Page 171 of Stains of Desire
Axel nods, but there's something in his eyes I can't place. "Yeah. I'll be back in a few minutes."
Hunter, Dirk, Blaise, and Axel step outside.
I go behind Millie and hug her. "Are you going to eat one or two of those?"
"Two!" She spins on the chair. "Will you take me swimming out to the raft today?"
I point out the window to the six-by-six wooden platform on barrels in the middle of the bay. "That thing?"
"Yes."
"There might be sharks."
"There's not," she says.
"How do you know?"
"Hunter took me to it."
"When?"
"Yesterday."
I glance at the raft again, thinking about sharks. "I'm sure Axel would take you."
She furrows her eyebrows and tilts her head. "Mummy, I want you to."
I groan. "Okay. But Axel is coming with us in case there are any fish I don't like."
She claps. "Good. Then we can jump."
"Off the raft?" I cry out.
She nods and rolls her eyes. "Duh."
"Duh?"
She giggles. "Duh."
"Where did you learn to say, 'Duh'?"
She points to Zoe.
Zoe gasps at Millie for a moment. "What? Why am I getting blamed?"
"Duh," Millie says again.
"I'm going to show you duh," I tell her, pick her up over my shoulder, and tickle her until she's laughing so hard, she's crying.
When I set her down, the first batch of pancakes are ready, and we girls eat together. I don't know what the guys are talking about. But I have my baby girl with me and I laugh with her for the first time in years. The man I love is only a few yards away, and life feels complete. When he gazes in through the glass, we lock eyes. He winks. My flutters take off, but I can't think about it too long because Millie is shoving a forkful of chocolate chip pancakes in my mouth.
"Malin and Emilia made me blueberry pancakes. I like those, too," Millie says.
The room goes silent. The hairs on my arms stand up.
So much I don't know about what she's been through or who she's been with.
Almost two years of her life.
