He wagged his head. “No, and I’m not about to force myself on him. There are laws against that sort of thing, you know.”
I chuckled, enjoying Joel’s sense of humor even when he was upset about Ace’s lack of communication.
“Let me talk to him.” I went to leave the kitchen, but Joel caught me by the arm.
“Leave it alone, doll,” he said. “He’ll come around when the time comes.” The resignation in his voice saddened me, but I supposed he was right.
“Do you want some pie? I baked sweet potato and apple pie.”
“Trying to grow my waistline, huh?” He patted his flat stomach. “I see you’re still pissed with me, too.”
“No, nothing like that,” I said in horror.
He let out a deep laugh. “I’m messing with you. I’ll take a slice of both to go. I got to head out. Early morning.”
I cut Joel a slice of each kind of pie and a piece of the strawberry cake that Jodi had brought over. I watched as he said his goodbyes to Gabriel and Micah and their families before rustling Aiden’s hair, making him laugh.
I glanced over at Ace to find him looking between Joel and me. I gestured with my head to the back deck.
He met me outside. I pulled out my phone and started playing my Slow Jamsplaylist. Ace didn’t wait for me to ask as he wrapped his arms around my waist. We slow-danced to one of Lena’s songs that came up.
“You need to forgive him, you know,” I said after a long silence.
“The stars look beautiful tonight,” he said, glancing up.
I sucked my teeth and punched his shoulder.
“That kinda hurt,” he joked.
“Good. My husband taught me how to throw a punch a long time ago.”
“He’s a hell of a teacher.” He spun me around to the sounds of Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.”
“He’s the best,” I said when he held me in his arms again. “A little stubborn, though.”
His smile grew. “But you still put up with him.”
I laid my head against his chest. My eyelids slowly closed as I listened to the sound of his heartbeat.
“I want to adopt Aiden.”
I pulled back. “Are you serious?” I searched his eyes and didn’t find a hint of laughter in them. I knew he wouldn’t joke about something as serious as this.
“I love him like he is my own. If something happens to me, I want him to receive all of the benefits from my service that he should be entitled to.”
I looked up into his face and had no idea how I got so lucky at sixteen to meet the love of my life.
“What about Reyes and his biological father?” I hated to ask, but it was a relevant question that we couldn’t avoid.
“Guess it’s my turn to interrupt,” Micah said behind me.
I turned to face my brother-in-law. “Have you heard anything?” I’d wanted to ask ever since he arrived hours earlier, but I pushed my questions aside to focus on family and the holiday.
Micah looked between Ace and me, his face remaining neutral. Though his expression didn’t change much, I got the sense he wasn’t bearing good news.
“You haven’t found Reyes yet.” My shoulders slumped.
“No,” he said flatly.
