Rumor Going 'Round (Lyrics and Love #3) - Lind, Samantha Page 0,1
my lips to hers in a smacking kiss.
“I missed you so much, Daddy!” She hugs me tight.
“Missed you, too.” I squeeze her tightly, tickling her sides lightly, which has her squirming in my arms. Her legs start kicking, and she almost hits me in the balls, which has me stopping and setting her down quickly.
“Careful there. She’ll get you good.” Mike chuckles as he stands behind Lilly’s chair.
“No, shit.” I laugh right along with him.
“Thanks for coming after your shift. She’s been pestering me to go see you and your parents. I just couldn’t tell her no.”
“You know you could have called my mom, and she’d have dropped everything to come and get her,” I remind Lilly. Even though Paisley is almost five and I’ve always been a part of her life, as have my parents, Lilly still has a hard time believing that she can count on all of us to help when she needs it. She didn’t have the best home life growing up, so to know she finally found someone with Mike was a good thing, and I’m happy for her.
“I know,” she sighs. “I just hate to bug them,” she admits.
“It wouldn’t be bugging, and you know it. Hell, my dad called me into his office just before I left to ask when I’d be bringing her over. Tried to blame it on Mom wanting to see her, even though we all know he’s just as enamored with her as she is.”
“Right,” she says, chuckling as the baby sleeps on her chest.
“Ready to go, Miss P? Nona is expecting us for supper.”
“Will Papa be there?” she asks, slipping her hand into mine. I grab her backpack as she waves at Lilly and Mike, then heads for my truck. “Bye, Mommy, love you.”
“Love you, too, have fun. I’ll see you in three sleeps.”
“Of course, he’ll be there,” I tell Paisley as I help buckle her into her seat.
“Yay!” she cheers, which has me laughing at her antics as I shut her door and open my own.
We live in Monroe, Georgia, a small town just under an hour outside of Atlanta. We’re far enough away from the city that the pace of life is slower here, but we still have many people who commute to work every day. Small town life is all I’ve ever known. I was born and raised in this very town. The type of town that everyone practically knows everyone. I never got away with much as a kid; between the nosy people and my dad being the fire chief, it was hard to get away with anything. But that didn’t stop us from being kids and getting into shit.
“How’s your baby brother?” I ask Paisley once we’re on the road to my parents’. Even with driving across town, it will only take us just under ten minutes to get there.
“He cries all the time,” she says, all put out like.
“Babies do that. You used to cry all the time,” I tell her.
“Not like he does,” she insists.
“I’m sure it can’t be that bad,” I prod.
“It is, Daddy,” she says just as I look up and catch a glimpse of her in my rearview mirror. She’s got her hand on her forehead like she’s exhausted—the dramatics of a four-year-old. Lord, help me in ten years when she’s a teenager.
I can’t help but laugh at her dramatics. “Get used to it, kiddo. He’s not going to get quiet anytime soon, and he’s here to stay.”
“I know,” she sighs. Maybe she isn’t adjusting to having a new sibling very well. I guess some spoiling by my parents is just what she needs to feel better.
We pull into their driveway a minute later, my dad’s truck already parked in his spot. “Looks like Papa beat us here,” I tell Paisley as I put the truck in park. I hop out, then help her from her seat. She takes off running for the front door, and before she can even reach it, both of my parents are out and waiting on the porch for her.
I lean against the front of my truck, just watching the interaction between the three of them. She’s one lucky-ass kid to have my parents as her grandparents. They spoil her so damn much; she’s going to be in a world of hurt the first time they learn how to tell her no one of these days. I swear, they’ve never said it to her once.