“Yeah, but not because you didn’t know where you wanted anything. Just because it was more emotional than regular stuff, since a lot of it belonged to Katherine. You’d do great at interior design. I don’t want to be a reality star either, but I’ve been told I have a face for television.”
“Isn’t the saying that a person has a face for radio?” She laughed. “I think you got it wrong.”
“I got it perfectly right.” Going up behind her, I wrapped my arms around her waist and peppered her neck with tender kisses. “You’ve seen my face. I belong on TV. Make me a star, baby.”
She turned in the circle of my arms, her face flushed and happy as she punched my shoulder playfully. “You’re already a star. You don’t need me. Plus, I know how much your job means to you. You’ll never give it up for interior design.”
“I could be convinced,” I said absently while playing with the strings of her apron. “Especially if we could make it like that show where we get sponsors to help people who really need their homes redone for whatever reason.”
“You’re a big softie, you know that?” She caught my face between her hands and pushed up on her toes to kiss me.
I hummed my agreement. “Sure. Whatever you say. Just don’t ever let any of my opponents hear it, okay? I have a reputation to uphold.”
“Your secret is safe with me,” she said before turning back to the stove to adjust the heat. “On a more serious note, I really can’t thank you enough for all your help today. I’d never have been able to do it without you.”
I kept my arms around her, breathing in the delicious scent of her nutty shampoo combined with the aromas in the kitchen. “You’d have found your way through it. I mean that. Just because you accepted help doesn’t mean you couldn’t or wouldn’t have gotten it done on your own.”
“Maybe eventually, but I’m still really glad you were here.”
I held her tighter. “Me too. I know you could’ve done it on your own, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not happy that you knew you didn’t have to.”
She turned her head to give me a sweet kiss. “Why does everything feel so much easier and better when you’re doing it with me?”
Because we were meant to be.
The thought struck out of nowhere, but as soon as it did, I knew it was true.
There were people who needed years to know what was right for them. They needed experimentation and to live a little bit of a lot of lives before they settled on one. I had massive respect for those people who were willing to try so many things in order to know what they really wanted and needed out of life.
I just wasn’t one of them. For as long as I could remember, I’d known what I wanted when I saw it and I went after it with that same dogged determination and perseverance Laurie had pointed out earlier.
When I’d heard my grandmother’s story for the first time, I decided then and there that I wanted to be a lawyer who helped people. I’d taken a few other classes in college because my mother insisted I should at least try broadening my horizons, but my passion was law.
While I was in elementary school, I’d seen a red-faced father wrestling a bunch of kids into putting on their shoes in the park. My friends had laughed and moved on, but for some reason, I stayed just a little bit longer.
At the end, when their shoes were on and their blanket folded with all their toys inside it, each of the kids had gone and given him a big hug. It was at that moment that I’d known I wanted to be a father someday.
In the years that had followed, there had been lots of moments like that. Moments when I saw something I wanted and I worked tirelessly to get it. Each of the biggest things in my life that made me the happiest boiled down to just one moment, and I’d had enough of them to know this was one.
Laurie might’ve run for the hills if I told her that, though. She’d had an emotional day as it was and the last thing I wanted was to pile onto it.
Soon, when the opportunity presented itself, I would do it. In the meantime, I settled for the truth without being too specific. “Everything is easier and better when we’re together because we’re good together.”
“That we are,” she agreed, giving me another kiss before bending over to put the pan in the oven. “Have you thought about what we’re going to do about that?”
“About us?” I asked, trying to ignore the fact that her perfect ass was pressed up against my crotch before she stood up again. Images from last night kept replaying in my brain and I wondered if we had time before Jamie dropped the girls off.
“Yes. About us.” She stood up and placed her palms on either side of my neck, peering up into my eyes. “Unless you fried my brain last night, I vaguely remember something about you still being my lawyer. Isn’t it frowned upon to date clients?”
“Let them frown,” I said, resting my forehead against hers. “I don’t give a fuck.”
“You might not, but I do. I don’t want you jeopardizing your career for me.”
“I told you I’d be fine going into interior design with you,” I said until a much more serious threat came to me. With a heavy sigh, I lifted my head away from hers before I shook it. “We have a big meeting set up with the movie production company on Monday. I didn’t want to tell you last night because we agreed not to talk business, but I set it up before I left the office yesterday.”
Her eyes widened. “Really? Wow. You work fast.”
“Yes, really, and yes, I do. All jokes aside, I really love what I do and so do you. I wouldn’t want to fuck it up for both of us and they’d definitely try to use it against us if they found out.”
“So what do we do?” She kissed my chin. “Not see each other again outside of work until it’s over?”
“Hey, no,” I whispered, coaxing her face up until she looked at me again. “We’ll just have to keep our relationship on the down low until I win the case. Then we can be open about it.”
“Relationship?” she asked with a coy smile.
“You heard me.” I lowered my mouth to hers, groaning when her soft lips brushed against mine.
