“Along with good company, I would agree.”
“I saw you gave away your peppermint oil,” Ben reminded me. “You want me to grab you another one?”
“And some kind of orange, if you have it. Please.”
His gaze met mine, lingering, softening, and then one eyebrow lifted. “I have that. Is there anything else?”
Handsome man, with his dark blue eyes, long lashes, and fair skin. Normally I would have actively noticed, like seen him and flirted and checked to see what he was into or up for. But standing there, with Emery at my side, his gloved hand loosely gripping my bicep, showing, whether he realized it or not, possessiveness, made me impervious to the charms of other men. I still noticed the beauty around me; I just didn’t care.
“You have any lavender?” I asked Ben.
“Oh.” He was surprised I was still shopping, I could tell from the almost audible pop of the spell breaking. He’d been staring at me, which I got a lot, and me talking had rattled him. “Yeah, lemme—hold on.”
He stepped away, and I turned to find Emery scowling, gaze on Ben.
“Hey.”
His attention returned to me.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Does that always happen? People hit on you wherever you go?”
“Oh, yeah, are you kidding? All the time, just throwing themselves at me right and left.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “Why the lavender?”
“I need it for Livi. I think if I grab a diffuser for her and run it in her room with some lavender, she’ll sleep better, between the smell and the sound the machine makes.”
“How do you know she’s not sleeping well?”
“Because she was up and down a lot last night, and she even came in to see if I was sleeping a few times.”
“I’m sorry she woke you.”
“I don’t sleep hard, so it was no problem. But it’s no good for her, especially on school nights, so with your permission, I—”
“It’s fine, Brann. You don’t need to check with me about the girls. I think we covered that yesterday. We’re on the same page.”
“Oh yeah? You trust me?”
“I do, yes.”
It was better to hear than I would have thought.
Eleven
When we got back to Lydia and her friends, she was overwhelmed, I could tell, when Olivia passed her a mojo bag with stones inside that both she and her sister had picked out for her. She opened it and put them in her hand as they explained to her what they got. She was further touched when April took her hand and led her a little away from the rest of us so she could talk to her.
“Oh, Brann,” Shelby said, leaning into me and giving me a quick hug. “You’re such a good influence on the girls.”
I squinted at her. “Those girls have big kind hearts, and I can assure you that it’s their father’s influence on his children and nothing to do with me.”
“And yet,” she said, rounding on me, “you being here seems to have made them warm-up to Lydia.”
“It’s not me.”
“She’s been dying for those girls to like her.”
“They will; they just need time.”
Emery stayed quiet, even though I was sure he could hear us from the short distance away, speaking to Lydia’s other friends.
Olivia walked over to slip her hand into mine. “It’s cold. I wanna go home.”
April and Lydia walked back over to us, and as soon as April reached me, she leaned into my side, wrapping her arms around my waist.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, petting her hair.
“Can we go?”
It did not escape my notice that both of them were clinging to me like I was a life raft in the middle of the ocean.
“Come on, let’s go,” Emery announced, coming up beside me. “There’s grocery shopping and homework—we’ve got things to do.”
Emery gave Lydia a peck on the cheek, and then with a move he’d been perfecting all day, had his hand on my back as he steered me forward, shepherding all of us, me and the girls, toward the parking lot.
I had a perfect day once we got home. Everyone pitched in putting away groceries. Then I helped Olivia with her homework, Emery helped April with hers, and the girls called their grandparents while I made a report to my boss. It went on from there, a day filled with talking and cooking and getting ready for the coming week. I felt like I was part of a family, and even though I knew loving it and wanting it was inherently dangerous to my heart, I couldn’t help falling for the man and his girls. I put thoughts of leaving out of my head.
Monday morning, Emery had to leave early for an English department meeting, which worked out great because I had to accompany April to school so I could speak with Mrs. Dabney. What was great was that Emery had the foresight to put me on the list at the school as a guardian before I arrived. It meant I was able to go to the office and receive a pass to walk around for a specific amount of time. Apparently, he had also given them a copy of my immunization record and background check. The man was definitely thorough. I had to hand it to him, as his diligence allowed me access to the building after showing the clerk my ID.