Page 29 of Gash

“I can’t send her back.Don’t make me.”

“Lacey and Whizz,” Lashsaid.

“Huh?”

“They adopted Sally.Lacey loveskids, and I recall seeing her around Daisy.She’d happily have heras a daughter.”

Tears filled Angel’s eyes.“Don’t youwant a daughter either?”

“Angel, babe, I love you, and I’dlove to have Daisy as my daughter.I’d take care of her, andAnthony would be her brother, but I told you before, you’re my mainconcern.It kills me to give Daisy to Lacey when I know you’d loveher like your own.But you can’t handle another child right now,and I’m going to be taking care of you.You come first.”

“I could handleit.”

“Daisy will be loved, andshe won’t go far.”

“What about her parents?”Angelasked, crying.Her emotions were all over the place.She couldn’tstop crying, and she hated it.Even as she was crying, she washating herself, wondering why the hell she was crying.

“I’ll pay a visit to thefamily, and they won’t have a problem.I’ll get our lawyer to dothe paperwork, and we’ll go there together.”

Resting her head against Lash’s widechest, she let out a sigh.“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Chapter Seven

“How did you burn pasta?”Charlotte asked, staring at the burnt strands oflinguine.

Lacey sighed.“I put the pasta intothe water, and I forgot about it.I went to sit withWhizz.”

Charlotte stared at the other woman’sface, seeing that she was blushing.“I see.”

“What?”

“You were doing more than sittingaround.”Staring into the pot, she saw the water had boiled away,and the pasta was just wrong.“You might want to throw the potout.”

“That will be your fifthpot this week,” Sally said.

“I’m trying, okay?I can’t cook.”Lacey took the pot out of the kitchen, and Charlotte stared at thestew.

“Do you have bread?”Charlotte asked.

“Yes.Dad makes sure we havebread in case Mom ruins dinner, or won’t let us call for takeout.”Sally moved to the far side of the kitchen, and opened a largecupboard.“Tada.”

Chuckling, Charlotte gave the stew a finalstir.“It’s ready.”

“I’ll go and geteveryone.”

Carrying the large pot into the diningroom, she placed it on the center mat and made her way back intothe kitchen.Gash was entering the kitchen, and wrinkling his nose.“What could she have possibly burned now?”he asked.

“Pasta.I didn’t think it waspossible, but it is.”Charlotte didn’t know how Lacey had lived herlife with the way she burnt things.

She grabbed several bags of buns andpaused in the kitchen.Gash was still there, and now that he knewthe truth, she didn’t know what to say to him.Opening her mouth,she closed it once again.What was there to say?

Heading back toward the dining room,Gash stopped her.He held onto her arm.“Were you going to live therest of your life waiting for me to come to you?”

Glancing over her shoulder, sheshook her head.“I was just trying to get on with my life.I didn’tknow if Jeff was going to come back for me, or if I’d done mytime.Theykept me alive, which has always been a question for me.I’d havebeen better off dead.”She shrugged.“I didn’t exactly plananything in my life.I’ve just dealt with everything that has comemy way.I’m still alive, so I always figured something else wasgoing to happen.”

She loved his touch.

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