Without being too spoiler-y...one of you is SO close with your theory on what has made EC the man he is today. So close I actually squealed when I read it.
Huge thanks to all of you for your continued love and support. You make this writer's heart happy at a time when I'm struggling a little with more stress than I know what to do with. I love each and every one of you more than Arlo loves fries ;)
Chapter Seven
Edward
Punctual as ever, I knock on the door just as my watch beeps to tell me it's six p.m. My eyes find the hand-painted 'Swan' plaque as I listen to the cacophony on the other side of the door.
"I'll get it, I'll get it!"
The ensuing thuds are, I assume, footsteps, although they sound more like elephants stampeding down the hall than a child.
"Arlo Maxwell Swan, get back here! You don't even have—"
The door flies open and cuts Bella off. I can't help but bark a chuckle when my eyes drop from her frustrated frown to Arlo. It's the first time I've seen him in person, although I have seen photos, but I'd know that he's Bella's kid even if nobody told me.
Back when I first met Charlie and Renee, Bella was seven. She had these long brown curls and a gap-toothed grin I couldn't forget if I tried. Of course, it helps that Renee gets the old photo albums out every time she has a few chardonnays in her. Arlo has those same curls, but shorter and dark blond instead of brown. His hang just past his ears in a wild mess he brushes back from his face to peer up at me. I don't know what Bella's ex looks like, but I can guess he has brown eyes and probably blond hair; Arlo inherited both. I can't help but think it's a shame he missed out on his mom's unusual gray peepers.
Perhaps more noticeable than his similarities to his mom is the fact that he's sans pants, wearing only underwear and a t-shirt with the words 'Chick Magnet'printed across the front along with a magnet and a cartoon chick.
"Hi, Edward."
"Hey, buddy," I laugh, crouching to shake his hand when he holds it up in my direction. The feel of his tiny hand in mine puts a lump in my throat. Swallowing it, I manage a grin. "You must be Arlo?"
"Yep! Momma told me you make awesome burgers with funny names. I like burgers. And fries. Well, fries are my favorite, but I like burgers, too!" Turning back to his mom, Arlo asks, "He can come in, right?"
Snorting, Bella nods. "He can come in. Now, you can come and put some pants on, please."
As Arlo sighs before charging up the stairs using his hands to propel himself, Bella catches my gaze with a rueful smile. "He's been excited to meet you all day. He can be a bit much until he calms down."
"He's great, Bella, don't worry."
She grins, apparently relieved, before waving me in.
Renee is solely responsible for the decor in the home she shares with Charlie and their daughters—and now their grandsons, too—and it shows. Every time I come over there's a new picture on the wall or entire rooms have been moved around.
This time, as we step into the kitchen where Charlie is tapping away at his laptop and Renee is stirring something on the stove, I notice the new frame on the wall directly opposite the door. The shadow box frames a family photo of all the Swans, Charlie and Renee in the center with their kids and grandkids around them.
The picture is crammed full of smiles.
There are also a bunch of purple balloons over the patio doors, a selection of 'Happy Birthday' cards on the windowsills, and there was no missing the big banner out front with 'Happy Birthday, Renee!' emblazoned across it.
"Oh, hey, EC." Charlie notices us, closing his laptop with a sigh before sliding off his barstool and chugging the dregs of his beer.
"That kind of a day, huh?" I ask wryly, accepting the beer Renee hands me with a murmured, "Thanks, and happy birthday, Rae." She grins as I slip the usual envelope from the pocket of my cargo shorts and hand it over. Every year for her birthday, I get Renee and Charlie tickets to whatever theatre show she's most interested in. In return, they give me a free pass to use any of their hotels for my annual vacation at the end of the summer when business dies down for a bit.
Charlie chuckles as Renee squeals and tells him she'll start looking at the theater programs soon, but his laughter dies as he rubs his mustache and admits, "Afraid so, son. Staffing issues." In response to Renee's withering look, Charlie blows her a kiss and catches Arlo when the boy tears into the room. "But no work talk tonight. I made a promise."
"C'mere a sec, kiddo." Bella gently turns Arlo's head, then expertly wrangles his mane into a knot at the top of his head before fastening it with a neon green band from her wrist. "There. Now you look semi presentable."
Flashing her a cheeky smirk, Arlo thanks his mom before turning his attention to me. In his papa's arms, I can definitely see the family resemblance. Their smiles match.
