My heart was on fire.
Just this little boy’s existence gave me a reason to breathe. To have the chance to know him, to be in his life, was another gift entirely.
I didn’t know how long Jack’s dad would let Fallon and me get to know Jack, but for as long as he was willing, I would take it.
By the time Fallon and I left that night, our bellies were full of fried chicken and chocolate cake and sweet tea.
“He looks just like you,” Fallon murmured once we’d slid into the cab of his truck.
“But the way he acts, his mannerisms, they’re all you.” My grin split my face, a tiny shriek finally vibrating from my throat. I clutched both of Fallon’s hands in mine, wiggling in my spot at his side, heart threatening to leap right out of my chest and fly away from me.
“He’s a great kid.”
“With such a great life,” I agreed, eyes turning up to the big house we’d just spent the better part of eight hours in.
“And Calvin is nice,” Fallon commented, voice lowering, mind losing itself in thoughts he wasn’t going to share.
I fell silent, the engine of the truck starting up before Fallon eased away from the house that’d held all my hopes and dreams for so long. Moonlight glinted off the glittery Elvis keychain, the only thing I could bear to focus on as I thought about the next time I might see our son, how many more firsts I would miss.
A few sad and stubborn tears leaked out of my eyes before I halted them, refusing to dwell on the time I’d lost, trying my damnedest to live in this moment.
I cuddled a little closer to Fallon, his ability to be attuned to me so sharp that his hand fell on my leg on instinct, giving me a few warm and reassuring squeezes before settling there.
Something about being beside him, his big body eating up the space around me, making me feel so small and fragile in comparison ensured I felt safe, at home, protected, and loved.
Fallon had done nothing but love all the dark and scary parts of me from the beginning.
Even then, there’d been so much I was running away from, so much I was searching for, an aimless soul looking for an anchor.
“Thank you for bringing me here,” I whispered, gratitude seeping through my body. “I never could have faced any of this without you. You were always the other piece of my past, the missing part I needed to put all of this together.”
“I’ll be at your side till the day I take my last breath, Augusta Belle. Whether you’re ready for it or not.”
I tucked in a little closer to the man who had given me so much life, every moment I was with him more inspiring, more fulfilled.
“I’m ready for more than you think I am.”
THIRTY
Fallon
“So lemme get this straight. You actually wonawards…forswimming?” Jack’s wide cognac eyes grew as if the notion were downright unbelievable, beach towel under one arm as we walked the dirt path to Landry’s only swimming hole.
“Bet your life, she did,” I chimed in, winking at Augusta Belle.
We’d been in town for over two weeks now, the quarters at Landry’s finest roadside motel becomin’ a little cramped. But all the quality time with Jack well worth the squeeze.
And Augusta.
Every day since the one we’d had our reckoning under the magnolia trees somewhere between here and Jackson had been as damn near close to perfect as any I’d had. Augusta just had that way of shakin’ up things, enough adventure to keep you on your toes and pushin’ for just a little more.
Augusta was my more.
Always had been.
I’d finally just gotten around to showin’ her that, every moment I had with her.
And now we were blessed with Jack, the wildly hilarious, unbelievably sarcastic eight-year-old who seemed to be adjusting to his new extended family shockingly well.
