Page 18 of Perfect Bragg

“Did you forget you’re my best friend?” Moon asks Ashlyn.

“Better you than me,” Eden mumbles.

I glare at her. “You’re on my shit list.”

She doesn’t bother to pretend to not know what I’m talking about. “It’s not my fault. Elder phoned when he was already in Miller’s truck on his way to your house.”

I fist my hands at my hips. “You couldn’t call to warn me?”

“I did. You didn’t pick up.”

“You did?” I try to remember if the phone rang before Elder arrived. I remember Robin spitting up on me minutes before he arrived. The rest of the morning is foggy. Damn. Eden probably did phone. “You’re forgiven.”

She snorts. “Thank you for forgiving me for not doing anything wrong.”

“Come on. Let’s not stand in the hallway all morning. I’m ready to meet Robin.” Soleil herds us into the living room.

The dogs rush in front of us and gather around the playpen Robin’s sleeping in. They each take a side and lay down as if protecting her.

“Ah, they’re precious. I want a doggie,” Ashlyn says.

Moon snorts. “Rowan won’t let you have a dog.”

Ashlyn lifts her nose in the air. “My husband is not my keeper. If I want a dog, I’ll have one. All I have to do is—”

I clear my throat before she can finish her thought. “Baby present,” I remind her.

She juggles her baby, Patience, in her arms. “She doesn’t understand sex yet, do you?” she coos at Patience before addressing me. “You do understand babies are too young to comprehend sex?”

I do. But I also know Ashlyn will go on and on about her sex life with her husband if we let her. No thanks. Considering I’m going to spend my entire life dedicated to my battery-operated boyfriend, I don’t need to hear about how her real man treats her.

You can have a real man,Rebel Harmony whispers to me.

Yeah, right. I have tons of time for a man since I now have a baby to care for.

Elder will help.

Whatever. I’m not listening to her today or any day for that matter. She should know better by now. I’m unworthy. Relationships are not for me.

“She’s precious,” Soleil whispers as she leans over the playpen to study Robin. “She could be your child.”

Eden stands next to her. “It’s true. Robin looks exactly like you.”

“She’s a baby,” I insist. “She doesn’t resemble anyone yet.”

And if she does resemble anyone, it’ll be my cousin Amy. Not me. I won’t let Robin forget who her mom is. Little Robin will know everything about Amy. How she only ate the stuffing of an Oreo but never the cookie itself. How she wouldn’t go to a movie theater if they didn’t have Red Vines. How she used to read the last five pages of a book before buying it ‘to make sure the bad guy got his comeuppance’.

“I want to hold her. Can I hold her?”

Soleil reaches into the playpen but I slap her hand away.

“If you wake Robin, I will smash your pottery wheel into a gazillion tiny pieces before burying them all over town.”

Soleil is an artist. She has a gift for making pottery. People come from all over the US to attend her pottery classes and purchase her pieces.

She yanks her hand away. “You’re mean.”

Eden giggles. “You do know planting pottery pieces won’t result in any plants, don’t you?”

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