Page 79 of Love in the Storm

Lyric waved good-bye as she made her way back to the booth. Asa was eyeing her with gentle curiosity, but Jacob was the one who spoke first.

“Who was that?”

“An old friend.”

“Was that Wendy?” Asa asked.

“Yeah. She said to tell you hey.”

“She doing okay?”

“She just got a job at Julia’s Flower Shop.”

“Oh!” Betty gasped. “I always order flowers from Julia. She’s a doll.”

“I hope she likes it there,” Lyric said.

When everyone else had filled their mouths with sandwiches, Asa mouthed to Lyric, “Sober?”

Lyric held up her fingers and mouthed back, “Six months.”

Asa nodded and whispered, “Good. Did you tell her to call if she needs anything?”

Asa’s concern for her friend was more thanLyric’s heart could take right now. Knowing he didn’t look at Wendy like a lost cause was the tipping point.

She loved Asa Scott, and the whole package that came with him.

27

ASA

Asa quietly closed the back door behind him as he walked into his mom’s house. He’d worked overtime, and there was a good chance Jacob would be in bed.

Instead of the silence he’d expected, feminine giggles came from the living room. Was that a snort?

Lyric and his mom were lying on the floor surrounded by piles of boxes and photos. Lyric was flat on her back with her dark hair spread out around her. She wiped tears from her eyes as she huffed through the last of her laughter.

Asa was more worried about his mother. She sat with her legs tucked beside her, and she lay slumped, facedown.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

Lyric sat up quickly and wiped her eyes. “It’s allher fault.” She pointed at his mom and fell into another fit of laughter.

“No, it’s his fault,” his mom said, pointing at Asa.

“You’re going to wake up Jacob,” Asa said.

Lyric shook her head. “No, we won’t. We went to the park after school, and he’s out like a light.”

Asa crossed his arms over his chest and fought the grin tugging on the corners of his mouth. “You two are crazy.”

Lyric’s hand shot up in the air. “Guilty!”

His mother laughed harder at Lyric’s confession. “Lock her up, officer!”

Asa rolled his eyes. At least they could joke about Lyric’s past now. It couldn’t hurt them anymore. “I’m going to check on Jacob.”

The two women on the floor kept laughing as Asa peeked into Jacob’s room down the hallway. He was sound asleep as Lyric said he would be.

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