Page 76 of Forgotten Deeds

“Lily,” Ethan calls.

Covering up the safe—if Harrison was into anything shady, it’d upset Ethan far more than it would me—I stick my head out of the bedroom. “Did you find Lily’s rainbow charm?” I ask.

“No, but I found Harrison’s birth certificate and social security card,” he says, holding up a file. “You’ll need these to fill out the paperwork I was telling you about. I didn’t see a will. My guess is he didn’t have one.”

“Thank you. Well, maybe the charm will turn up,” I comment.

We walk down the hall, and he hands me the file folder, but doesn’t let go. “At least consider what I said about Darius. Trust me, Lily, you don’t know your husband like you think you do.”

“Ethan, thanks for your concern,” I say, trying to see this from his perspective: a cop’s perspective. “You’ve always cared more than Harrison in a lot of ways.” Which sadly is true.

His face softens. “I just worry about you and Iris.”

“And I appreciate it. Truly. But I know what I’m doing, and I would never endanger my daughter,” I assure him.

Ethan clearly doesn’t like my answer, but he releases the file, and we walk out of the house. On the porch, Iris is blowing bubbles, with Darius trying to pop them with his teeth. I place my hand on my head with a sigh, but I can’t help but laugh.

Darius flexes his forearm and gives the big red dog a little wolf.

Iris giggles. “He’s silly,” she informs Ethan.

Ethan clears his throat. “Well, I need to get to work. Lily, I’ll make a copy of the key and drop it by your place, along with the paperwork,” he tells me.

“Why don’t you just go ahead and give Lily the key now, since you won’t need it anymore. Everything else, you can drop off at my gym,” Darius interjects, giving him the address.

“Uh, yeah, alright,” Ethan fumbles, obviously not expecting that response. He hands me the key. “Lily, Iris, it was good to see you both. Darius, nice to meet you.”

“You too,” Darius says politely.

* * *

Darius

Ethan’s eyes lingered on my wife just a little too long, and the urge to chase after him and gouge out those offending orbs with the bubble wand is strong, but I rein in my impulse. “Who wants to grab a bite to eat?” I ask, tightening the cap on the bubbles.

“Me!” Iris says.

“Sure, we can stop somewhere. I’m just not very hungry,” Lily admits.

“How about Corner Caffè?” I suggest. “We’ll just grab a snack.”

“Perfect,” Lily says with a smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

I follow them in my car, and we arrive at the coffee shop. Holding the door open for them, we step inside my boss’ shop, placing our order.

We snag a table in the back, and Valentina waves at us, bounding over. “Hey!”

“Valentina, it’s so nice to see you. This is my daughter, Iris,” Lily says.

“Hello, Iris. It’s so nice to meet you. I’m going to send over a special cookie with your name on it,” Valentina tells her with a big smile.

“Thank you,” Iris tells her politely.

“Hey, Valentina. Romeo here?” I ask.

Valentina shakes her head. “I came in after school; if he was here earlier, I missed him.”

She plops down in the chair beside Lily. “So let’s talk reception.” She pulls out her phone. “We need to nail down a date.”

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