Baby Talk & Wedding Bells by Brenda Harlen

Author:Brenda Harlen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2016-07-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

Saturday dawned bright and sunny—a perfect day for a trip to Frazer’s Butterfly Farm made even more perfect by the fact that Braden had persuaded Cassie to join him and Saige on their outing. As they toured the facility, his daughter was mesmerized by the graceful fluttering wings of the colorful insects and happy to watch them swoop and glide. When one landed on Braden’s shoulder, he slowly bent down so that she could get a closer look. Saige’s eyes grew wide and she clapped her hands excitedly.

Of course, the sudden movement and sharp noise startled the butterfly and it flew away again. But there were so many of them that it wasn’t long before another one—and then two and three—ventured over to feed from the sugar paper Cassie carried in her hand. And while Saige obviously enjoyed watching them from a distance, she screamed like a banshee when one of them dared to land on the guardrail of her stroller.

But the winged creature didn’t go far—flying away from Saige’s stroller only to settle again on top of Cassie’s head.

“I’m holding sugar paper in my hand—why do they keep landing on my head?” Cassie wondered.

“Because your hair smells like peaches,” Braden noted.

“You think that’s what’s attracting the butterflies?” she asked skeptically.

“It’s attracting me,” he told her, dipping his head to nuzzle her ear.

Despite the warmth of the day, Cassie felt shivers trickle down her spine and goose bumps dance over her skin. She put a hand on his chest and pushed him away. Braden grinned but backed off—for now.

They walked through the education center, where they could view butterflies at various stages of development—from egg to larva to chrysalis to butterfly. They even got to see a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis. One of the expert guides advised them that it was about to happen, pointing out the wings clearly visible through the now-translucent casing and contrasting it to other encasements that were opaque and green in color. The emergence didn’t take very long, and though Saige didn’t really seem to understand what was happening, she was content to sit in her stroller and munch on some cereal O’s while Braden and Cassie watched.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Braden admitted, as the butterfly unfurled its vibrant orange-and-black wings.

“It is incredible, isn’t it?” she said.

“One of Saige’s favorite stories is that one about the caterpillar that eats and eats and eats until it becomes a beautiful butterfly.”

Of course, as a librarian, Cassie was familiar with the story. “She’s probably disappointed to see these caterpillars aren’t eating through cherry pie and lollipops.”

“I think she’s just enjoying being here,” Braden countered. “But speaking of eating—are you hungry?”

“A little,” Cassie admitted.

“Why don’t we go find someplace to have our lunch?” he suggested.

“That sounds like a good idea to me.”

So they made their way outside, where there were walking paths and gardens and picnic areas and play structures. As they followed along the path, Cassie noticed a trio of butterflies circling around the stroller.

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