Page 68 of Castings & Curses

I sort of followed, but not really, as she strode over to her coop and checked on the latches. There was an almost purring sound from within from the few birds still making noises.

“I used to let them roost outside in the summer until last year.”

“What happened?”

Terri Ann was more comfortable talking about the more immediate things. She steered away from my existential crisis and found a topic that wasn’t out of her depth. My divorce left all of us untethered. I think it scared her as much as it did me.

“There were some freak accidents. Raccoons and foxes taking out whole flocks. I got nervous, so now I lock them up at night. I don’t necessarily like it, because it means I absolutely have to get up at dawn to let them out before it gets too hot. But I like knowing my chicks are safe.”

She rattled another latch and turned to me with a deep sigh. “I know this isn’t your idea of a good life, but I’m glad you came home. I like knowing you’re safe, and not out there alone without that man.”

I stepped in close and leaned my shoulder against hers. Home. I wasn’t sure if Duchamp was still home, but there was security in familiarity. This was the kind of place I could let Liv ride a bike around— when she was a bit older and could ride a bike. This was the kind of place that still had roaming herds of feral children every summer.

My hand ran over the baby bump. Maybe if I could manage to get a few clients, I could work remotely, allowing me to stick around? I’d have to weigh my options. With a quick glance back at the fire pit as we headed to the house, I realized I’d have to watch my wishful thinking. I shook my head. That hadn’t even been a cast, just the memory of one.

CHAPTER4

The water parkat Spring Mill was the best suggestion ever. Liv squealed and danced and would not leave the water. There were no bigger kids hogging the hose or making her wait for her turn while they purposefully left her out like her cousins did.

I saw a few familiar other moms, and tried to wave. I didn’t know why I bothered. I didn’t need them to come dancing up to me like the kids did, but a nod or recognition would have been nice.

“Mommy, mommy, mommy!” Liv ran toward me, dragging another little girl along. They were both giggling, so I wasn’t going to be too worried about it.

“Mommy!”

“Yes, baby?” I asked as soon as they stopped running. They didn’t stop moving, both squirming and giggling with some conspiracy between them.

“We’re twins!”

They wore the exact same bathing suit, and they both had their hair in ponytails. Best guess, they were the same age, and roughly the same height. But they were far from twins. Liv had a tan, but it was nothing compared to the brown of the other girl’s skin. And she was as skinny as she could be, while Liv was an adorable butter-ball baby.

I put on my shocked face and made a real show of looking at them back and forth.

“But you’re the one calling me Mommy, so you’re my Liv. Right?”

They danced around and traded places a few times. Liv poked the other girl. “You can’t tell now, can you, Mommy?” She hesitated on the name, like it was unfamiliar, or more likely uncomfortable calling someone else Mommy. But they both giggled.

I pulled her into a wet hug. “I would always know my Livy.”

“Mommy!” Liv was affronted, but she continued to smile and giggle. “I’m Liv!”

I looked in shocked horror at the giggling child in my arms. They were four. Of course, I was going to let them think they won this.

“Excuse me?” A deep voice with a firm, hard tone made me flinch a little.

I turned to see a man who looked like he was in daddy-bear mode glower in my direction. He didn’t exactly match the girl I was still hugging, but I knew that didn’t mean anything. The glower said everything, and the scar across the left side of his face made that glower pretty scary.

The not-Liv child giggled and squealed, “Daddy!” Confirming my suspicions.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re here,” I started. “Our children are obviously twins, separated at birth. I can’t tell the difference between them. Can you?” I bugged my eyes out at him and really hoped he clued in fast.

Tension immediately left his face. He grinned and gave me a wink. In that split second, he transformed from this kid’s intimidating father to an extremely good-looking man, ridiculously so. The scar couldn’t hide the man’s good bone structure. With a strong jaw and one of those clef dimples in his chin, no, this guy was not to be assessed with the lens I was currently looking at him with. Since suddenly becoming single, my personal rule was men who were fathers meant they were married, and therefore they could never be good-looking to me. They weren’t for me to think of, ever. I didn’t poach other women’s men.

His wink made something flutter in my chest that should not have shifted. I set out the hounds of proprietary behavior after that winged flicker to seek and destroy.

“Sarina, which one are you?”

The girls giggled. Sarina danced away from my arms.

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