Page 64 of And Then There Was Us
“Is that for me?” Layla asked.
“Yes. And it has your birth date on the back,” Hugh answered. He held Brianna’s gaze while he spoke. “Since it’s a locket, we can add to it anytime.”
“What’s the other thing?” Layla pointed to a little gold car with number thirty-two inscribed in it.
“That’s for Hugh,” Brianna said. Tears streamed down Brianna’s cheeks, but she couldn’t reach up and wipe them away.
“Mommy, why are you sad?” Layla asked.
She was frozen in place, staring at the man who’d waltzed into her life unannounced and broken down her walls, then stolen her heart while she was busy worrying. With Layla cushioned against him, holding on to his muscular arm like a security blanket, the heart she thought had room only for her daughter expanded and opened—accepting Hugh completely.It’s not what you say. It’s how you say it.He couldn’t have made his love for her any more clear.
“I’m not sad, baby girl. These are tears of happiness.”
Hugh put the necklace on Brianna and pulled her close. He kissed her forehead, and then he did the same to Layla. “Are my two leading ladies ready for a big night?”
Brianna wondered how she’d make it through the night on rubber legs and without a voice.
“Yes!” Layla squealed. She threw her arms around Hugh’s neck and kissed his cheek.
Luckily, with Layla around, she wouldn’t need her voice, and as Hugh guided her out the apartment door, she knew he’d provide all the strength she’d need.
Chapter Thirty-Three
THE CENTERSTAGE THEATER marquee was lit up like old-time Hollywood with white letters on a black background and illuminated in hundreds of small yellow bulbs. The theater was built on a corner, and the sign wrapped elegantly around the curve of the building.
“Oh my goodness, Layla. Look at that.” Brianna read the marquee aloud. “Special Showing. Sassy and the Bird, by Layla Heart.” Brianna glanced at Hugh, who was giving nothing away as he trained his eyes on Layla.
Layla jumped up and down. “That’s my story!” She took her mother’s hand, then situated herself between Brianna and Hugh before reaching for Hugh’s hand too. “How did my story get up there?” She looked from her mother to Hugh.
Hugh shrugged. “We’ll have to go inside and see.”
“Her story?” Brianna asked.
He winked, and her heart threatened to burst right through her chest.
They walked beneath the marquee and across the red carpet that covered the floor of the elegant theater. The seats were empty. Every seat.
“Hugh?”
Layla ran ahead of them down the aisle. Hugh put his arm around Brianna and whispered, “I wanted her to have a night she’d never forget…minus a hurtful morning after.” He kissed the corner of her mouth, and it took all of Brianna’s willpower not to deepen the kiss. “Is it okay? I know it’s extravagant, but look at how happy she is.”
Layla stood at the railing above the orchestra pit wiggling back and forth.
“It’s okay, but she’ll learn to expect these things, and that worries me,” she said honestly.
“We can make sure she doesn’t.” He ran his knuckles down her cheek. “I know how much the afternoon with your father meant to you, and I wanted her to have something equally as special.”
“Okay, but please, no more for a while, okay?”
Hugh shifted his eyes to the ceiling.
“Feigning innocence doesn’t work with me.” She looked at Layla heading back up the aisle toward them.
“I might have a little something else planned. Well, maybe a few little things.”
She poked his side. “I work really hard to make sure she has what she needs, and now she’s going to think sheneedsso much more.”Ugh! I sound so ungrateful.Layla stopped short of them and ran into a row of seats.
“You’re right. I should have run it by you first. I’m sorry, Bree. I’ve never done this before, and I guess I got a little overzealous.”
