Free Skinbound by Anna Kittrell Page B

seconds around you today, I’d blow it.” She hugged Darcy, squeezing Cabin out of the way. “Happy birthday, girlfriend.”
    “I’m amazed.” Darcy’s gaze swept the room again, taking it all in. The kids were having a great time swatting at the green and purple streamers and jumping up to try and capture floating balloons. She turned her misting eyes to Cabin. “Thank you so much.” He pulled her close, and she rested her head against his broad chest. “This is the best birthday party I’ve ever had,” she whispered into his cotton shirt.
    “That’s what I was hoping for,” he said, stroking her hair. “I wanted it to be special and unique because you are special and unique. And I didn’t want you to have to share your birthday party with anyone.”
    Darcy looked around the room at the forty wound-up children crammed into the smallish classroom before turning her gaze back to him.
    “Let me clarify. By anyone, I mean Scarlett,” he said. They both laughed, then Cabin kissed her cheek.
    “ Ooooh !” childish voices teased.
    “They don’t miss much, do they?” Cabin asked.
    “Nope. They don’t miss a thing.” She pointed to Liz’s student, Billy, busy poking his finger into her birthday cake.
    “Aww, come on, buddy, don’t do that.” Cabin scooped up the little boy who’d scored a finger full of icing, and tickled him. “Hey, I know you—I’d recognize that smile anywhere—we met last time I was here.” Billy giggled and stuck his tongue through the gap in his teeth. “Why don’t we sing Happy Birthday to Ms. Vaughan, then you can help me cut this thing?”
    Cabin slid a disposable lighter from his pocket and lit the single birthday candle in the center of the cake.
    “He didn’t want to burn the school down,” Liz jibed, elbowing Darcy in the ribs.
    “Okay, folks, gather ’round. Please step forth, Ms. Vaughan.” Cabin motioned for her to come, then positioned her behind the cake table, circling his arm around her waist. He and Liz led the children in the happy birthday song, and when they’d finished, Cabin asked her to make a wish.
    Darcy wished for the moment to never end, closed her eyes and blew.
    As the applause died down, Cabin grabbed a plastic knife from the table and handed it to Billy, then helped him guide it around Darcy’s frosted name. “Please give this piece to Ms. Vaughan,” he said, placing a plastic fork on the plate.
    Darcy accepted the cake from Billy, thanked him, and took a bite. “Delicious!” She gushed, prompting another round of applause from the children, who hopped like crickets around the table, begging for their own pieces of chocolate cake. Liz picked up the knife and began carving the cake into small pieces.
    “You know what goes great with cake?” Cabin asked. “Ice cream.”
    “Yes, I agree.” Darcy nodded, scanning the table for ice cream, not finding any.
    “I really love ice cream. Don’t you?”
    “Yes, I like ice cream...” She quirked her lips, wondering what he was getting at.
    “Good. Come with me to the ice cream social in Redbud Park next Sunday afternoon.”
    She looked into his twinkling blue eyes. “Will they have pistachio?”
    “Of course. Even if I have to shell them myself and toss them in.”
    She grinned and wiped the icing from her solitary birthday candle.
    “So…is it a date?” he asked.
    “Yes. It’s a date.”
    He squeezed her waist, drawing her closer to him and pecked her cheek again. Remarkably, the kids were too absorbed in their cake to notice.
    “ Ooooh! Ms. Vaughan’s in looove !” This time, Liz did the taunting.
    ****
    The surprise party had worked a miracle on Darcy’s spirits. She no longer dreaded the evening of “birthday bonding” she’d promised her sister. In fact, on the drive home, she was almost looking forward to it. The two of them were going out for dinner and drinks in Oklahoma City. Scarlett already knew all of the hot spots, and seemed excited to introduce Darcy to