Page 3 of Valentine Mine

Grabbing the back of my neck with both hands, I squeezed.“How was the movie, Love?”

“Meh,” she shrugged, dropping her bag on the counter.I fought a smile.Her godmother had rubbed off on her too much for me to try to curb that now.“It didn’t hold up to the hype.The best part was when Arella made a cameo.How did we not know?Grier and I both screamed at the end credits when we saw her.”

“Contracts and all that crap.”I excused my cousin.“She legally can’t tell anyone about the parts she has until they tell her she can.”

“Rude,” she complained.

I kissed the top of her blond head.“Did you eat?”

“We had snacks at the movies, but Uncle Jags stopped for fries on the way home.”Giving me a hug, she stepped back.“I need a shower, and then I need to text my friends to tell them about the movie.”

“Sure… Hey.”I stopped her before she got to the door.As she glanced back at me, my heart melted like always when I saw her violet-rimmed blue eyes blinking at me.“Has Mom been acting weird to you?”

Love Bug frowned.“Weird, how?”

“I dunno.”It wasn’t so much how she had acted.More a feeling.I didn’t have to explain it to my daughter, though.She knew how it was with her mother and me.“Just…off.”

She thought about it for a minute.“I mean, maybe?Things have been crazy lately.And then with the media being ugly, but that’s nothing unusual.They always have something to say.But she has been dressing kind of frumpy.”

“What do you mean?”

Love rolled her eyes.“She hasn’t worn a dress in a few weeks.Even at the game, she wore sweatpants with your jersey.Honestly, it’s kind of like she’s hiding her body.”

“Nah, that’s not it,” I denied, even as a voice in the back of my head agreed that was exactly what my wife was doing.“I think she’s just exhausted.You go on up.Love you, princess.”

“Love you, Daddy.”

I gave her a full two minutes to get away from the kitchen before I fished my phone from my pocket.Jagger picked up, warning, “You’re on speaker.”

“Hey, girls,” I told Grier and Fallon and got tired greetings back.“Jags, I need a minute.”

I heard the shift in the line from Bluetooth to his AirPods.“What’s up, man?”

“Has Shaw mentioned anything about Vi?”

I felt an instant tension from over the line.I knew he cared about Violet.He and Shaw were more than our best friends.Our connection went deeper.There was never any sense of jealousy when it came to Jagger like I felt when other guys got too close or even looked Vi’s way.

I knew if anything ever happened to me, he would be right there to take care of my family—especially my wife.Lyric would too, without hesitation, but it was different with Jagger.

“No, brother,” he said after a moment.“She hasn’t said anything to me.But…”

“Tell me,” I choked out.

“I don’t know.I noticed something off the other day.And then when I picked up Love Bug earlier, I went into the office to give her a hug.”He blew out a breath.“I don’t know, I thought maybe I was overthinking it.She just seemed to shrink when I kissed her cheek.Not a flinch, but…”

“Shit,” I groaned.“Something’s up with her, for sure.Do you think she’s tired?”

“Maybe,” he muttered, but he didn’t sound any more convinced than I was.“But I am.And I know Shaw is.”

When I got a text notification, I glanced down to see one from my brother.Telling Jagger to hold a moment, I read it.

Lyric: Valentine’s Day is this weekend.

“Shit,” I said again.“It’s Valentine’s Day on Sunday.”

But it wasn’t just that for her.Us.Remington had passed away on February 14th all those years ago.For a few years after his death, the anniversary was a dark day for her.But slowly, she began pushing down the mourning.Then we started doing something special each year.Helping her not dwell on who was no longer there.

For the past few years, she hadn’t even talked about him to Love Bug on that particular day.It had been years since she last mentioned him on the death anniversary of her first husband.

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