Page 30 of Storm's Embrace

Zoë nodded while putting her crayons in the zippered front pocket, and then looked up at her with her nearly toothless grin. “But can we walk around the pond one more time first?”

“Sure.” Miriam stood and threw away their little bit of trash before starting to gather their things together. “But let’s put everything in the car first.”

“Okay,” Zoë said excitedly before bounding up from her place on the blanket to help fold it up. They had gotten a good parking place close to their picnic spot, so it didn’t take long to stow everything in the back of Miriam’s SUV.

Miriam took Zoë’s hand and they walked across the grass to the concrete path surrounding the pond. She took her time as they made their way around the small body of water while Zoë chattered away about the past week until they’d made it all the way back to where they’d started.

“I don’t know about you, baby, but Mommy’s tired.”

Zoë chose that moment to let out a loud yawn, before saying, “I’m not.”

“Uh huh.” Miriam grinned as they trekked back across the grass to her vehicle. She had a feeling her daughter would be passed out asleep before they made it to the first red light on the way home. “Well, I definitely am. And Mommy’s gotta talk to Dr. Eli about some important things in the morning, so I have a feeling I’ll need all the rest I can get.”

Because in the morning she was handing in her notice.

8

Eli frownedas he glanced at the clock on his computer screen. It was going on 7:15, and Miriam was usually here by now. In fact, he’d gotten in even earlier than he normally did hoping to have a word with her. Not about the relationship he wanted to have with her, but about the untruth of the situation with his faux fiancée since all the donations had come in and been accounted for.

But mainly, he’d come in early because he couldn’t wait to see her. He’d missed her smiling face, her little rants when she thought he wasn’t listening, and something else he could finally admit to—how he’d missed her curvy body he’d tried to ignore but now needed to have under his hands in the worst way.

A week was definitely far too long for her to be away from him. Maybe the next time she took a vacation, he would be on it with her. He smiled at that and wondered what Zoë would think of him becoming a part of their lives. The little girl liked him well enough, and hopefully more could grow from that. Zoë had no contact with her father. So, maybe he could fill that void and be the father she’d never really had.

And didn’t those thoughts of family and forever have his head reeling.

He sat up straight when he heard the outer door open, and then turned toward his computer screen in the hopes of looking busy. He smiled at the familiar sounds of Miriam getting ready for her workday. Hell, he’d even missed that.

“Eli?” A slight knock on his open doorframe accompanied her words. “You’re here early.”

He kept his focus on his screen, and then took a deep breath to try and calm the nerves he hadn’t thought he could feel before glancing over at the door with a smile that quickly faltered. Miriam didn’t look relaxed from her vacation. If anything, her whole demeanor was agitated as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth.

“I had some things I wanted to take care of early,” he said with some caution.

She nodded, and then muttered under her breath, but still loud enough for him to hear, “I guess now’s as good a time as any then.”

He tensed at that.

“Do you have a moment?” she said louder after shutting the door and moving farther into the room.

Eli’s chest tightened at her serious tone.

“Sure,” he said. “It’s good to have you back. Did you and Zoë enjoy your time away?”

“Yes. Thank you. We did.” He waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t—something that wasn’t like Miriam at all. He’d expected her to tell him funny stories about Zoë. They’d laugh over it, and then he’d say,Well, I have a funny story of my own. He’d tell her about Deidre and the whole debacle at the fundraiser. She’d be sympathetic and…

That was as far as his imaginings had gotten him.

But he had a sinking suspicion they were about to have a whole different kind of conversation as she moved toward him with her head slightly down, and then especially when she sat across from him and raised her sorrowful gaze to his.

“Is something wrong?” He got up and came around his desk and sat in the other visitor chair. He wanted to reach out to her but held tightly to the arm of the chair to keep from doing so. “Is it Zoë? Your family?”

“What?” She frowned, and then shook her head. “Oh, no, nothing like that.” She took a halting breath and looked him in the eyes. “You know how much I appreciate you giving me this job. For taking a chance on me.”

He didn’t like the way this was sounding.

“It ended up being a good decision.” He smiled. “Wouldn’t you say so?”

She gave him a small smile of her own, nodding. “For me it definitely was. You made it possible for me to provide for my daughter the way I needed to.” Her expression turned serious again. “And for that, I’ll be forever grateful.”

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