Page 28 of Secret Heart
Scott frowns, looking up from the paper he’d turned back to, clearly ready to comment about information he probably already knows. That ton of bricks in my stomach somehow gets heavier. His mouth snaps shut as his gaze flashes to me and then back to the newspaper.
“There’s, um, a basket of toys.” She gestures over her shoulder toward the living room. “And I packed her current favorite blanket. I’m not sure if she’ll actually want it. We should be back before she wakes up.”
“Okay.” My voice cracks, too.
She nods and her eyes roam over the room, like she’s trying to find something else to say.
“Beau said they’re moving some of the Highlands today, but if something happens, you can call him.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say.
Of course I know what cattle they’re handling. I’m a ranch hand, too, even if my days off are the middle of the week so the others can have the weekends. At least for the moment.
Scott snorts. “Because your mother and I are suddenly chopped liver?”
Emily flushes and then clears her throat. “Right. Not what I meant, Dad.”
I’ve never seen her so unsure of herself, not even when we were drunkenly confessing how much we wanted to kiss each other in that bar up in Jackson a lifetime ago now.
Brielle says, her voice soft, “We’ll be back in a few hours.”
“You gals go have some fun.” Scott waves and takes a large drink of coffee. “We’ll be just fine.”
They don’t make any noise as they leave. At the click of the door closing, Penny lifts her head, her lips pushed into a pout. Her chest shudders with a caught, silent sob.
“Mama?”
Scott stands and walks around the island. “She’ll be back, pretty girl.”
The toaster finally finishes, and Penny jumps at the sound. I awkwardly grab the bagel halves and drop them onto a plate. Scott runs his finger along Penny’s cheek, and she does that hitching breath again. He doesn’t say a word as I struggle to spread the cream cheese, though there’s no judgement evident in his demeanor at all.
“You want to show Triston your blocks?” he asks once I’ve set the knife in the sink and the cream cheese back in the fridge.
“Bok,” Penny says, though she doesn’t lift her head from my shoulder. She pulls her dog tighter into her side, her elbow jabbing into my arm.
I follow Scott to the living room, still too nervous to try and say something. Will my voice freak her out? Will it feel too loud, and those couple hitched breaths will become actual crying?
I ease Penny to the floor, and she holds onto my leg, those hitched breaths coming faster.
“Hey, pretty girl, it’s all right.” Scott grabs the wicker basket tucked next to the window overlooking the large garden and brings it over to the sectional, dropping into the spot nearest us. “We’re not going anywhere, okay? You need to give him a chance to sit down, and then you can show him your blocks.”
One of the hitched breaths gains sound, and I haphazardly set the bagel on the coffee table before settling on the floor. Penny quickly crawls into my lap, her cheek pressed against my chest, like she needs the tactile comfort. I glance up at Scott, and I know I must look entirely unnerved right now.
“I don’t…”
Scott’s smile is softer now. “It’s not you. Emily had really bad postpartum anxiety and couldn’t handle being separated from Penny until just a couple months ago. They’re both still getting used to it.”
My chest tightens for an entirely different reason than before.
“Is she okay?”
Scott shrugs and holds a neon green plush block the size of Penny’s head out to her. He focuses on me after she grabs it and tucks it against her chest. “Better. There was a bit there where we were all pretty worried, but I think she’s through the worst of it. Beau helped a lot.”
I swallow past the mixed swell of emotions. “Good. That’s… that’s good.”
Penny burrows closer into me, turning her head until she’s pressed entirely against my chest, both the dog and block wedged between her stomach and mine. Scott chuckles.
“Penny girl, do you want to show Triston any more blocks?”
