Page 86 of Charm

A low chuckle falls from between Bruce’s lips. “Something tells me winning a race against that little one isn’t in the cards for me.”

He leaves the room, walking at his usual, unhurried pace.

“He’s so good with her,” Krista whispers once Bruce is out of earshot. “They love her so much, Greer.”

“They do.”

She twirls her engagement ring around on her finger. “I know raising her hasn’t always been easy.”

“I’ve loved every second of it,” I say, my voice breaking. “I love her so much.”

“Me too.”

I reach for her hand to quiet her anxiety. I can always tell when Krista needs reassurance that everything is okay. “She’s growing up so fast.”

“She really is.” She smiles through a sob. “I can’t believe how much she looks like…”

“Mom!” Olive interrupts Krista at the precise moment I know I would have broken into tears. “You had some pink napkins back there.”

I turn my attention to my little girl, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear. “I got those just for you.”

“I knew it.” Her entire face beams with pride. “I’m starving. Can I dig in?”

The bell above the door signals a new arrival, so I steal a glance in that direction.

Two women walk in. One of them is holding tightly to the hand of a toddler. All three of them look to the left, before their gazes shift to the right as they take stock of everything in the store.

“I’ll handle them,” Krista offers with a hand on my forearm. “You enjoy the pizza.”

I pick up the box and the bag with the beverages, and point toward the corridor that Olive and Bruce just came from. “Let’s go eat in the office.”

Olive looks at Krista. “I’ll save you two pieces.”

Krista bends down slightly, scooping the four-leaf clover pendant hanging around Olive’s neck into her hand for just a moment before she kisses my daughter’s forehead. “I can’t wait.”

I hear the emotion that’s still swimming in her voice, but she stands up straight, clears her throat, and gets to work helping our customers.

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Holden

I walkinto my office to find my brother behind my desk. He’s sipping on a coffee while he stares at my laptop screen.

“Snooping doesn’t look good on you, James,” I say. “Did you at least get me a coffee?”

“Why would I?” he barks back with a grin. “You broke my heart. I may never recover.”

That tells me all I need to know about why he’s hanging out here. I had a meeting this morning that kept me out of the office. I stopped for a quick bite for lunch. I used the time to plot out exactly how I’d tell my brother about the lost Sweet Indulgence deal. It seems he’s already heard about it.

“You’ll recover.” I round my desk to smack his shoulder. “Get out of my chair.”

He moves to stand. “Mine is more comfortable.”

“That’s debatable.” I drop my phone on my desk.

Another sip of his coffee is followed by a heavy sigh. “Unless you tell me that the reason we’re not partnering with Greer isbecause you don’t want to mix business and pleasure, I’m about to yell at you.”

“You’re not going to yell at me.”

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