Page 125 of The Path to Loving Him
“Shame, I’m a great secret keeper.” She points at her stunning eyes. “See these eyes? They hold all of the secrets. That’s why they’re different colors.”
I smile softly. “I love that they’re two colors.”
“You do?” she asks, sounding surprised.
“Yeah, they’re beautiful.”
“What’s beautiful?” Mac asks, coming up to us completely unannounced.
“Uh.” I sit back and clear my throat. “Miss Gabby’s eyes. Don’t you think they’re beautiful?”
Mac walks up to Gabby and looks at her carefully. “They’re different colors.”
“They are,” Gabby says. “Can you believe that?”
Mac shakes her head. “I wish I had two different colored eyes.”
“No, your eyes are so pretty, MacKenzie, I like them just the way they are,” Gabby says.
“You can call me Mac. Everyone does,” the four-year-old says so casually.
Gabby chuckles and tilts her head to the side. “Would you prefer that?”
“Yeah, because that means we’re friends.”
“Ah, you want to be friends with me?”
Mac nods her head. “Because I like your bruises.” Mac leans forward, inspecting them. “They look very bad.”
“They kind of are,” Gabby says with a twist of her lips.
“How did you get them?”
“I slid down a pole the wrong way. I wasn’t being very smart.”
“Can I touch them?” Mac reaches out her hand, but I quickly grab it gently.
“Uh, let’s leave Miss Gabby’s bruises alone. They’re very painful, and we don’t want to make her hurt any more than she already is.”
“They hurt?” Mac asks, her brows turning down in concern.
Gabby nods. “Yeah, I can barely walk. Trust me, if I could walk, I think I’d be trying out that tree swing over there.”
Mac glances at the swing that Hayes and Wyatt just installed today while we were unpacking the house. “My uncles put that up for me.”
“Wow, you are so lucky. It looks like so much fun.”
Mac holds out her hand. “Come try it.”
“Oh, I can’t, my legs.”
“Just try,” Mac says, tugging on Gabby’s arm.
“Mac—” I start but Gabby presses her hand to my thigh, nearly making me come out of my skin.
“It’s okay.” And then she stands. I’m quick to my feet, helping her, but she shoos me away. “I got this.”
“Gabby,” I say, but she doesn’t listen as she takes Mac’s hand. They walk slowly toward the tree together.
