Page 80 of Must Love Bees
He went rigid, the muscle in his jaw working. “When?”
“They headed out with Aunt Mags, Shelby and Bea about an hour ago.” Astrid knew how protective he was of the girls and hoped having adults along would put his mind at ease. “She really adores baby Bea.” She sat on the love seat.
Charlie’s posture was still stiff but he didn’t look ready to leap off the porch and hunt them down.
“Miss Nicole.” Nova peered around the screen door. “Ginger is crying.”
Nicole popped up. “I’ll check on her. Thank you, sweetie.” She disappeared inside.
Nova ran across the porch and sat on the love seat beside Astrid. “Ginger was really sad. Do you think she’s missing her mom, too?”
“Maybe. I’m sure Nicole can cheer her up.” At least, Astrid hoped she could. Without knowing the specifics of Ginger’s homelife, it was hard to know what the little girl was dealing with. At the very least, she would be homesick.
Charlie sat beside his daughter. “Have a good day?”
Nova bounced her feet against the love seat. “Yep. Van brought animal toys.” She pulled a plastic zebra from her pocket. “And I went with Aunt Mags and Aunt Camellilla to feed the donkeys. One is itty-bitty.” She held up her thumb and forefinger. “Like this.”
“That small?” Charlie held up her hand for a closer look.
“Maybe.” Nova giggled. “They like crunchy carrots. I do, too.”
“Next time, take some apples. They love apples.” Astrid held her hand out with the palm up. “Did you feed them like this?”
“I didn’t. I watched. Can you come, Charlie? They’re so cute.” Nova waited for his nod. “And Astrid can bring the apples so they will really like you.”
“I can use all the help I can get.” Charlie sighed, shooting a look Astrid’s way.
She shook her head and smiled at him. “I’m sure they’ll like you, apples or no apples.” He might not see the progress he was making with his girls, but she did. And, more importantly, the girls did. “What’s the news on the air-conditioning? Good news, I hope?”
“They fixed it.” Charlie draped an arm along the back of the love seat, his hand resting at the base of her neck. The brush of his fingers on her skin sent a toe-curling shudder down her back.
“Are you cold, Astrid?” Nova handed Charlie the zebra and slipped her arms around her. “I’ll hug you till you’re warm.”
“Oh, thank you.” Astrid hugged her back. “You give such good hugs.”
Nova stayed against her, her little arms twined around her. “If the air ’ditioner is fixed, do we have to sleep in our rooms again?”
Astrid picked up on the little girl’s apprehension and, from the look on Charlie’s face, he did, too.
“You don’t want to be back in a real bed?” Charlie made the zebra run down Nova’s arm.
She shook her head.
“Why not?” Astrid asked. As always, Nova’s ponytail was off-center. Astrid slid the hair tie free and finger-combed the riot of curls back into place. She double-twisted the ponytail to secure it—and looked up to find Charlie watching her.
Every inch of Astrid went warm and tingly.
“The rat monster didn’t come to Charlie’s office.” Nova leaned further into Astrid. “Only in my room.” She buried her face in Astrid’s side. “It’s scary.”
Astrid hugged her even tighter. Nova was truly scared. “When I was little, my sister Rosemary had a gerbil named Mr. Fluff. It’s sort of like a rat—only cute. One night, he got out of his cage. I didn’t know that he was out so when I woke up to scratching under my bed, I was too scared to do anything but hide under my covers.”
“You didn’t get help?” Nova was wide-eyed. “Aunt Magnolia would save you.” She looked around the porch then whispered, “She’s sorta scary, too.”
“She can be.” Astrid laughed. “But I was too scared to get out of my bed. I didn’t know what was underneath it and Aunt Magnolia’s and Aunt Camellia’s rooms were all the way at the other end of the hall. I didn’t wake up my sisters because I didn’t want them to be scared, too.” She shrugged. “I waited all night and didn’t get a wink of sleep. The next morning, Rosemary came into my room crying. She couldn’t find Mr. Fluff anywhere. And then I realized who was under my bed. I leaned over, lifted up the quilt, and Mr. Fluff came scurrying out. I guess he was scared, too, and wanted to hide until Rosemary could find him.”
“Poor Mr. Fluff.” Nova shook her head. “Do you think my rat monster is a gerbrill?”
“Gerbil,” Charlie murmured.
