Zoey kneels on her seat and leans over Chad. “I like spending time with Ivy.”
Scarlett beams at me and gives me a hug. “Me too. Do you want to be our nanny too? Then we could have two nannies. That would be so much fun.”
I burst into laughter. “Do you think Carlie needs help being your nanny?” I ask, grateful the conversation has moved on past how much Chad and I like each other. At least she didn’t ask me to be her mommy or something. Things could have gotten dicey.
Scarlett goes back to coloring. “Sometimes Carlie says she needs another Carlie to help with all the stuff. You could be like another Carlie to help out Daddy.”
Carlie snickers from in front of me. “With benefits,” I hear her whisper. I reach through the space between her and Law’s seats and flick her shoulder. She and Law laugh harder.
“I’m not sure I can be as cool of a nanny as Carlie. How about I just be your friend who helps out sometimes?” I pull out the bag of Skittles I always take on flights to make sure my ears pop, and offer Scarlett some, then pass the bag to Chad to share with them.
Law mutters something to Carlie about ifI’mgoing to call Chad daddy, and I flick him as hard as I can. “Gross,” I hiss at him. His grin widens.
See what I mean about him being like my brother?
“I think that sounds like a great idea,” Chad says, but evenhis voice is tinged with amusement. At least someone thinks Carlie and Law’s jokes are amusing.
Once we land in Houston, there’s a big SUV that Law hired waiting to take us home. The driver drops off Chad first. He waves at Carlie to stay put when she moves to slide out to help him put the girls to bed.
“I can handle bedtime. I’m not on call until the morning.” When the girls are turned away, pulling their adorable little carry-on suitcases up the sidewalk to the front door, he leans in and plants a quick kiss on my cheek. “See you later.”
“Yeah,” I whisper, sliding my hand down his arm before he pulls away to hurry after the girls.
When I’m settled in the first-floor guest room of Law’s house, lounging on the bed with my ankle propped up on some extra pillows, I call one of my closest life-coach friends, a woman who I went through training with right after I graduated from college.
“Hey, Ivy, how was Denver?” Allie asks when she answers. Though she lives in Florida, we text each other all the time. She knew I’d be mostly radio silent over Christmas since I was going to see Law. The way Law needed to change our relationship after meeting Carlie was something Allie and I discussed at length as she helped me process my feelings, even when I knew it was the right move for Law.
“Amazing, actually,” I say. “It’s kind of why I called. I need to do a check-in to make sure I didn’t just jump into a relationship the same way I did with Caleb last spring.”
“Withwho?” Allie asks, her tone filled with shock.
“Did I ever talk about Chad Harrell with you? He’s Law’s neighbor, and they’re really good friends.”
She hums. “The name sounds familiar.”
“He’s a single dad and has these two amazing little girls.”
“Oh, right!” Allie says. “The ones Law’s girlfriend takes care of.”
“Yup. She got stuck in Houston for an extra day, and I ended up helping Chad out and … connecting with him.”
“Ahhh. And you’re calling to check that you’re ready to date and not just telling yourself you are because he’s a good kisser.”
“Mmmmm,” I say, thinking of the way he pressed me up against the door again after he carried me to the library at Ava and Gabriella’s rental. I shiver thinking about it. “Heisa really good kisser.”
Allie laughs. “Okay, setting that aside. What do you like most about the potential with Chad—the kissing, or …?” She leaves the sentence open for me.
“The future.” The answer springs to my lips automatically. “It excites me to think about it. When Caleb and I said we were going to elope, it was kind of thrilling. To be doing something so spontaneous. And honestly, we could have worked just fine.”
Allie hums an agreement but doesn’t say more.
“But this …” I close my eyes and remember the way Scarlett and Zoey curled up in my lap at the game and fell asleep. “I should be scared that I’m dating someone with two kids, but … I’m not. I’m excited.”
“I can hear it in your voice,” Allie says. “Is your relationship with Malcolm still sticking with you, the way it was when you started dating Caleb?”
I laugh at that. When Malcolm confronted me at the game, once I’d told him I was okay and we should move on, it was like I knew it was the truth for the first time. “Nope. I saw Malcolm at the game.”
Allie gasps. “And …?”
