Only a Crush by Delancey Stewart

Author:Delancey Stewart
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Delancey Stewart

Chapter 21

The Song You’ll Never Forget

MATEO

I had called my mother-in-law as soon as we were back in cell service range to let her know the details about what had happened, to say hello to Lily quickly, and to assure them both that I’d be there soon. And as I drove away from the resort to go get my daughter, emotions whirled within me, warring for attention.

When I thought about Lily, my heart surged and my foot dropped heavier on the gas pedal. I didn’t like being away from my little girl and I was eager to sweep her into my arms, to hear her carefree laughter and smell her little girl skin again. Still, as I put distance between myself and the resort—between myself and Annalee—I felt a strange longing I hadn’t experienced in years, if ever. I wanted to pull her into my arms too, and my whole body reacted to the idea.

I didn’t know what lay between us. I’d thought it was lust, that the day and nights we’d spent in bed together would dampen the feeling, or at least make it manageable. Instead, the time I’d spent wrapped around Annalee’s soft body, our heads together and our voices sharing soft whispered words, only made me want more. More of that intimacy, more of that connection.

I pulled into my mother-in-law’s driveway, parked, and leapt from the truck, bounding up the front steps with excitement building inside me. The front door flew open just as I was about to knock, and a wild streak of little girl flew at me, slamming into my knees and nearly knocking me over.

“Daddy!”

“Hey baby girl,” I said, bending down to scoop her up for a hug and bury my face in her hair. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” she said. “A lot.”

Poppy’s mother stepped through the door then, holding Lily’s little backpack.

“Hi,” I said, shifting Lily to a hip. “You survived. How many times did you have to watch Frozen?”

“I’ll be singing ‘Let it Go’ for the next twenty-four hours, whether I like it or not,” she said, smiling.

Lily lifted her head from my shoulder at the mention of her favorite song. “The snow glows ...” she began, her little voice serious as she sang.

“No, no,” Julia cried in mock desperation. “No more, Lily!”

“Thanks again,” I told her. “I’m really sorry about the last-minute change of plans. We knew there was a storm, but we’d expected a quick passing thunderstorm, not three feet of snow.”

“I heard it was quite a lot at elevation,” she said, her voice carrying a note of worry that touched me. “You had shelter, though?”

“The little cabins we’d gone up to check were in good condition. We were fine.”

She nodded. “So you and two women? Stuck up there?”

“I, uh.” For some reason my arm tightened around Lily as my mind reeled back to the days I’d spent with Annalee. “Just one other person, actually. Aubrey got called back to the resort.”

A look of understanding crossed Julia’s face. “Oh.” She was assuming a lot, I could see.

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