Page 21 of Forever Mine

Chapter 8

My grin refused to go away as I typed a message to Scott. Yes, we got home safely. You?

Yep. Got here an hour after we left the hotel. Talk to you later. Just wanted to know u r okay.

Thanks

I dropped the phone on the table and looked up when Angel asked, “Mommy, who are you texting?”

“A friend I met at the conference.”

She swallowed, then asked, “What’s her name?”

“His name. He’s a boy.”

She swung her head side to side. “Nope, he’s a man.”

I touched her cheek, laughing. “That’s right.”

When she’d forked rice into her mouth and chewed a little, Angel said, “What’s his name?”

I hesitated, then figured telling her wouldn’t do any harm. “Scott.”

“Scott what?” She kept her eyes on me as if she didn’t want to miss anything I said.

“It’s not important.”

Angel’s gaze was earnest. “Yes, it is. My teacher said we should always … ”

“Sweetie,” I pinched her chin with gentle fingers. “Remember not to talk with food in your mouth. Trust me, it really isn’t that important.”

My mother’s amused, but warning gaze made me pull back. I sweetened my words with a smile directed at Angel. “We can talk about it later.”

Her nod was enthusiastic, and I couldn’t resist running my hand over her hair then tugging her plait. I’d missed both her and Mom more than I realized.

We sat in my mother’s kitchen, catching up over curried goat and white rice. The spicy goat was a far cry from the fare I’d had while in Miami. Mom had been heavy handed with the pepper and when I sniffed and then sipped water, she asked, “Will you be going straight back to the office on Monday?”

Nodding, I said, “Yeah, no rest for the wicked. Plus, Prim will be going off the island by the middle of the week. You know how that goes.”

“Your boss should thank her lucky stars she has you,” Mom said, over a forkful of rice.

“She takes care of me, as you well know.”

“I’d like it better if you didn’t go away so much,” Angel said, with the back of her hands propped on the table.

“Me too, hon,” I said, stroking her hair again. “I don’t think I’ll be going anywhere for a while.”

“Yay!” Both hands shot into the air as Angel grinned.

“What did I tell you about—”

My mother shook her head, and I stopped talking. As Mom kept reminding me, Angel was only acting out of love for me.

“Mommy, can we go to the beach tomorrow?”

The beach was the last place I wanted to be, but having been away from her for nearly a week, there was little I would deny Angel.

“Yes, we’ll go in the morning,” I said, keeping my eyes trained on her.