Page 78 of Fire and Rain
Eden hadn’t laughed this hard in a very long time.
But then it was time to give Maverick his bath, read him stories, and put him to bed, so her sisters finished putting the room back together without her. When Mavie was asleep in his crib, Eden ventured a peek at her bedroom.
The bed, which was still unmade, stood against the far wall with a nightstand on each side. Her big chest of drawers stood where the bed had been. Everything was neatly arranged, the jar where she kept her favorite bits of sea glass sitting in the window where it caught the evening sunlight.
“Wow. It’s so different. I love it. Thank you.”
“There’s more room to walk, for one thing.” Anya demonstrated by walking around the bed. “See?”
“I’ll get the sheets out of the dryer and make the bed.”
“Don’t bother. We’ve got a gift for you.” Katie jumped up off the mattress. She dashed out of the room and returned with the shopping bag. “This is from all of us.”
“It’s heavy.” Eden opened it to find a duvet with an aqua blue cover and matching high thread-count sheets. “Thank you! This is wonderful.”
Anya beamed. “A new guy in the bed means new bedding.”
Eden smiled. “Is that proper etiquette these days?”
They enjoyed a glass of wine together, and then it was time for her sisters to go. Eden thanked them, gave them each a hug, and waved to them as they drove away. Then she went back inside, found the piece of red sea glass, sank onto the mattress, and let her tears come.
ChapterSeventeen
It wasmid-afternoon when Sean drove up the hill to Eden’s place, the idea of seeing her again making his heart beat a little faster. They’d had a quiet night on base with no SAR calls, so he’d been able to sleep and work his regular daytime shift. Now, showered and shaved and packing that box of condoms, he was free to be with Eden until six tomorrow morning.
She hadn’t once left his thoughts, memories of their night together on a loop in his mind. This was new for him. Most of his relationships back in his dating app days had been one and done. But he couldn’t get Eden out of his head. She was like a fever in his blood.
He pulled into Eden’s driveway and found her outside playing ball with Maverick. He parked, climbed out, and watched.
“Hit the ball, Mavie.” Eden gave Sean a smile then tossed a small plastic baseball.
The ball landed in the grass and rolled, but that didn’t stop Maverick. He ran over to where it lay in the grass and whacked it squarely with his bat.
Sean chuckled. “Well, he hit it.”
Eden pointed at Sean. “Look who’s here.”
Maverick turned, dropped the bat, and ran toward Sean, a smile on his little face, reaching for Sean. “Sawn!”
A strange warmth blossomed in Sean’s chest, and he scooped Maverick up. “Hey, buddy. Are you playing baseball with your pretty mama?”
“I hit a ball.”
Sean grinned. “You sure did.”
Eden picked up both ball and bat and walked over to them. “How was your shift?”
“Not bad.” Sean could see she was about to put her arm around him, so he stepped back, set Maverick on the ground. “We should go inside first. I need to grab my bag.”
Eden led her son toward the door. “Let’s get a snack, Mavie.”
Sean followed, duffel slung over his shoulder. He left the duffel bag on the floor by the door and walked to the kitchen, where Eden opened a piece of string cheese and handed it to Maverick, who dashed off, cheese stick in hand.
Sean drew Eden into an embrace, held her close. “I’ve wanted to do that all day.”
“I missed you, too. How was your shift?”
“We had a few calls during the day, but the night was quiet.”
