We each hand Emmy a dollar for her swear jar.
“Ignore them,” Olivia says to Callie. “They’re always like this.”
Pops chuckles. “Do you have any siblings, Callie?”
“No.” She moves some of the noodles around her plate with her fork. “It’s just me.”
My gut twists with an instinctual need to comfort her. Without a second thought, I reach over and squeeze her hand. I expect her to pull away. Instead, she flips her hand and laces her fingers with mine. My body reacts like I’m a giddy teenager with his first crush. I glide my thumb over the back of her hand and watch as the tension leaves her body.
Olivia gives me a look of understanding and swoops in with the save. “Emmy has not stopped talking about story time. Have you always wanted to be a librarian?”
Callie pulls her hand away and dabs a napkin at the corner of her mouth. “For as long as I can remember. I’ve always loved reading. There’s nothing like falling into a whole new world without ever having to travel anywhere. It’s like knowing no matter where you are, you can always go home.”
There’s a subtle upward tilt to her brow when she saysthis, like home isn’t a place, but a feeling. I want to show her it can be both.
Callie
Liv hands me a glass of wine as we sit side by side in the den. Jaxon’s on the floor in front of the fireplace with a tiara on his head and a set of toddler-sized fairy wings on his back, while Emmy fans out a superhero cape and runs around him in circles. Gracie’s sitting in his lap, giggling at her sister as she makes another round.
Liv sinks back into the couch with a ragged sigh. “Thank god for Jax.”
I smile and bring the glass to my lips. “He’s great with them.”
“They all are. I couldn’t have asked for a better family for my kids to grow up in.”
I love the way she says ‘kids’ without singling out Emmy. Emmy isn’t Liv’s biological child, but she doesn’t treat her any differently. I often wondered if Rodney would’ve been as harsh if we were his, but Rodney was a monster. I’m not sure anything would’ve made a difference.
Jaxon holds Gracie up in the air like an airplane, and she lets out a high-pitched squeal. My chest aches. I don’t remember a single moment of pure joy from my childhood. That’s the thing about trauma, I guess. When you block out the bad stuff, all the good memories tend to go with it. Or maybe they never existed in the first place.
Jaxon’s gaze meets mine from across the room, and his crooked grin stops me in my tracks. All thoughts of anguish dissipate when he looks at me like that. I take another sip of the wine and hold the glass to my chest to dull the blooming heat.
“You guys bang it out yet?” Liv asks.
Wine spews from my mouth into my glass. “What?”
“He’s got it bad,” she says, drawing out the last syllable. “That’s the look of a man ready to beg for it.”
I dab at my chin with my sleeve. “You’re hallucinating. Maybe you should see a doctor.”
“Or maybe you need to upgrade your prescription lenses.” She pushes my glasses farther up my nose. “Wilder still looks at me like that sometimes. It makes my stomach all fluttery.”
A gruff voice comes from behind us. “Mm. Is that so?”
“You have a bad habit of sneaking up on a girl, Wilder Hayes.”
“Did I make your stomach all fluttery, honey?”
“Yes,” she says breathlessly as he kisses down the side of her neck. “Time to go home?”
“Fuck yes,” he whispers. “I have plans to make another part of you flutter.”
“Ok. I think that’s my cue to leave.” I down the rest of my wine and stand. “You two have fun with that. I have a date with a very nice bathtub.”
“And a shower head, I hope,” Liv says.
I purse my lips together to stifle a smile. “That is none of your business.”
But it’s not the worst idea, I must admit.
