St. Helena Vineyard Series: Love In Focus (Kindle Worlds Novella) (The Laffertys Book 2) by Anna J Stewart

Author:Anna J Stewart [Stewart, Anna J]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kindle Worlds
Published: 2017-11-12T22:00:00+00:00

~*~

“Hey, Mom!” Caley grinned her front-toothless grin at Nissa as she and Dante entered her room. “That was fast! See, Wyatt, I told you she’d be here quick.”

Nissa let out a shuddering breath and realized she didn’t remember breathing at all on the drive in. She dropped her bag on the floor and raced to her daughter’s bedside where she sank onto the squeaky plastic mattress. The second she smoothed Caley’s blonde curls away from her pale, splotchy forehead, the knots inside her eased. Her daughter’s face was swollen and Nissa could still hear a wheeze in her chest, but other than that… “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good. I had a horrible stomach ache and I threw up all over Dad’s bathroom. He’s going to be so mad.” Caley’s gaze skittered from Nissa’s as she turned wide eyes on Dante. “Hi.”

“Hello, Caley.” Dante leaned against the doorframe, looking like one of those TV doctors every cast member swooned over. All that was missing was a pair of scrubs and a stethoscope. “I’m Dante. A friend of your mom’s.”

“He’s really tall, Mom.” Caley whispered as if Dante couldn’t hear her.

“Dante what?” Wyatt, a cap of dark springy curls covering his head and action figures clutched in his hands, dropped out of the chair next to his sister and walked over to Dante. He tried to tug his pants up, which sagged around the butt even as they were getting too short. “I didn’t know mom had any friends.”

Dante looked down and for an instant Nissa worried Wyatt would see Dante’s expression as menacing, but she realized he was displaying more nerves than she’d previously seen.

“Dante Thanos.” He held out his hand as if greeting an adult. “I’m a new friend of your mother’s, but I’ve heard a lot about you and your sister. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Thanos?” Wyatt spun to look at his mom, his mouth hanging open as his eyes went huge. “Mom! Thanos is a bad guy!”

“Wyatt!” Nissa felt her face flush. “That’s rude.”

“But he’s a villain, Mom,” Wyatt went on. “He’s all over the comic books. He hates the Avengers. And the…”

“And the Guardians of the Galaxy,” Dante finished with a sigh. “The bane of my existence, I’m afraid.” He offered Nissa a wink. “I believe Wyatt has found me out.”

“So you are a bad guy?” Wyatt turned his attention back to Dante and tipped his head up, then nearly toppled backwards.

Nissa could all but see the wheels turning in Dante’s head.

“Every son should believe their mother’s friends are bad guys,” Dante said finally. “Until they prove they aren’t. Instead of professing to be something I might not be I’ll wait for you to decide, okay?”

“Yeah, okay.” Wyatt didn’t look convinced and backed away in over-exaggerated steps. “Mom, should I go find Arabella?”

Nissa pinched her lips to stop from saying what she really wanted to.

“It wasn’t her fault, Mom,” Caley said. “I reminded Dad about my allergies. And Wyatt’s, too. You told me to, remember? But I saw her making those smoothies and—”

“It’s okay.

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