"Did you bring fries?"
Barking a laugh, I shake my head. "I didn't. Sorry, Arlo. Your nana makes better fries than me, though, and I think they might be on the menu tonight."
"Ooh, did you make fries, Nana?"
"I did, sweetheart. Do you want to come help me finish them off?"
"Mom…" Bella warns softly. "He's a klutz. Please, be—"
"I'll be careful, don't worry. Come on, sweet boy," Renee says as she plucks Arlo from her husband's arms. "You can be my sous chef."
"What's a sous chef?"
As they head into the walk-in pantry, where Renee keeps her appliance bar well stocked with every kitchen utensil and appliance available, she explains what a sous chef is to her inquisitive grandson.
Bella shakes her head. "He's a walking accident about to happen, that kid."
I smirk. "So he's definitely your kid, then. No doubt about it if he's got your ability to trip over air."
She sticks her tongue out, but there's no argument. As a kid, she almost always had band-aids on her knees and spent more time than most in the ER because of her clumsiness.
"I'm not clumsy, the floor and furniture and general rest of the world just hated me as a kid. I've mostly grown out of it now, thank God."
Rubbing his jaw to hide a smile, Charlie snorts. "You keep telling yourself that, honey."
"What is this? Pick on Bella Day?" She sulks, her smile still threatening.
"Absolutely right!" Charlie tells her with a grin as two more sets of loud footsteps tear into the kitchen, flip-flops clacking on the flagstones. Two grass-stained boys run in from the back yard with dirt smeared over their cheeks and curiosity grinding their feet to a halt.
"Who're you?" One of them asks, cocking his head. The other boy—who looks exactly the damn same—tilts his head in the opposite direction. It's uncanny how identical they are. I've always known Bella's eldest two boys are identical, but seeing them up close, there is nothing to differentiate them apart from their clothes.
"This is our friend, Edward Cullen," Bella tells them, crouching between her sons with her arms around their shoulders. Tipping her head toward the twin on the left, the silent one, she says, "This is Finley." Then she gently knocks her head against the other twin. "And this is Jaxson."
"I'm the oldest by seven minutes," Jaxson says seriously while Finley rolls his eyes. I get the feeling this is something Jaxson brings up a lot.
"At least I came out the right way 'round."
This time it's Bella rolling her eyes. "All right, boys. Edward doesn't need your whole birth story."
"It's true, though!" Finley protests.
Eyeing me with what looks like a mixture of amusement and apology, Bella explains, "Jax was breech."
Ah, I mouth. "Got it. My nephew was, too. They had to do a C-section."
"Thankfully, they didn't get that far with these hooligans. Jax was in a hurry, right kiddo?"
"Right." Looking around, Jaxson frowns. "Where's Nana?"
"Never you mind, nosy. Go get washed up ready for dinner, please. You, too, Finn."
"Yes, ma'am!" They take off in tandem, leaving their mom wearing a fond but long-suffering smile. I can't help but laugh as their feet thunder up the stairs.
Charlie chuckles from across the island. "Never a dull moment with those boys around, that's for sure," he says, pointing his beer in the direction the boys just went.
"I believe it."
Perhaps naively, right now is the first time I've ever considered how difficult for Bella it must be raising three boys by herself. I don't know how much involvement their father had when they were back in England, but out here, Bella is it. She's all they've got. Charlie and Renee are around, obviously, but as far as parents go, Jaxson, Finley, and Arlo are relying on their mom. From what I've seen already in the ten minutes I've been here, they're all full of character, to boot.
My admiration for Bella only grows throughout the evening. The pleasant weather draws us out onto the patio where Everly, Rosalie, Benjamin, Angela, and Danny eventually join us. Renee and Bella set out enough food to feed an army—or four growing boys and a bunch of adults, as it turns out.
"Just take a little and you can add more to your plate when you're done," Bella warns without even looking away from the glass of water she's pouring me.
"Thanks," I murmur, grinning at the abashed looks on her sons' faces. They each set down the serving spoons they were holding and tuck into the food on their plates with gusto.
Schooling a grimace, I pick out the pickles in my burger and set them on the edge of my plate. A burst of laughter drags my gaze up. Bella smirks and shakes her head. "You're in good company, Finn. Edward doesn't like pickles, either."
Finley's face is all scrunched up as he holds a slice of pickle away from his face like it might bite him. "Jax, take it."
