Page 57 of My Silver Lining

“Rafe,” Mrs. Dowden called out.

“Yep.”

“How about you top me off with a little more whipped cream in this mug before you take off? I’ll probably get in a nap if you’re going to be a while.”

Lulu pushed to stand, clearly sensing my irritation. “I’ll get that for her.”

“You can probably take off, Mrs. Dowden. I’ll keep Melody until Archer gets off work.”

“Well, I need the hours, so I’ll just stick around,” she said as she thanked Lulu for the top-off. I was seething at the blatant way she took advantage of my cousin.

She was too old for the job.

Archer was paying Mrs. Dowden and having us come over to relieve her as often as possible because he knew she counted on the income.

Lulu came striding over, holding the can of whipped cream, just as I was about to snap back. She held up her finger and smiled. “Open.”

I did as I was told because I’d probably do just about anything this woman told me to do. She sprayed the cream into my mouth, and Melody burst out in a fit of squeals.

Lulu bent down. “Don’t tell me you’ve never had your mouth filled with this yummy goodness.”

“I’ve had the creams on my chocolates,” Melody said, dark brown eyes wide as saucers.

“Open up that sweet mouth, love,” Lulu said.

Melody opened her mouth, and Lulu squirted just a little bit onto her tongue, and Melody waved her hands excitedly. Lulu pushed to stand again, tipped her head back, and filled her mouth with whipped cream.

For whatever reason, my dick woke up and joined the party.

She took her time swallowing and winked at me before waltzing back into the kitchen and putting it away.

“I likes your girlfriend, Uncle Rafe,” Melody whispered.

“Yeah, me, too, kiddo. Just don’t tell her I said that.”

That earned me a fit of giggles as Lulu came walking back. “Looks like Mrs. Dowden is already asleep. Shall we head out?”

“You knows where we are going, Lulus?” Melody asked as I took her hand and led us outside to my truck.

“Nope. Uncle Rafe hasn’t told me.”

I kept a car seat in my truck at all times. It was pink, and I always had a mesh bag in the back seat filled with stuffed animals and little toys for my girl.

I opened the back door and set her in her car seat, buckling her up. I opened the passenger door for Lulu, and she climbed right in. Once I was inside the truck, I cranked up the heat and reached inside the center console. I pulled out a bag of fruit snacks, tore the top open, and handed it to Melody. I glanced over to see Lulu smiling at me before I handed her a bag of gummy bears.

But the way this woman was looking at me, it was like I’d just given her a diamond ring.

They were tiny, processed bears made of gelatin.

We pulled up to the bottom of the best snowy hill in Rosewood River. I glanced out the window to see the snow still falling from the sky, so there’d be nice powder for us to slide on. It was the end of January, and the snow would be ending soon, so I wanted to get Melody out here before it was too late. AndLulu Sonnet needed to have some fun. She’d been stressed out ever since news broke that we were together.

“Are you two ready for the most fun you’ve ever had?” I asked, my voice teasing, as the little angel in the back seat squealed and the little angel in the front seat looked equally excited.

We got out of the truck, and I scooped up Melody into my arms and pulled the large toboggan behind me, calling out for Lulu to follow as we made our way up the hill.

When we got to the top, I set Melody down on her feet and put the toboggan down on the snowy hilltop.

I bent down, getting eye level with my niece. “You’ve been talking about me bringing you here for months. You ready, baby girl?”

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