Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 60978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60978 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 305(@200wpm)___ 244(@250wpm)___ 203(@300wpm)
“Lily,” I called softly. “Someone’s here to see you, baby.”
She looked up, crayon poised mid-stroke. Her eyes widened as she spotted Ash standing awkwardly beside me. “Daddy?” The question held uncertainty.
“Hey, Lily-pad,” Ash replied, his voice cracking slightly around the nickname.
Lily stood slowly, clutching her coloring book against her chest like a shield. She looked to me for reassurance, and I forced a smile, nodding my encouragement.
“Your dad came to visit you,” I explained. “He wanted to see how you’re doing.”
Ash lowered himself onto one of the couches, keeping his movements slow and non-threatening. “I thought maybe we could hang out for a bit. If that’s OK with you.”
Lily approached cautiously, stopping just out of reach. “Do you still know how to make pancake faces?”
The simple question broke through the tension. Ash’s face softened, the ghost of his old smile appearing. “Sure do. Maybe we can make some together another time.”
Lily considered this, then nodded solemnly. She took a seat beside him on the couch, though with a careful space between them. “I got medicine now,” she informed him. “For my special bones.”
“I heard,” Ash replied. “Your mom told me. You’ve been really brave, huh?”
Their conversation continued, halting and awkward but gradually warming as Lily showed him her coloring book and the new drawings she’d added to her cast. I watched from a few feet away, my emotions tangled and complex. Relief Lily wasn’t distressed. Sadness for the years they’d lost. Anxiety about what Ash’s reappearance meant for our future. I knew I absolutely didn’t love Asher. At least, not more than a close friend.
He was Lily’s father, but, deep down, I knew we’d never last. He needed excitement in the fast lane with his friends, and I just wanted to sing. Not out on the road like he’d pushed me to do. Just for myself. My community. Maybe a small hole-in-the-wall bar only a few people knew about. Karaoke at Throttle had been right up my alley.
The sound of the security door buzzing again pulled my attention away from Lily and Ash. I glanced toward the entrance just as Cash walked in, his familiar leather cut and broad shoulders sending an involuntary flutter through my stomach.
When I’d first come to Haven, Hannah had assured me no one got to see me or Lily unless I approved it. Including Cash. At the time I’d been relieved he couldn’t be here unless I’d expressly said he could. And that’s the way it had been. Until I told Hannah he could come visit me and Lily, he’d only been allowed inside at my discretion. It was because Hannah had kept her word from the beginning could I allow Ash to be with Lily now, knowing he was part of Kiss of Death.
Cash scanned the room, finding me before shifting to Lily and Ash on the couch. His expression darkened, his body tensing visibly as he registered the scene. Without conscious thought, Cash moved toward us, positioning himself subtly closer to me and creating an invisible barrier between Ash and what I suddenly realized he had begun to consider his territory. His own family to protect.
The air between the two men crackled with unspoken challenge. Cash’s stance widened slightly, his shoulders squaring as he stopped beside me. Though he didn’t touch me, the heat from his body radiated against my side.
“Everything OK here?” Cash asked, his voice deliberately casual despite the tension evident in every line of his body.
“Fine,” I answered quickly, suddenly afraid of what might happen if these two men decided to mark their territory. “Ash is just visiting Lily.”
Cash nodded, his eyes never leaving Ash. “I can see that.”
Hannah moved between them, her small frame somehow managing to command attention from both much larger men. “Cash, why don’t you help me get some snacks from the kitchen for the kids?”
Though framed as a question, her tone made it clear this wasn’t a request. Cash hesitated, his gaze moving from Ash to Lily and finally resting on me. Whatever he saw in my expression made him relent.
“Sure,” he agreed. “I’ll be right back, Eliza. I promise.”
As Cash followed Hannah to the kitchen, Ash watched them go, his expression unreadable. Then his attention returned to Lily, who remained blissfully oblivious to the undercurrents flowing around her. I stood frozen between them all, suddenly certain my carefully constructed world was about to change again in ways I couldn’t control or predict.
* * *
Later that afternoon, I wiped flour from my hands onto a kitchen towel, trying to focus on the simple task of baking cookies with the other women. The afternoon sun streamed through Haven’s kitchen windows, casting warm light across the countertops covered in mixing bowls and measuring cups. Two hours had passed since Ash’s visit, and I had thrown myself into baking as a distraction from the complicated emotions his presence had stirred. Lily was happily playing in the courtyard with Brynn and some of the other children, visible through the window as they chased each other in a game of tag. My phone vibrated against the counter, screen lighting up with a number I recognized immediately. Department of Children’s Services. Ms. Winters.