Page 33 of Against The Tide

Combing back the loose tendrils that have fallen in front of her face, she looks up at me. The green in her eyes is so bright in contrast to the amber swirling in it. Dark, thick lashes flutter as she looks back down at the counter with a downturn of her lips.

“I don’t think my body is ready for it.”

When her gaze flits back to mine, the light dims in her eyes, and I hate it. It’s something so uniquely precious to her.

A dark chestnut strand falls to one side of her face. The temptation to brush it back with my fingers is too great to ignore, and when I tuck it behind her ear, I can’t stop myself from thumbing over her cheek. The swelling is gone, and the remnants of the bruising are disguised by her makeup, leaving only the glow of her flushed cheeks and the warmth of her bashfulness seeping into my fingertips.

Wrapping her arms tight around herself, Avery takes a step back. A look of confusion and guilt twists her face as she puts the lid on the ice cream and turns to put it back in the freezer. Without so much as a glance, she grabs the dessert spoons from the drawer beside me, careful not to touch me, before she takes Jo and Iris their pie.

I need to work on my control. I need to make sure that I’m not another selfish asshole when I’m around her, and to do that, I need to keep my distance.

Having cleared up the kitchen, I check on the horses and then the chick nursery in the small barn by the coop, snapping a picture to send to Rowan like I promised Scarlett I would.

Tomorrow I can come back and clean out the stable and coop while Avery takes Iris and Jo to the beach. It’ll stop me from doing stupid shit when it comes to any of them. Having them around is bringing Jo back, and I can’t be the person that ruins it for her. It’s what I wanted, for her to find something to make her want to fight harder. Avery and Iris could be it.

Getting into my Jag, I catch a glimpse of Iris behind the front door screen. She hops down the porch steps in her pink fairy pajamas and with a rag doll clutched to her chest, stopping only when she’s in front of me.

“Do I need a special suit for surfing?” My chest squeezes at the flutter of her long lashes. “I can’t wait!”

How can I let her down when she’s looking at me like I’m Santa Claus about to deliver her a lifetime’s worth of presents? A thousand excuses cross my mind, but none make it to my lips.

“Doc?”

“You can wear whatever you like, champ.”

“I’m so excited!” Her squeal is muffled by her tight hug, so different to the little girl I met almost a month ago that was scared to even look at me.

Lifting her into my arms, I take her back up the porch, setting her inside the front door. Avery pauses halfway down the stairs, still drying the lengths of her hair with a small towel. Her makeup is all gone, and she looks even better with her hair a tangled mess and an oversized T-shirt falling to the tops of her thighs over her shorts.

“What happened to having your milk and going to bed, missy?” She comes down and stops behind Iris, the sugar-and-almond scent of her damp hair filling my lungs.

I’m salivating at the smell of a woman, something completely new and frustrating when she’s out of bounds.

“I had to ask Rhett about my bathing suit.” Giving me another hug, Iris tips her head to grin up at me. “And I had to say good night.”

“Night, champ.” Hugging her back, I realize that it’s not just Avery that’s trouble.

This little girl is something beyond special with all her quirks and sass. She’s as difficult to push away as her mom. There are no boundaries or walls that I can put up that will withstand her. If I’m honest with myself, I don’t want to. Not when they’re so easy to be around.

“You want pancakes for breakfast?”

“Chocolate chip?” There’s that eyelash-batting grin that tells me the only answer I can give her is “Of course.”

“All right, time for bed.” Avery nudges her up the stairs with a kiss to the top of her head.

Iris trudges up a few steps before she turns and squeals into her doll again, “I can’t wait!”

“You can’t surf if you don’t sleep.” Avery claps her up the stairs until all we can hear is her running on the old creaky boards to one of the rooms at the back of the house. Making me wonder which bed Avery’s sleeping in. Knowing Jo, she would’ve given her the bedroom with the suite and the view over the lake and the hills. The room I normally stay in.

We’re standing in silence, when Jo comes out of her own room at the far side of the house. Both of us take a step back, Avery turning toward her.

“Why are you outside?” Jo asks me, looking between the two of us.

“Leaving,” I say at the same time as Avery tells her, “Saying good night. Ummm, goodbye. I mean goodb…night.” She shakes her head in a fluster as though we’ve been caught red-handed.

“Iris was saying good night, and Avery was saying goodbye.”

“I thought you were staying. No? It’s the weekend, Rowan’s away…isn’t that what you normally do?”