At least that’s what I wished Autumn saw it as when she lay to rest or play there.
But the reason it made me gooey inside was when I looked around at the cream walls, the sprawling trees, with intriguing branches twisting and turning, as colorful leaves trickled and swirled to the ground, a sunset showcased behind it all with Autumn scrolled in the beautiful light sky, was because of how it ended up on the walls in the first place.
“I still can’t believe your friends did this,” I told Lyric.
“Sweetheart, not my friends.Ourfriends.” He cupped my cheek in his hand and his piercing eyes looked straight into the depths of my soul. “It's not just you and me, it’sus.And we together have a whole clan of people that care.”
He was right. They did care. A lot. When the ladies had asked about me joining one of their sleepovers, I had to decline. I was too busy and I told them what was going on. Within days of the news, they had shown up at the house with Alley’s husband Landon in tow. They’d told me about his art and he’d said he’d love to paint Autumn’s room for me. When I’d come home one day to see the finished product, I gasped.
It was incredible and so damn sweet what they’d done.
“I’m not used to this,” I whispered.
“I know, baby, but please get used to it. I don’t want you worrying about me. You make me happy.”
I closed my eyes, letting the heat from his hand still on my face seep in. “You make me happy too. But I’m scared.” My voice came out shaky.
“You will see that one day you don’t have to be. But it’s okay to have all your feelings. I’m getting one piece of your heart at a time and while I want it all, I can wait as long as it takes for that to happen.”
My eyes opened. He was such an incredible, patient man and I wanted to be able to give him all of me.
His thumb caressed my face as he kept talking. “I want you to know that I know things have gone fast. You have walls up for a reason. I had a few myself, but they came crashing down when you ran into my life. I will wait however long it takes for you to realize I’m not going to leave you. And our friends aren’t going to leave you.” He eased my face closer to his and gave me a quick, soft kiss.
I took a deep breath, needing to say something after he’d said so much, but the alarm went off alerting us that someone was on the property. Lyric pulled out his phone and pulled up the app that showed him all the cameras.
“Speaking of friends,” he said with a big grin on his face. He dropped his hand from my cheek and turned the phone around to face me.
Gramps yelled from the front room. “Angel, your posse is here.”
I couldn’t stifle the laughter and it rolled out of me. “Did he just say posse?” I asked Lyric.
“That he did. Let’s see what’s up.”
He placed his palm in mine and I looked down at our joined hands. That was another first for me. I didn’t hold hands with guys. It felt personal, sweet, and like a relationship.
It was like a lightning bolt hit me.
I was in a relationship. My first. And God I hoped my only.
When I glanced back up at Lyric, he grinned. “You like my hand in yours, Red?”
My heart beat wildly. “Yup.”
I was saved from any more intimate conversation as I heard the women's voices echoing down the hall. And then I heard Embry chatting excitingly with Gramps. She was a pistol and too damn adorable. When she grew up her daddy and uncles were going to have their hands full.
Embry had come with the ladies the last time. She and my grandpa bonded in a split second. She stole the old man’s heart in the blink of an eye. And Jett. Well she might just have a slight crush on him and he certainly took to her, but she informed him and everyone else that she was already spoken for.
Yup, those were her words.
That hadn’t stopped her from wanting to watch him sing and Jett had graciously taken her out to do that. She loved singing with her uncles such as Gyth who played guitar and I’d heard had a magical voice. His wife Summer practically swooned just talking about it.
We made our way out where everyone stood and my gaze caught on all the bags in the ladies’ hands. They of course didn’t get to say anything before Embry swooped in. She ran up to me, wrapping her little arms around my legs, and looked up at me with a huge smile on her face.
“We brought Autumn presents,” she exclaimed.
My breath hitched and my eyes widened as I looked at Embry. “That is so sweet of you, sweet girl.”
“I even got to take money from the swear jar and pick out my own gift for her. But don’t worry daddy and the guys say a lot of bad words so it will build back up in no time at all.”
