“I’m sorry I let you drift away.” I whisper into her hair. “You’re my family. I love you and I’d love to catch up soon.”

When she lets me go, her cheeks are wet and I wipe them away. She smiles, though, and nods. “I’ll hold you to it.”

She again greets Sasha and tells us how happy we look and when she’s called away to another table, I feel like I’m both empty and full as she walks away.

“You ready, beautiful?”

Holding my hand out to Sasha, he smiles shyly, almost in disbelief that I’d offer my hand to help him from the booth. He says nothing about my exchange with Violet either, which I appreciate.

“Born ready.”

Into the warm night air, we stroll down the main street of Maple. Clasping his hand in mine feels perfect. So perfect I feel the squeeze in my chest when I think of how many days he has left here. There’s so much I want to show him and teach him.

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