The kiss was tender and sweet, but it soon turned into something more. Just when I was about to rip her clothes off for round number God only knew how many, a knock at the door signaled Jamie’s arrival.
She chuckled into my mouth. “I’d better get that. You have a situation to take care of before they see you. To be continued, okay?”
“To be continued.” I pressed another firm kiss on her mouth before stepping back and turning away from her to take a deep breath while dragging my hands over my face and through my hair.
Fuck. Of all the terrible fucking timing.
And yet, I was looking forward to seeing Allie. I just needed a minute to get my shit together, and then I’d be ready to spend the rest of the day and night with my girls.
All three of them.
Chapter 33
Laurie
It had been a long time since I’d had as many mouths to feed as I had that evening. My pots and pans were on the stove, my chicken was roasting in the oven, and I had a glass of red wine on the counter beside me.
Even though Jamie’s interruption earlier had caused whatever the lady version of blue balls was, I’d honestly been happy that Katie was home. I was also happy that Jacob and Allie were still there.
If I was being honest with myself, which I was making a point of being, I could admit that I’d missed this. Missed cooking for a family while hearing laughter coming from the other room. Missed feeling like I was really home. I’d even missed doing the dishes and cleaning while I was waiting for the food to be cooked.
For too long, the house had felt like a shell, and now suddenly, it was a home. It reminded me of the days when I used to cook for Katie, Katherine, and our parents every third weekend. We’d alternated between all our houses, but my parents and I had come to an unspoken agreement when Katherine died not to do it anymore.
It’d felt too empty without her, and we all just kept looking at
the chair she should’ve been in. I still missed her obviously. More than I would ever be able to say.
But every day with Jacob was making me feel more and more like myself again. More like there was a me left underneath everything that had been piled on top of me.
I was thriving in the kitchen preparing a hearty fall meal for everyone while listening to them laughing their heads off as Jacob played with the girls in the living room. I loved hearing that sound filling up the house. It was yet another thing that I could definitely get used to.
Smiling as I sipped my wine and waited for the timer on the potatoes to go off, I took a moment to take it all in. Only two months ago, I’d been standing in this very same kitchen completely out of depth and feeling like I’d never learn how to swim again.
I hadn’t met Jacob or Allie yet, but I would shortly. There was no telling where I’d have been if I hadn’t met them, but I didn’t waste time thinking about that.
Jacob had been right earlier when he said I would’ve gotten there by myself eventually. I could see now that I would have. Slowly but surely as I returned to myself, I was rediscovering so many things about me that I’d thought were completely out of reach.
He was just helping me get there now, sooner than I might have by myself, and making it a lot more fun in the process. I’d noticed the bag of clothing he’d purchased earlier while complaining that shopping for clothes online supposedly wasn’t manly at all, and I was planning on asking him to leave it there if he wanted to.
Somehow, I knew that what we had brewing between us wasn’t just a fleeting thing. It wasn’t very old, but it was very real. Maybe I should’ve been worried about how fast I was falling, but I wasn’t.
The thing about Jacob was that, despite what I’d thought about him at the beginning, he was a man of his word and his word was his honor. He was old school that way. In all the conversations we’d had, he’d been completely frank and honest with me. He wasn’t the type who was going to uproot Allie and bolt because we’d become too much for him, nor was he the type who needed to sow his wild oats after his divorce to prove he still had it.
Katherine would’ve said he was one of the few guys out there who really had the grown-up thing down to a T. No ifs, buts, or maybes about it.
And she would’ve been right. He wasn’t some kid at heart who still wanted to fuck around, nor was he stuck in a life crisis while not being able to accept who he was.
He was completely confident in his own skin and the fact that he’d spent the day sweating his ass off in his underwear to help me get everything unpacked just proved it. I’d gotten vulnerable and unsexy in front of him, and he’d gone and done the exact same thing. Even if he could never be completely unsexy no matter how hard he tried.
The timer on the oven went off, and I dished everything up. When I was done, I walked to the doorway to give them a warning. “Dinner’s ready. If you guys want it hot, you better come help me carry all these trays. Did you set the table?”
“We did!” Katie yelled before skidding into the kitchen.
As soon as the girls had seen we were only in socks and wearing comfort gear, they’d kicked off their shoes and changed into their pajamas. Well, they’d changed into Katie’s pajamas but they fit Allie like they’d been bought for her. Luckily, they were the same size since Katie had worn Allie’s clothes to school that day.
The little girl in question skidded in the door right after mine, sighing happily as she took a deep breath. “What are we having? It smells delicious.”
“We’re doing fall comfort food tonight. Mashed potatoes, gravy, roasted chicken, and veggies. I hope you’re hungry. I expect clean plates.”
“I’m sure we can make that happen.” Jacob grinned when he walked into the kitchen. “Direct us where you need us to go. We’ll make sure the food gets to the table. Allie’s right, by the way. It smells delicious in here.”
To my surprise, he pecked me on the cheek when he walked past me. The girls dissolved into fits of giggles but snapped to attention when I handed over oven mitts and told them which dishes to take out.