Jaxson happily swipes his brother's unwanted garnish before eyeing me with hope. His face lights up when I offer him my plate so he can take mine, too. "Thanks!"
"They're so gross," Finley mumbles with a theatrical shudder that makes everyone laugh. His cheeks flush and he slides down in his chair, apparently uncomfortable with the attention—which is something his younger brother has no issue with whatsoever.
"Look, Momma! I'm a walrus!" Arlo stands up on his chair, stuffing French fries under his lips to imitate walrus tusks.
"Manners at the table, please," Renee warns gently, no heat in her tone at all as she fights a smile. Angela cocks her head at Danny, and the boy quits before he can get fries all the way to his mouth to copy his cousin.
"Sorry, Nana." Arlo crams the fries into his mouth before blowing Renee a kiss and settling in to eat his burger. He's a cute kid. Goofy but sweet.
"So, EC. How're things at Burger Co.? Did you manage to find a replacement for Tanya?" Charlie asks between bites.
I guess my scowl says it all. He cracks up while Renee and Bella simply smile at my misery. Mean women. "No. I'm in denial. She can work fine with the baby on her back. Women used to do it all the time."
Apparently, my indignant tone isn't fooling anybody. The adults all laugh while the boys continue talking about some game.
"I'm sure Tanya would love to hear that," Renee laughs. "But you were saying Liam wanted more responsibility last summer. Why not give it to him this year? He's certainly experienced enough now."
Renee's right, I know that. Jones was asking for more responsibility last summer and I didn't really give it to him, but it had nothing to do with his experience and everything to do with the fact that I don't like handing over control.
Burger Co. is my brainchild, my company.
My only distraction from the dismal state my life is in.
Handing over some hours and responsibility to Jones means I'd have more free time, which is something Renee is always saying I need more of. However, for her, free time is family time. For me, free time is hours spent drinking to dull the ache in my chest and quiet the phantom sounds of a family in my empty house. It's not fun, relaxing, or enjoyable. At least with Tanya gone for a while, I can bury myself in enough work to keep the memories at bay. Or some, at least.
"I'll cope," I finally murmur, taking a big bite of my suddenly tasteless burger.
"I'm sure you will," Charlie says, wiping mayo from his mustache. "Doesn't mean you shouldn't ask for help, though. You don't need to struggle."
Asking for help isn't something I'm comfortable doing, and he knows it. "We'll manage just fine. She'll be back before I know it, bustin' my balls about not filing things right or ordering the right stuff for the bar."
"I don't know…"
My gaze snaps to Bella as she twirls a fry in the ketchup on her plate before dipping it in the mayo, too.
"She seems super happy spending more time with the girls. I took Jax, Finn, and Arlo over for a playdate yesterday and she's so relaxed at home with them."
Worry coils in my gut for a few seconds before the smile on Bella's face becomes too much for her to hold back. A light laugh bubbles out of her.
"I'm just kidding! She was complaining about how Garrett gets to escape the chaos for hours a day while she's stuck changing diapers and breaking up fights over Barbies. I'd put money on her begging to come back before Ivy is even six months old."
"I believe it," Renee says, shaking her head. "I'll take over some more leftovers tomorrow. She has her hands full without having to worry about cooking."
That's Renee all over. She mothers—she's a true mommy. Her kids are all grown and yet she still babies them like they're children. It should be annoying, but it's just her way. Even now, she reaches over to pour Everly a fresh glass of lemonade before refilling her own and adding some more salad to Charlie's plate. She fusses over and babies him perhaps even more than she does their kids.
"Why don't you go work for him, Bella?" My eyes bounce to Bella's shocked face before jumping to Rosalie as she shrugs. "What? You hate your boss at the grocery store. At least this way you'd know you get on with the people you work with. You've known Edward most of your life."
Pointing between the two of us with his fork, Charlie adds, "He's like an uncle to you."
Something about that rubs me the wrong way. I don't like it, but I don't know why. That said, he's partly right. I have known Bella most of her life. When I met her, she was barely older than Jaxson and Finley are now.
Being called her uncle, though…
"Rose, Dad...I don't…" Bella blows out a breath. "You can't just say things like that."
"You should go work at Edward's, Momma!" Jaxson wears a silly grin and has mischief in his eyes. "Then we'd get free burgers."
