Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 99017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99017 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Her bottom lip trembles. “Am I bad?”
“No, you’re not bad,” I say, instantly feeling like an ass for going too hard on her. “You just did a kind of not-so-great thing. But you’re not bad. You’re never bad.” I cross to her, lifting her into my arms as her eyes start to shine. “You’re the best, and I love you so much,” I murmur, hugging her tight. “That’s why I want to keep you safe and healthy. That’s why we have rules about not going outside alone or eating too many sweets, baby. You know that, right? It’s because I love you so much. Not because I’m mad at you.”
Ava nods, her arms tightening around my neck. “I love you so much, too, Daddy. I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, buddy,” I say, rocking her back and forth. “Want me to carry you back up to your fort?”
“Yes, please,” she says. “But I think I might want to lie down in my bed, after all. I am kind of tired. I might take just a tiny nap today.”
“I think that’s very wise,” I say, starting toward the stairs.
“But just today,” Ava cautions, pulling back to shoot me a serious look. “I’m not going to nap every day. Only when I’m super tired from playing hard and having lots of fun with Clover and Bella.”
I nod. “Sounds good. We’ll take it one day at a time.”
One day at a time.
It’s good advice.
But deep down, I have a feeling taking things one day at a time with Clover isn’t going to make it easier to stop thinking about kissing her.
Not for many, many days to come…
Eleven
CLOVER
Not all heroes wear capes…
Some wear stained, white sweatshirts— Why did I wear white on my first full day caring for two young children? Why?! I really should have seen that cranberry juice disaster at lunch coming—and jeans with mud soaked into the knees.
Cold mud.
Wet mud.
Ew, yuck, why is it so wet? All the snow melted days ago.
And why is it so cold under these bushes? It’s a balmy forty-seven in the yard, but freezing down here. I can barely feel my legs. Yet, sadly, I have retained enough sensation in my chilled nerve endings to be keenly aware that my knees are wet and slimy, and getting wetter and slimier by the minute.
But Bella managed to kick her favorite ball so deep into the hedge at the back of the yard that a hands-and-knees retrieval is the only option.
Like I said. Heroes. Capes.
“Hero, I’m a hero,” I mutter to keep my spirits up as I army crawl deeper into the heart of shrubby darkness.
“Are you okay, Clover?” Ava calls out from what sounds like a mile away.
I don’t know what kind of plant this is, but the leaves are dense as hell. And weirdly shiny. And the tiny red berries feel…menacing. I know I should be grateful that I’m not pushing deep into a holly bush, getting stabbed by tiny leaf daggers at every turn, but I can’t fight the creeping fear that I’m taking my life into my hands with this shrub.
“Fine! I’m fine, are you guys okay?” I call back.
“Yes!” Bella screams in reply, making me flinch then laugh.
“You don’t have to shout,” Ava says.
“Yeah, I do,” Bella shouts, indignantly. “Those bushes are magic, and they eat up all the sound. That’s why I’m scared of that place in there.”
“She’s right,” I call back, still grinning despite the soppy grossness of my knees and the ache building around my steel plate. “The sound is muffled back here. But I can still hear you if you speak in a normal voice, Bella, okay?”
“Okay!” Bella screeches, once more at top volume, making me laugh again.
Ava huffs. “She said you don’t have to shout, silly goose.”
“I know, but I like shouting!” Bella replies, before bursting into a fit of giggles.
“You’re such a goofy head,” Ava says, giggling along with her.
Well, at least they’re having a good time. I was afraid they would get cold once we stopped kicking the ball around, but apparently, watching their nanny crawl around in the bushes is exciting enough to ward off the chill.
I, however, am starting to shiver. I had to leave my coat with Ava—it was too puffy to make it through the foliage—and it’s at least five degrees colder down here. But the shrub just keeps going and going with no sign of Bella’s ball.
Where the fork is it?! It’s a bright blue ball with pink streaks, for Glob’s sake.
Surely, I should be able to—
“I see it!” I shout, relief surging through me as I shift around a thick clutch of growth to see the ball floating in a puddle against the fence.
“Yay!” Bella calls out. “Good job, Clover. You’re being strong and brave.”
“Thank you, Bella,” I say, grinning as I make a shuffling beeline toward the ball.