“Loads,” Noelle sighed. “You take care, McCrae King.”
There was a strange silence on the line.
“You sound like we’re not going to see each other again.”
Noelle sat up and bit into the inside of her cheek before letting it go. “Well, we’re seeing you on the weekend. Right?”
“Yes,” his voice deepened a little, “but I think you know that this weekend isn’t going to be the last time either.”
Her cheeks warmed and she pressed the back of her hand to her opposite cheek.
“Noelle?”
She closed her eyes, trying to figure out if she wanted to admit the truth.
It turned out that Ciela helped her with the answer.
“I want to see Mister King and his friends, Mama. They’re lots of fun!”
“That’s right, Mama,” McCrae’s voice sounded warm and she felt it like a touch on her skin. “Lots of fun.”
“I can see that if I wanted to say no, I would be outnumbered.”
“But,” she heard the soft but distinct ‘t’ at the end of the word, “you weren’t planning to say ‘no.’”
“No,” she smiled and sighed, “I wasn’t going to say no.”
“That’s good, honey.”
His voice moved over her like a physical touch.
“That’s really good.”
Her cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much. “Good bye, McCrae.”
“Until this weekend, Noelle.”
The call ended then and Noelle turned to look at her daughter.
Ciela had a puff of bubbles on her head like a mushroom cap. “I like it when you smile like that, Mama.”
Noelle nodded. “Me too, baby. Me too.”
CHAPTER 10
DUVAL
The family barbecue turned out to be a lot of fun. Katie had arrived with a cowgirl hat and outfit for Ciela that had the little girl kitted out from the top of her head to her toes. Then, she’d taken Ciela to the barn to meet all of the horses who hadn’t been so interested in something small since their barn cat had a trio of kittens.
He’d been the one to put Ciela on the back of their oldest horse, a gelding by the name of Quicksilver.
The name had frightened Noelle at first, until she saw how the old man plodded forward out of his stall with all the urgency of a hundred year old tortoise.
Later, he saw her relax as he took Ciela around the small corral on the old part of the property. He wasn’t about to let her daughter near the place where they’d found the body.
The little girl was so excited to be on the horse that he’d worried they might have a battle on their hands when it was time to sit down and eat, but Ciela surprised him by slouching in the saddle and announcing to him that, “My butt hurts. Can I get down now?”
“Yes,” he smiled at the little girl, “you can.”
