I glance again, and I notice the barcode on the picture inside the frame, which has an unfamiliar couple in wedding attire.
“You really just go with the flow all the time, don’t you?” I say to Heath.
A muscle tics in his jaw. “Don’t have much of a choice.” He looks back at Lavender. “Will you please go help Cricket find Fluffy and then show her how to use the coffee maker?”
Her eyes light up like she’s just gotten a bicycle for her birthday. “I get to use the coffee maker?”
“You get to tell her what to do. That’s even better. No more screaming until I’m out of the shower or unless there’s a real emergency, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy. C’mon, Cricket. You might have to tug hard on Fluffy. She likes to get stuck.”
Heath gets back to his feet with his towel still firmly in place around his waist, then offers me a hand.
I shouldn’t take it.
I should get myself up off the floor on my own.
But I reach for his hand anyway, feeling the same crackle down my arm that I felt across my entire chest when he held me as he carried me out of the fermentation building the other day that I’ve been trying to not think about.
Ever.
Being here will heal my soul.
But it’ll also wreak havoc on my hormones.
Could be worse though.
He could be wreaking havoc on my heart.
14
MR. ALWAYS-DOUBTINGFIRE
Heath
I have to move.
Lavender and I have to pack up and move across the country.
Immediately.
Why?
Because of the woman currently playing around with my daughter in the garden.
“The dragons are growing from the ground!” Cricket cries. “Quick, quick, water them before they breathe fire on us!”
“Take that, dragon!” Lav yells as she dumps an entire kid-size watering can on top of a freshly-planted snapdragon.
“Oh, no, now this one’s sprouting!” Cricket shrieks. “Lavender! You’re out of water! Save me!Saaaave meeeee!”
Lav runs to the hose stretched out from the house, grabs the nozzle, and squeezes, shooting a stream of water straight at Cricket.
My daughter freezes, then drops the hose, guilt written in her big hazel eyes.
Not hard to tell why.
Cricket’s soaked.
