His eyes are back on mine, and he sighs, rubbing a hand down my arm.
“I paid off your house.”
My mouth opens to protest, but he reaches and puts a finger to my lips.
“I told you I made wise investments. I thought maybe we could turn it into an AirBnb. Lord knows this town could use one.”
This makes me laugh and my mind goes back to Austin sleeping in his van last summer when the motel overbooked.
“When you say wise investments, what exactly do you mean? Am I entering my billionaire romance era?”
Tyler huffs a laugh. “Not quite. Would you settle for a bit less?” Then he hesitates, eyes sweeping over my face and he looks away. “Jo, I don’t plan on being one of those couples who have separate bank accounts. What’s mine is yours, so you’ll see it anyway. I’m worth a lot. I don’t need much to be happy. If I didn’t work another day, we’d still be set. Paying off your house was no big deal.”
My eyes widen, brows lifted.
Tyler kisses my shoulder, stretches, and rolls to climb from bed. “Shake a leg, Jo. We’ve got a lot to do.”
Tyler doesn’t have many groceries yet, so the plan is to collect Abby and Jay and have breakfast with them at Jackson’s diner.I’ll have to swear Jackson to secrecy, because he’s so damn nosy and I want Penny to hear it from me first.
We dress quickly, and make the drive to Lisa and Greg’s house. I shoot a quick text to Lisa to tell her we’re coming early for Jay, then I call Amelia’s mom to tell her we’re picking Abby up for breakfast, then she can return.
Lisa eyes me suspiciously from her front porch when Jay runs out to hop in the car.
“I’ll text you later!” I shout. “Promise.”
She’s most likely guessed what’s going on, but she’ll want all the details.
Abby is grumpy when she slides in the back seat. I’m sure she and Amelia stayed up half the night. She answers in clipped one-word responses when I try chatting about her night with Amelia, but she perks up when Tyler turns into the diner parking lot.
Tyler holds the door open for us and we file in, taking a seat in a booth by the window. Abby and Jay sit on one side, and Tyler and I take the other side. Seconds later, Jackson strolls over wearing a shit-eating grin and hands each of us a menu. We place our drink order, and Jackson steps away, giving me a thumbs-up on his way.
“Abby, Jay.” I look at Abby first, then Jay when I speak. “Tyler and I need to tell you both something.”
Abby’s face goes from apprehension, to confusion, until I wiggle my finger and her face splits into a smile.
“You two are getting married?”
She squeals with glee. I nod, and Tyler looks to Jay.
“That okay with you, bud?”
Jay’s face scrunches up, and I can see the wheels turning. “Will we live with you?”
Tyler nods. “Of course.”
“Can I bring everything from my bedroom?”
“Jaybird, we’ll take everything. You’ll have a brand new bedroom, but with your stuff in it,” I explain.
Jay seems satisfied because he nods and lifts his hand to fist bump Tyler.
“Wait, one more thing. Will this make you my and Abby’s dad? I mean, I know what a stepdad is, but you’ll be, like, our real dad since we don’t have one, right?”
The way he asks it, so direct and to the point, slices through me.
Tyler looks to me and clears his throat. “Jay, how would you feel if I adopted you? Then I’d be youractualreal dad.”
Jay’s brows come together and he turns to look at Abby.