Everyone laughs as Jaxson and Finley share a fist bump complete with crashing noises.
"That's not how it works, kiddo," Bella tells him.
"Uh, actually, it is." She shoots me a death-glare, so, of course, I continue after shooting a wink at the boys. "I bet we could even throw in some fries every now and then."
What am I doing? Do I want Bella to come work for me?
"See?" Finley says, getting up on his knees on his chair to lean toward his mom. "You should do it, Momma."
Raking a hand through her hair, Bella shoots her sister and father withering looks before raising one eyebrow at me. "Are you serious?"
Taking a moment to mull over my options, I've got to admit hiring Bella makes a lot of sense. She's not gonna want a ton of hours because she has the boys to think about, so I don't need to worry about having too much spare time on my hands. She's good with people, knows the menu pretty well, and gets on with my existing staff—including me, and I'm well-aware I can be less than great company. Plus, it helps her escape my dickhead neighbor. It's a win-win situation.
So why am I hesitating?
After a boisterous dinner followed by quite possibly the loudest, craziest rendition of the happy birthday song I've ever heard, the boys beg to be allowed in the pool. Charlie caves, of course—he's a soft touch and the boys know it.
Bella and Angela make them wait forty minutes for their food to go down, then we watch with grins on our faces as the boys run in to change before reappearing minutes later in their swim gear, declaring a cannonball contest shortly afterward.
While Charlie, Benjamin, and I clear away all the leftovers and fill the dishwasher, the ladies supervise the boys and score their jumps out of ten. By the time Benjamin and I follow Charlie outside with beers in our hands, Jaxson, Finley, Arlo, and Danny are in fits of laughter and Bella is soaked from head to toe.
"What happened?" Charlie chuckles, sinking onto a lounger behind his wife. Renee leans back against his chest and I look away as he winds his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to the side of her head. Benjamin takes a similar spot behind his wife-to-be, leaving me to take the lounger between Everly and Rosalie.
Scowling at her giggling sons, Bella rings out her hair before twisting it into a messy knot on top of her head. I idly wonder if seeing his mom's hair like that is the reason Arlo seems to like his mop in a top-knot so much. Right now, it's a waterlogged mess floating around his shoulders on the surface of the water.
"A certain somebody—" I'm assuming the somebody is Jaxson as his laughter rings louder "—thought it would be funny to cannonball right as I came to the edge of the pool to take Arlo's scrunchie."
"Ah," Charlie mouths, his mustache twitching with the effort it takes to somewhat hold back his amusement. He doesn't do a great job of it, I've gotta say. "What do you say to your mom, Jax?"
Kicking his legs to propel him across the pool, Jaxson smirks, looking very much like his uncle Benjamin. "Uh, you should'a stayed a safe distance from the splash zone?"
I can't help but laugh, which earns me a happy grin from Jaxson and Bella's stink-eye. It's pretty lethal. "What? The kid's funny."
"Funny, maybe." My eyes widen as Bella quickly slides her shorts down her legs before tugging her tee over her head. Under her unassuming mom-iform, as she calls her standard attire of cut-offs and tees, she's been sporting a yellow and white striped bikini. The bottoms come up high to her waist and the lace-up bra almost looks strained. She's…matured in a lot of ways since I last saw her in a swimsuit. My poor, distracted brain conjures the memory of Bella's eighteenth birthday party.
.
.
Jesus, the house is overflowing.
Charlie and Renee always go all-out for their kids' birthdays, and Bella's eighteenth is no different. Well, maybe a little, because it's also the Saturday before Christmas and the last birthday she'll spend here in Florida for a while. In January, she's moving to the UK to study, so she'll spend her next couple of birthdays in some small town in the south of England. She's swapping one beach town for another, by all accounts. I'm sure Charlie said the place was called East…something. Eastbourne, maybe? Doesn't matter. It's far away; far enough that Charlie and Renee have been trying to talk her out of it since she first broached the idea a year or so ago.
"EC! You finally made it!"
Renee throws her arms around me with even more enthusiasm than usual—it's clear she's already been at the chardonnay.
"Wouldn't miss it," I admit. Grinning, I plant a kiss on her cheek and drape my arm around her shoulders to follow her through the house to the backyard, where I suspect everyone is gathered. On the way, we pass the living room full of the older generation. Charlie's and Renee's parents are here, as I'm sure are their combined hundred or so kids.
