Forever With You (Bayou Dreams Book 5) Read Free

her arms around her daughter, making sure to get her good and soaked with the dampness from her shirt.
    After slipping the casserole she’d made before church into the oven, she, Cassidy and Kristi all took showers and changed into pajamas. It might not have been proper in some households to eat Sunday supper in pajamas, but it certainly was in this one.
    As per their Sunday evening ritual, Leslie lifted the dry-erase calendar from the refrigerator and set it on the table. She wiped away the previous week’s tasks and, handing the attached whiteboard marker to Cassidy, went through the schedule for the upcoming week.
    “Don’t forget Parent/Teacher Conference night,” Cassidy said. “We get an extra star in English if our parents come.”
    The notion of bribing kids with stars in order to get parents involved in their children’s school life was abhorrent, but Leslie knew it was also necessary. After all, just a year ago she had been one of those parents who routinely skipped school activities due to work obligations. Until she’d learned the price her absence had cost her daughters. These days she practically had her own designated parking spot at the school.
    “I’ll be there,” Leslie assured Cassidy. She pointed at the whiteboard. “Make sure you have the correct times for softball practice. You don’t want to be late again. And circle the Bayou Campers meeting so we don’t forget.”
    Yeah, she had all the time in the world to be lonely.
    Once dinner was done and the dishes loaded into the dishwasher, they settled in for their Sunday night movie. It was Kristi’s turn to pick, which meant either
Casper the Friendly Ghost
or
The Lion King.
Leslie snuggled on the couch with her girls and watched
Casper
for the hundredth time. Once the movie was done, she declared bedtime, ushering the girls off the couch.
    “It’s Sunday night,” Kristi reminded her. “We get a Daddy story.”
    Leslie ruffled Kristi’s natural curls and smiled down at her, praying she was doing a good job of hiding her discomfort.
    After going nearly a year hardly uttering her deceased husband’s name, Leslie had slowly started reintroducing Braylon’s memory into her family. It had been more difficult than she’d anticipated, but every Sunday night she shared with the girls a story about their father.
    Seated on the edge of Cass’s canopy bed, Leslie cradled Kristi on her lap, rubbing her hand up and down her baby’s arms.
    “Have I told you girls about the time your daddy tried to bake me a cake for my birthday?” Both girls shook their heads. “Well, your father was pretty good when it came to cooking hamburgers and hot dogs on the grill, but when it came to baking, he was horrible. He knew that I loved strawberry shortcake—”
    “I love strawberry shortcake, too,” Kristi interrupted.
    “I know.” Leslie tweaked her nose. “You get it from me. Your dad tried to make me a strawberry shortcake for my birthday once, but he couldn’t find fresh strawberries so he used frozen ones. However, he didn’t let them thaw out before serving me my piece of cake, so when I bit into the frozen strawberry, I hurt my tooth and had to go to the dentist to get it fixed.”
    Kristi plopped a hand to her forehead and moaned. “Oh, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy.”
    “Did the cake at least taste good?” Cassidy asked.
    “I told him it did.”
    “Because you didn’t want to hurt his feelings,” Kristi guessed correctly.
    “Yes,” Leslie said. “But I made sure to order birthday cakes from the bakery every year after that. Aren’t you girls happy I did?”
    “Can I get a strawberry shortcake when I turn six?” Kristi asked.
    “That’s a year away,” Cass pointed out.
    “Wait. I meant tomorrow. Can I get a strawberry shortcake tomorrow?”
    “Nice try.” Leslie playfully tugged her curl.
    She gave Cassidy a kiss and then carried Kristi to her bedroom. As Leslie tucked her in, Kristi put a hand on her cheek and said, “Thank you for