CHAPTER 11
“Mom! Clint keeps smushing my lunchbox.”
“Clint, leave your brother’s things alone.” Lily ran a comb through her younger son’s hair. “I told you that I packed you the same things in your lunchbox that I did John’s.”
She smiled as the three-year-old fidgeted under her hand, attempting to reach for the dark blue lunch bag on the counter. He was always trying to outdo his big brother.
“He took the last banana,” Clint complained, standing on his toes to reach for it again.
Lily pushed the bag farther back, knowing it was bothering John. “He didn’t take it. I put in it his bag. You don’t like bananas.”
“I do, too,” he argued stubbornly.
“He can have the banana if he wants it, Mom. I can take the apple,” John amiably tried to put an end to Clint’s temper tantrum.
“You’ll both eat what your mother put in your bags.”
“Yes, sir,” John acknowledged their father’s order, going into the living room to get his things ready for school.
Lily watched with mirth-filled eyes as different emotions chased across Clint’s face as he debated obeying like John or trying to argue.
“Now, Clint.”
It was a short-lived battle.
“Yes, sir.”
Lily held Shade’s coffee as Clint ran into the living room, making a face when a second later she heard the beginning of another argument.
Her husband gave her a kiss before carrying his coffee out to stop the brewing fight.
Happy that he was dealing with the squabble, she finished zipping the lunch bags closed, including her own, before going into the other room when she saw a text message lighting the front of her phone.
“Beth is ready.” Handing John his lunch bag, she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. “I love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Holding the door open, she watched as John ran outside where Beth was waiting to drive him to school with Noah and Chance. She would drop off Clint at his preschool before going to work at the thrift store.
Closing the door, she turned to see Clint sitting on the couch, snuggled next to Shade. Both boys adored their father. She had no doubt of their love for her, but they were their father’s sons.
John was like a miniature replica of his father. He wasn’t as outgoing as Clint, who had more of his aunt Penni’s personality than either of his parents. He also shared the same features as Shade.
She worshiped her sons, but she ached for a little girl.
When she was pregnant with Clint, they expected a girl. They had even decorated the nursery in frilly pink. They were both surprised with another son instead.
“Can I stay home with you today?”
“Not today. I have to work at the factory. If Jessie gives me a good report for the rest of the week, you can stay home with me on Friday.”
“Yipee!” Clint jumped into his father’s lap to hug him tightly.
Lily put on her coat and buttoned it closed. “If you don’t want to go to daycare, you can spend the day with me at the store,” she offered, putting on her gloves. “You can help me unpack boxes.”
“That’s okay. I’ll go to school.” Clint hopped up to put on the jacket that she held out for him.
Lily tried to hide her disappointment. “You used to beg to spend the day with me.”
“It’s my turn to pick out which book Ms. Jessie will read before naptime.”
Resisting the urge to ask him again, she slid his stocking cap over his black hair.
Raising her eyes when she finished, she flushed at Shade’s perceptive stare that easily read how she wanted Clint to spend the day with her.
She gathered her and Clint’s things together as Clint waited by the door. She missed Shade when he was away from her, wanting to spend extra time with Clint because he couldn’t understand why his father had to be away. She had even been letting John stay up an extra hour at night to lay beside him on his bed, just talking to him about whatever he wanted.
With everything gathered in her hands, she went to give Shade a goodbye kiss. Bending over, she gave a quick kiss and was about to pull away when he brought his hand to her neck, holding her in place. The kiss he gave her was anything but quick.
He parted her lips with a sweep of his tongue, diving inside to swirl around provocatively. She was gasping when he released her.
“I have to train a new employee this morning, but how about I stop by and take you out to lunch?”
She happily stared down at him. “I would love that. Who did you hire?” she asked curiously as she walked to the door.
“Bubba Hayes.”
Lily stopped short of the door, stunned.
“You hired Bubba!” Her husband had just made her day. “I love Bubba!” Going back to her husband, she gave him a big hug. Shade, on the other hand, looked like she had ruined his.