Okay, so maybe not a hundred, but the Swans sure are babymakers.
In the kitchen, women flock around the island where a myriad of dishes are being prepared. The chef in me is dying to roll up my metaphorical sleeves—the shirt I'm wearing is already short-sleeved—and get stuck in, but Renee leads me right out into the yard. Just as I suspected, this is where the majority of the guests are congregating.
The bulk of the group is made up of Bella's high school friends. I recognize some of them both from the restaurant and all the time I spend over here with Charlie. There, right in the center of the pool, is the birthday girl. It's her I smile at as she spots me and hauls herself out of the water, gratefully accepting the towel I swipe from a nearby lounger.
"Thanks, EC. You made it!"
"Of course. I wouldn't miss your birthday!" Reaching into my pocket, I remove a small, flat box. "It's not wrapped, sorry. We only had My Little Pony paper and I figured you're too old for that now."
Flashing me her mother's wide smile, Bella tosses her long hair over her shoulder and winks. "You're never too old for My Little Pony."
As Bella opens her gift, I look around the back yard, searching…my face splits in a grin when I spot her just as Bella gasps and throws her arms around me.
"Thank you! This is gorgeous!"
The simple tennis bracelet with a small white gold 'B' jumped out at me when I went into the jewelry store for my girl's now-traditional Christmas gift. It's not much, but Bella's hard to buy for. Anything she wants, she can either buy herself with her more-than-generous wages from the hotel or ask her parents to get it for her.
"You're welcome," I chuckle, hugging her back until I realize… "Oh, you're soaked!"
"Crap, sorry!" Pulling back sheepishly, she toys with the bow that ties her bikini top between her breasts. It's weird and creepy of me to notice, but I can't help but notice that she's starting to look less like a scrawny teenager and more like a woman.
It makes me uncomfortable, but the perfect distraction comes in the form of a pint-size, yellow tutu-swimsuit clad toddler complete with water wings and a floppy white hat.
.
.
Shaking off the odd memory, I try to focus on anything but the curves on display in front of me. The swaths of creamy skin bared by her swimsuit are modest but impossible to ignore. As she shifts to shuck off her flip flops and tug the top of her bikini bottoms higher, I spy a tiny flash of faded stretch marks and wonder whether they're the result of her pregnancy with the twins. I remember seeing photos of Jaxson and Finley when they were first born; for twins, they certainly weren't all that small.
Clearing my throat into my fist, I watch the boys larking around in the water instead of their mother as she swan dives into the deep end. To my relief, Charlie and Renee are too wrapped up in each other to notice where my eyes were trained—somewhere noticeably south of their daughter's face. There's no easy way to hide a semi in the shorts I'm wearing, so I focus on other things to distract myself.
Jaxson, Finley, and Arlo are remarkable swimmers for kids who've grown up overseas without a pool. It's common for Jackson Bay kids to swim before they can run. Not so much for regular kids, I don't think.
"I took them all to lessons every week," Bella admits when I commend Jaxson on his backstroke technique. "Jude had to help me because I couldn't take both Jax and Finn by myself. They were in nursery by the time Arlo came along, so it was easier with him."
Even aged four, Arlo's a competent swimmer. He lacks the technique his older brothers possess and he splashes as much as he actually moves, but he's funny with it. I grin and liken him to a goofy puppy, all paws and little coordination. Bella sticks close to him without smothering and he joins his brothers in what they call Noodle Races. Each of them claims a pool noodle—Arlo goes for blue while Jaxson takes red and Finley opts for yellow—before they convene at one end of the pool.
Danny decides to help his aunt referee seeing as he's new to Noodle Races. Perching on the steps a few feet away from me, Bella counts down from three, then they take off. The rules elude me for a time or two until she takes pity on me and explains.
"You just have to sit in the middle of the noodle and hold the ends up so you're upright, then you bounce or paddle or do whatever you can to get to the opposite end of the pool before your opponents. To win, you have to still be sitting on your noodle when you get there. It's simple but hard work." Leaning closer with a glint in her eyes, she admits, "It always wipes them out. It's great as a before-bed activity."
"Ah," I mouth with a soft laugh. Instead of joining in with the conversation about the annual Fourth of July parade next week, I stick around with Bella and remain a silent spectator.
