Page 116 of One More Heartbeat
“Did she have nightmares before she lost her mother?” Jada asks Athena.
“No,” Athena responds after a long beat. “They started soon after her mother died.”
Peony grabs the plastic man and dumps him on the sand face up. Her lips press into what looks like concentration, and she picks up the toy shovel. She scoops sand onto the man and keeps going until he is buried deep under it. Her face scrunches, and she pounds the wide mound with the shovel.
The toy policeman meets the same fate, buried under another pile of sand.
Icy prickles crawl up my spine, and I look at Jada, hoping she knows what Peony’s actions mean. Jada’s watchful expression doesn’t give away what she’s thinking, but she leans forward like she’s mentally taking notes.
And I can’t help but wonder if Peony is just afraid of the man…or if it’s also his uniform she fears. Or does she fear something deeper, something darker?
42
ZARA
Monday afternoon,I’m working the front counter of Picnic & Treats when Garrett enters with Peony in his arms. Athena is with them. Today was Peony’s third weekly session with the play therapist, and they always come here to get her a treat after the drive from Eugene.
Peony grins at me, and I can’t believe how big she’s getting. It’s only been a few days since I last saw her, but damn, what are they feeding her?
Athena is also smiling, which I suspect has nothing to do with me…and everything to do with the desserts in the display case. Turns out, Athena has a weakness for my lemon raspberry cupcakes, as I discovered two weeks ago.
“Za-wa.” Peony waves hi to me.
“Hey, you three.” I swear my ovaries do their usual happy dance at seeing Garrett with his little princess in his arms. His little princess in an adorable light-green dress with appliqué daisies all over the tulle. Two white bows decorate her hair.
After raising four boys, his mother loves having a little girl in the family to dote on. She was the one who bought Peony the dress.
I’m not the only one who thinks Garrett and Peony are adorabletogether, as the dreamy sigh from one of the nearby customers can attest. The woman is no more immune to them than I am.
My ovaries aren’t the only things reacting to the sight of Garrett. My clit aches for his touch, like a dog in one of Pavlov’s experiments.
It’s been three and a half weeks since Garrett and I conducted our experiment. Three and a half weeks since I discovered firsthand the pain-control magic of orgasms.
But it’s been sixty-six hours since my last one.
Sixty-six excruciatingly long, lust-filled hours.
I’m barely keeping myself from climbing over the counter and dry humping him. And it has nothing to do with pain-relief management.
“Do you want the usual?” I do my best not to rub my legs together, to ease the growing ache and give away my body’s reaction to him. “I can bring it to your table.”
“Yes, a lemon-and-raspberry cupcake for me,” Athena confirms with a small smile. While I still suspect that she would prefer I’m not in their lives, she has warmed up to me a smidgen. I can thank the baked goods for that.
“You want a unicorn cupcake or a chocolate chip cookie?” she asks Peony.
Peony points to the collection of cute, kid-sized cupcakes in the display. Her favorite.
Garrett passes her to Athena. “Why don’t you two grab the table in the corner by the window, and I’ll bring the drinks?”
Athena walks off with Peony.
Muffled hammering filters through the wall separating this part of the café from next door, where Troy’s crew is working on the expansion. Another week and it will finally be finished after several unexpected setbacks.
And starting tomorrow, Picnic & Treats will be temporarily closed, while they work on joining the two areas into one.
But that doesn’t mean I get to take a vacation.Au contraire.I’ll be working on the last-minute details for the grand reopening.
“How’s the pain? From one to ten?” Garrett drops the volume of hisvoice. The deep cadence of it washes through me in a warm, delicious shudder.
