baby?”
“Absolutely. We’ve got three bedrooms and a den. And a Jack-and-Jill bathroom separating the kids’ rooms. That was the point of remodeling, right?”
“Right. I just want to be sure my woman is happy.” Pierce flashed a toothy grin. “You said kids— plural . I like the sound of that.”
Zoe linked her arm in his. “I haven’t thought much about having a second one. I’m enjoying Grace so much.”
“It’d be nice not to have too many years between them. Maybe we should start working on it. It might take a while.”
“I’m certainly open to it.” She bumped his shoulder with hers. “But not tonight, Bubba.”
“That’s Chef Bubba.” Pierce chuckled, then got quiet and seemed far away for a few moments. “Listen, babe. I know I’ve been on your case about the men at Haven House. For what it’s worth, I don’t believe Noah killed Flynn. We know what Noah’s made of. He risked his life to help us, and we’d probably be dead if he hadn’t.”
Zoe looked up at him. “Well, thanks for that much.”
“I’m not comfortable with any of the other guys, but I’m sorry I embarrassed you when Murray what’s-his-name came in.”
“I let it go yesterday when you apologized.”
“Good. Sure you don’t want me to jog over to Kernel Poppy’s and get you a bag of warm, delicious, chocolate-covered caramel corn that melts in your mouth and turns into the smoothest, crunchiest, most delectable—”
“Stop it!” Zoe put her hands over her ears.
“I could be back in fifteen minutes. It’s only ten o’clock. It’s open for another hour.”
“All right. Maybe a small bag. What am I saying? No! I’m only craving comfort food because I’m upset about Noah.” Zoe gave him a gentle shove and walked inside. “You’re worse than the Devil! I’m trying so hard not to give in to temptation!”
“Could you say that a little louder? You have the attention of everyone on rue Madeline .”
Zoe picked up a couch pillow and threw it at him, laughing all the while.
Pierce came over and pulled her into his arms, his voice suddenly low and sultry. “If you want to burn up some calories, we could get started on that long-range plan to add another Broussard to our family.”
Zoe locked her arms around his neck, studying his expression. “Can’t we just let it happen when it happens, instead of approaching it like a to-do list?”
Pierce smiled wryly. “I assure you, babe, that’s not the way I’m looking at it. But yes. We don’t have to start this minute. We can plan to be spontaneous.”
“I want another child. But I really need to lose ten pounds first. I’m afraid if I start out ten pounds overweight, I’ll never get rid of it.”
“Let me get this straight: You want to lose ten pounds before you gain thirty?”
Zoe nodded. “Exactly. If I start out at my ideal weight, I’ll be more inclined to lose afterwards.”
“Then I need to make you salads for a while and get you trimmed down. We don’t want Grace to start kindergarten before we have another one.”
Zoe unlocked her arms and flopped on the couch. “Maybe I should start walking again to boost the weight loss. I just don’t know if I can take an hour out of every day to do it.”
“Sure you can. You’re the boss. Savannah can take charge. She loves it.” Pierce sat on the couch next to her and was quiet for a minute. “I wonder how Vanessa and Ethan are handling Noah’s situation.”
“Interesting choice of words.” Zoe sighed. “Why is it Noah’s situation?”
“You know what I meant.”
“Pierce, what if his name never gets cleared? What if the Langleys don’t go through with their plan to make him caretaker? There’s a lot riding on Noah’s presence there.”
“Definitely,” Pierce said. “It would be truly historic if a descendant of one of Josiah Langley’s slaves were to become caretaker. The history of Langley Manor is the town’s claim to fame. It would be a shame if Flynn
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