“Love is a strong a word to use for a man you don’t know.”
Lily lovingly rolled her eyes at her husband’s jealous tone.
“I know Bubba quite well. I’ve been so upset since I found out he was fired. I think he was fired because he donated the bread for the Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets. The rolls he made weren’t stale either. He made hundreds of them. And you’ve met him several times.”
“I’ve seen him at the bread store,” he agreed.
Lily looked over her shoulder toward Clint before turning back to Shade. “He volunteers at Christmas to dress up for the kids.” She wagged her eyebrows to get her meaning across.
“He’s San—”
“Shh!” She happily hugged Shade again. “See? You love Bubba, too!”
“I wouldn’t say love.” Shade was beginning to look even more jealous.
“Oh, you will the more you get to know him.” She waved off his jealously then gave him a stern look. “Be nice to him.”
“I’m always nice.”
“You’re polite when you want, but I want you to be nice to Bubba. Please. You’ll hurt his feelings if you say something mean to him. He’s very sensitive.”
Feeling indecisive, she didn’t know if she should stay or go. “Perhaps I should take Clint to daycare and come back. I could introduce Bubba to everyone and make him feel more comfortable.”
“Lily, go to work. I’ll be nice.”
She looked at him skeptically.
“I promise.”
“All right, that makes me feel better.” Relieved, she went to open the door. “Make sure everyone else is nice to him, okay?”
Shade looked like he had eaten something sour, but he nodded.
The bright sunlight outside lightened her footsteps.
“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” she chatted to Clint as they walked down the path toward the parking lot.
“It’s okay. Mama, do you love me as much as Bubba?”
Lily laid a hand on his shoulder. “I love you more than Bubba.”
There was one trait that Clint did inherit from his father. Her son was very possessive about her affections.
“I love Bubba like a friend or like a big brother. You’re my baby. You’ll always hold a special place in my heart.”
“I’m not a baby anymore.”
Lily opened the back door of the car for him to climb in, making sure his car seat was securely fastened. Then, after putting their lunch bags in the seat beside him, she got in the front seat.
“No, you’re not,” she continued the conversation after starting the car.
Waiting until she was on the road toward town, she darted a quick glance in the rearview mirror, still seeing a frown on his forehead.
“No matter how old you get, you’ll always be my baby. Just like John is. When I say baby, it doesn’t mean a little baby; it means, despite how old you get, I’ll always love you the same way I did the first time when the doctor handed you to me.”
Reassured, Clint began talking about which book he was going to pick for naptime. Lily
listened indulgently as she drove.
Reaching town, she came to a stop at a red light. Attentively, she glanced in the rearview mirror again at Clint as he talked, seeing two motorcycles come up behind her SUV as she waited for the light to change.
Recognizing the bikers, she waved at Wizard and Nickel. Neither men responded, their dark helmet guards concealing their features.
When the light turned green, she saw them following her until she reached Jessie’s daycare. Then they turned into the parking lot of the diner.
It only took a few minutes to take Clint inside, where Jessie was busy getting the rest of her students settled. When she came out, both Nickel and Wizard were still sitting outside. Wondering why they weren’t going inside the diner, she drove to the thrift store.
She juggled her lunch that she no longer needed since Shade was coming to take her out—she would save it until tomorrow—and a small bag of canned food she picked up on sale.
Turning the lights on as she walked through the door, she turned to close the door and saw Wizard and Nickel sitting at the end of the parking lot.
Confused as to why they would be sitting there, she was going to ask them, but the phone ringing had her rushing to the counter.
It was an hour before she had time to catch her breath, dealing with phone calls and three customers coming in who she fielded questions on how to qualify for their services.
She was hanging coats when she remembered Wizard and Nickel.
Looking out the window, she saw they were no longer there. Thinking she was making a big deal out of nothing, that the men seeming to be watching over her had been her imagination, she went back to work.
“The whole world doesn’t revolve around you, Lily,” she mocked herself out loud.
She was bagging clothes that were in too bad of shape to be of any use to anyone when the bell over the door rang.