Sure enough, the boys only get five races in before Arlo complains that he's tired. Jaxson and Finley race for the tie-break; Finley wins, which doesn't seem to come as a surprise to his brothers or Bella, if their grins are anything to go by. Then Bella orders them out of the pool to change and get ready for bed. They whine and complain until Benjamin and Angela scoop Danny from the water and tell him to give hugs before they leave, then they all head inside together.
Sipping my beer in the balmy evening air, I listen to Charlie and Renee talking quietly behind me until they head in, too.
"You're welcome to stay the night," Renee tells me, offering up the den.
"That's okay, thanks. I'll finish my beer and walk home. I can grab the Jeep in the morning." Hopping up, I grab Renee for a hug. "Happy birthday, Rae. I hope you've had a good one."
Her broad smile is bookended by laughter lines and makes her eyes crinkle in the corners—the same way Bella's does, I realize. "Thank you, sweetheart. It's been a perfect day. Thank you for joining us."
Nodding, I rub the back of my neck and huff a sigh through my nose at her peal of laughter.
"See you soon, EC. Stick around as long as you like."
And just like that, I'm alone. The breeze plays with the palm leaves and sends ripples dancing over the surface of the pool, lapping at my calves. It's a beautiful evening. I wish I could hear the sea, though, like I can at my place. I love standing on the back porch listening to the waves meeting the shore. I'm so lost in thought, I don't notice Bella until she's hovering beside me with a beer of her own.
"May I sit?"
Peering up at her, I nod and pat the stone beside me. With more grace than she possessed as a teen, she sits her butt down and slips her feet into the pool to join mine. The water is cool and refreshing. Centering.
"I might miss England sometimes, but nothing beats this. I love having a pool again."
"You mean one that a million kids don't pee in on a daily basis?"
Snorting, Bella lightly kicks her legs to move the water around. "It's not that bad. They kept our local pool pretty clean. It's nice to have one right here in the backyard, though. The boys love it." Wistfulness sweeps across her face as she tips her head back to the fading sunlight. "They'll be miserable when we move out."
"Stay, then. You know your parents would keep you here forever if they thought you'd let 'em get away with it."
With a silent shake of her head, Bella tips her head to face me. I get lost in her deep gray gaze until she closes her eyes and releases a sigh so full of emotions, I wouldn't know where to begin deciphering them all. "I love being here with Mom and Dad, and I can't even begin to explain how amazing it's been watching them bond with the boys, but I'm used to having my own place. It's weird going from having my own home with Jax, Finn, and Arlo to living with my parents and sisters again."
"I can imagine." The thought of having to move back in with my parents, even only temporarily, makes my stomach twist. Giving up my home and my independence after twenty years of striking out on my own…I couldn't handle it.
"Don't get me wrong, they've been good to us," Bella says, pulling me from my memories of packing up and moving across the States to forge a new life in Jackson Bay. "I wouldn't have been able to do all this on my own. They've been so supportive and helpful with everything; I know I'm lucky to have them. I just don't know how long I'd be able to continue living under their roof without going crazy." Flashing an impish smile my way after checking the area for her parents, she admits, "I feel like a kid again. Everything is so similar to how it was when I left."
"Except you," I point out. "You've changed a lot."
"True."
We fall silent, both content to gaze over the rippling surface of the pool while the sun sinks below the horizon until a sudden shiver ripples down Bella's spine.
Laughing, she rubs her arms and sighs. "It's getting chilly."
Slipping the shirt off my back, I've draped it around her shoulders before I can think too much about it.
Her smile is brighter than the solar lights that flick on just then. "Thanks."
She's a short little thing, so the shirt that fits my long, broad torso drowns her. It makes me feelwarm, watching her slide her arms through the sleeves and fasten a couple of the buttons. My eyes remain on her as she takes a long pull from her beer.
The ever-present tightness in my chest loosens just enough for me to suck in a deep breath. It catches her attention, but she doesn't ask any questions. Instead, she reaches over to squeeze my hand before leaning back on her arms and tipping her face to the darkening sky.
Glancing up, I can't begin to wonder what she sees that holds her attention. Mine is almost instantly pulled back to her. Sprawled over the edge of the pool with her legs swirling the water around, my shirt draped over her and a brilliant, relaxed smile on her face…
She's beautiful.
As always, the biggest thanks go to annaharding, LizziePaige, ThatSoAlex, Anakinsmom, and LadyLoonie for all their help. I love you ladies!
Next chapter: Thursday