We sat down in the dining room with Allie and Katie on one side of the table and Jacob and me on the other. He put his hand on my thigh once he’d dished up, using one hand to eat while keeping the other firmly on me.
“Has Allie told you what happened at school today?” Katie asked us, eyes bright and happy as she glanced at her friend. “It was so funny.”
Allie’s cheeks grew rosy, accentuating the smattering of freckles on the bridge of her nose. “It wasn’t that funny, but I’ll tell you.”
As she grew more animated, her hands started moving and she completely forgot about her food. “Katie and I were playing tag with some of the boys and—”
“It wasn’t the variant of tag with kissing involved, was it?” Jacob growled, arching his brow before giving each of the girls a decidedly stern fatherly look.
They exchanged a disgusted look, both of them scrunching up their noses. Allie frowned at her dad. “No, what even is that? Who would we kiss?”
“No one.” Jacob relaxed back on his chair, making soothing circles with his fingers on my knee. “Continue. I just wanted to make sure I didn’t need to get out a rifle.”
“No rifles necessary,” I said. “I think we still have a few years before you need to oil those up.”
“Why are you two talking about rifles?” Katie asked, scooting forward. “Allie and I climbed up in a tree and we got surrounded. She accidentally spat on Megan Oswell’s head. That’s all.”
“I didn’t spit on her,” Allie argued. “My mouth was just open while I was hanging on the branch trying to scope our way out. It just fell.”
“Megan made such a scene that everyone scattered and we could get down safely,” Katie said, holding up her hand to high-five her friend.
Allie slapped her palm before beaming and shrugging one shoulder. “It really was an accident, but we won the game because of it.”
“And to think she once cried because a plastic doll got bubbles on her foot in a bubble bath,” Jacob said solemnly before lifting his wine glass. “Cheers to you, young winners. We’ve come a long way from crying over bubbles.”
The girls clinked their water glasses against his, grinning at each other before taking a swig. Allie tucked into her food with more gusto than I thought such a little person could, chatting to us after she swallowed each mouthful.
“We have a test on Monday,” she complained. “Katie said she’d help me study, but I suck at math.”
“You don’t suck at it,” Katie said calmly. “You just need more practice. Ms. Davidson really rushes over stuff sometimes.”
“Ms. Davidson,” they said in unison and rolled their eyes.
Jacob and I both reminded them about being respectful toward their teachers and earned a “sorry” before they carried on talking. It was the first meal we’d had together at home except for Thanksgiving, but it felt exactly like a family meal.
We laughed and bickered, ate, drank, and laughed some more. Jacob kept going on and on about how good the food was, clearing three plates before he finally pushed his cutlery together.
“I don’t think I could eat another bite. That was incredible. Thank you, Laurie.”
“It was delicious,” Allie agreed. “Dad’s a terrible cook, so our usual dinners are either takeout or the instant kind you just need to warm up.”
I laughed. “He can’t be such a terrible cook. Thanksgiving was pretty good.”
“It was catered,” she said. “Just like it is every year.”
Jacob tossed a wadded-up napkin in her direction. “Stop giving away my secrets.”
When dinner was over, we cleared the table together and Jacob rinsed the dishes before loading them in the dishwasher. It was still early, so I turned to them and clapped my hands. “How do you guys feel about a movie night? We have popcorn.”
The kids squealed and nodded. When I glanced at Jacob, he just smiled. “Wh
atever you girls want, you get. Go pick the movie. I’ll be out as soon as I’m done.”
Chapter 34
Jacob
Laurie and the girls fell asleep on the sofa. The movie credits had rolled ages ago, but I stayed right where I was because I didn’t want to wake them. It felt so darn good to be there like that with them—even though Laurie had fallen asleep on my arm and Allie on my lap.
Half my body had pins and needles, but I still wasn’t willing to move. Being there like that was too satisfying, too peaceful. It was a foreign feeling to me to be so content while not doing anything, but it was deeply satisfying in more ways than one.
Usually, I was always on the go. Busy.
Between work and Allie, there hadn’t been much time for me to just be quiet and still in the last few years. I’d come to associate being happy with being productive, but I wasn’t doing anything productive right then and there was a bone-deep feeling of quiet joy coursing through me.
Spending time with Laurie and Katie made me feel like our family was finally rounded out. Complete.
After Shannon left, I thought I’d never feel that way again. Not that I’d ever had a moment like that with her. Before Allie was born, we used to be close. It never felt quite like this, but we had some good times together. Once the baby came into the picture, however, she started distancing herself.
We also hadn’t been close in the same way that I felt to Laurie right then. Our relationship had been go, go, go all the time. There had never been moments of intimacy quite like this one, where everyone was relaxed, sleepy, and happy to just be where they were.
Shannon didn’t do relaxing in front of the TV after a movie night and dinner at home. She needed activity, to see and be seen. When she started distancing herself from us, I’d thought at first that she only needed time to adapt to having to be at home with the baby more often than she was out on the town.
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