“Ooh, is this a guessing game?” I ask. “Mm, let me think. I smell flowers. It’s one of my favorite scents. What else loves flowers?” I go on playing the guessing game as my new friend keeps giggling behind me. “Oh, I know. Little bugs love flowers. They hop on the flowers, so they smell as good. Maybe you’re…a ladybug!”
“It’s me, silly. I’m Ava, not a ladybug.” She lets go of me and comes around.
I put a finger on my chin and narrow my eyes. “Are you sure you’re not a ladybug?”
She nods. “Uh-huh.”
“I’m not so sure. See, you’re wearing red, and ladybugs are red.”
“But I don’t have spots.” She’s looking down at her clothes.
“Close your eyes,” I ask.
When she does, I take a sheet of back polka dot stickers from my apron pocket and place a few on her red T-shirt and some more on her arms and face. “Okay, you can open them now.”
She does, and her face lights up. “I’m like a ladybug! But…I don’t have wings.”
Her face is so adorable that I can’t help wanting to put her smile back on it.
“Hold on. Don’t move away from this spot,” I say.
“I can’t. I have no wings. Where would I go?” she says in the most matter-of-fact tone.
I stand up and run to the barn to grab the wings I made the other day for Ava. She’s Liv’s niece and has recently moved here. I haven’t met her parents, but I can imagine they’re good people based on how funny, quirky, and adorable Ava is.
She’s still on the floor waiting for me when I return, and when she sees what I’m holding, she jumps up and throws herself at me, wrapping her small arms around my waist.
“Are they for me?” she asks.
“They sure are.” I help her put the wings on and then stand back as she twirls.
“I’m a ladybug!” she says, jumping up and down, making the heels of her sneakers light up. “Look, Daddy, I’m a ladybug.”
I turn around toward where Ava has just spoken, and my belly does a weird summersault when I find myself face to face with the sexy bartender that has found a way into my thoughts more than once in the last week.
Just my luck that he’s straight and probably married.
7
LEVI
I hopedto remain unseen a little longer, but Ava’s eagle eyes give away my presence.
“Look, Daddy! Do you like it?” she asks, twirling around so fast it’s a wonder she’s not dizzy.
“You look amazing, Jellybean. What am I going to do when you fly away?” I ask, holding her by the waist and lifting her up in the air until she squeals in delight.
“You need wings too.” She wiggles out of my hold when I put her down and then turns to the captivating man that has been living rent free inside thoughts since I saw him with that dick plant. “Arlo, can Daddy have wings too? Please? I can help you make them.”
So that’s his name, Arlo. It’s as unusual and intriguing as he is.
Arlo’s gaze turns from Ava to me. A small blush appears under the collar of his work shirt.
“I…um…I’m sure your dad—” he starts, but I cut him off with a smile.
“Actually, I’d love to have wings. I always wanted to learn how to fly.”
He opens his mouth and closes it again, and I don’t miss how the corners of his mouth lift a little.
