Page 81 of Jay Bird

“Okay, okay. I’m coming.”

The moment they reached the bottom, Lily stopped. A huge smile broke out on her face.

“Momma!”

The beach stretched out in front of them, the evening sun casting warm light across the sand while gentle waves rolled toward shore.

Lily stared in absolute wonder.

Willow then realized something. Her daughter had never been to a beach. They’ve lived and traveled to places where there were beaches, but she had never been to one. Hell, Willow hadn’t been to one since before her abduction.

Willow crouched beside her. “That’s the ocean.”

“Water!” Lily shouted and immediately took off.

“Lily!” Willow burst out laughing and chased her across the sand.

Her daughter squealed, and her little legs pumped furiously as she headed straight toward the waves.

“Oh no, you don’t.” Willow caught her around the waist just before she reached the water and scooped her into her arms.

Lily shrieked with laughter. “Water, Momma!”

Willow spun Lily around, and her daughter’s laughter spilled out across the beach until Willow found herself laughing too. Not because anything was particularly funny, but because Lily was happy.

She set Lily down and took her hand as they ran toward the edge of the surf together, both laughing when the water rushed over their feet.

Willow couldn’t remember the last time she had laughed this hard.

She lifted Lily again and kissed her cheek. “We made it, bug.”

Lily wrapped both arms around her neck.

“Momma happy.”

The words nearly broke her, and Willow pressed her forehead gently against Lily’s, holding her close as if that alone could keep everything steady.

“Yeah, baby. Mommy’s happy.”

A deep, familiar voice called out from behind them.

Willow turned and spotted Jay Bird walking across the sand toward them, hands tucked into his pockets and a smile spreading across his face as he watched Lily squirm excitedly in Willow’s arms.

Then his gaze met hers, and Willow felt her heart do that stupid little flutter it seemed to have perfected whenever he looked at her like that.

Jay Bird lined up his shot, drew the cue back, and sent the ball cleanly into the corner pocket.

“Show-off,” Joker muttered.

Jay Bird grinned and moved around the pool table, but his attention drifted back toward the table for what had to be the tenth time in as many minutes. Willow was still there with the women.

He had kept an eye on her most of the night without making it obvious, checking that she wasn’t getting overwhelmed by the noise, the number of people, or the constant movement around her. The first hour had been rougher. He had caught the tension in her shoulders a few times and noticed how often she checked where the exits were.

But somewhere between Amira interrogating him about his sudden acquisition of a child and Juliette offering Willow enough food to feed an entire platoon, she had started to relax.

Now she was laughing, and Jay Bird liked seeing that. Probably too fucking much.

“Your turn, Romeo.”