Page 83 of His Wounded Heart

Asshole.

“That’s a shame. Why don’t you take some of these brownies that I baked? They’re the kind with the chocolate chips in them. I’ve brought them to our meetings, and I know you like them.” I see the avarice in his eyes.

“You do?”

“Yep. I thought you’d be here. There’s coffee and milk on the other side of the building. Near Harvey.”

Harvey will just have to deal.

“Bringing baked goods is right neighborly of you, Trenda,” he beams. He stands taller with every line of bullshit I utter and I nudge Simon with my elbow so he can extend the box with the brownies and back-up cupcakes and cookies. He proffers the box but I hear a very low growl that I’m sure nobody else hears. I have to work hard not to laugh as, true to form, Arthur takes three brownies and two cookies. Simon pulls back the box before he can take any more.

“Are Ronnie and Jeff here, Mr. Draper?” Bella asks as she continues to hold out her bag of cookies.

“Just Ronnie. He’s at the fire station with his older cousin Ashley. Do you want to go over there with them?”

“Can I, Mama?” Bella asks. “Maybe Uncle Zarek will be there too.”

“I don’t think he’s there, Sweet Pea.”

“But Ashley brought her new dog and is showing her off. I’ll call her up and she can come back and get you,” Dave says.

“I can walk over there by myself.” Bella smiles.

Every adult eye looks down at her and frowns. My daughter looks at the ground. “Well, I could,” she mutters.

“Bellatrix Star, you would scare the daylights out of me if you were to ever walk that far on your own, you know that don’t you?”

“Yes,” she says as she looks me in the eye.

“And what else?”

“It’s against the rules. I always need your permission before I go anywhere other than our cul-de-sac. But I was asking you.”

“No, you were telling me, and you knew what my answer was going to be. We’ll talk about this later. Let’s just wait for Ashley to come get you so you can play with Ronnie and her dog, okay?” I smile as I cup the back of her head. She smiles up at me at the warm touch. I didn’t want to embarrass her anymore in front of all the other people, because my gut tells me she was trying to show everyone what a grown-up she is.

She’s only seven and a half, what on God’s green earth?

“There’s Ashley now.” Dave points at a cute little blue Honda. He must have texted her the moment he’d mentioned her name.

“How long can I play?”

“Until Ashley brings you back, or until I pick you up.”

“I still have half my bag of cookies.”

I look around at the ring of men and I see that they’ve all retrieved cupcakes, brownies or cookies and are beginning to disperse back to work. Before I can say anything to Simon, he starts talking.

“Bella, how about if I put this box into Ashley’s trunk, and she can take your unicorn cupcakes to the firemen? What do you think?”

“That’d be great. Then Ronnie will get one too!” She starts towards Ashley’s car. “And the dog!”

“You can’t give the dog anything chocolate, it’s not good for them,” Simon warns her.

Bella stops in her tracks. “Is that true, Mama?”

I nod. “Yes, it’s true.”

She smiles back at Simon. “Okay, Mr. Simon, my Mama agrees with you so it must be true.”