It took a few steps before Logan answered. “You’re right.”
“He’s different now,” Drew said as he jutted his chin towards his father.
I wanted to butt in and point out the obvious—that Oliver was finally moving on to the next stage of his life with someone he cared about cheering him on—but I opted to let them figure it out for themselves.
The three of us watched Oliver and Candace lead the pack. We were all still dressed for the office party in business attire, but Oliver had his jacket draped over his shoulder and his tie loosened. Candace had kicked off her pumps and had them dangling from her fingertips. No surprise, his three sons were still buttoned up, like they were ready to head back to the negotiating table at a moment’s notice.
But that was what they’d signed on for. And I knew that it was the life they loved. The best part was that Drew now knew how to find a balance between his Windsor-knot daily life and his soft t-shirt snuggly couch nights with me.
Which had become our nightly ritual.
For someone who seemed like he never stopped working, Drew clearly loved unplugging the minute we walked in the door. It was almost like having me and Win there reminded him that life needed to be lived.
And yeah, Win and I had basically moved in. Poppy’s house was polished up and waiting for whatever we decided to do next, but for now we were happy to stay at Drew’s.
Noah ran over to us with his shirt now hanging around his neck like a wreath, the buttons half-opened. “Daddy, I want to swim!”
“You know where Papa keeps the extra suits. Go into the cabana and change, then wait for us to get to the pool before you go in.”
“Will you swim too?” Noah clasped his hands under his chin. “All of you?”
I waited for Drew to give an excuse.
“You know it, bud,” he answered instead. “Your dad and uncles will, I’m not so sure about the ladies.” He leaned closer to the boy. “It’s a hair thing.”
I smacked him in the stomach. “Excuse me? When have you ever known me to be prissy about getting my hair wet? Inevermiss a chance to swim.” I leaned down to look Noah in the eyes as he skipped along in front of us. “Are there suits for grown-up ladies in the cabana?”
Drew huffed a laugh. “You don’t even know. My mom had a connection at Lily Pulitzer and they still send us the latest line every summer, with each suit in their full range of sizes. I’m sure you can find something that works for you.”
“I’m not exactly a Lily girl – too much pink and green – but I’ll make it work,” I answered.
Drew kissed the top of my head again. “And I’m sure you’ll look gorgeous no matter what you choose.”
“Let’s go! Last one in is a stinky poo-poo dog doody!” Noah yelled, then took off running for the cabana.
“Hey,language,” Logan called after him, hiding a smile. He shook his head. “That kid.”
“You’ve got a good one,” Drew agreed. “And I bet little Miss Scarlet is going to be just as much of a spitfire.”
Logan looked over at us. “What about you guys? Feeling that pull to give me another niece or nephew? Noah keeps begging for a little brother, but he’s sure not getting one from me, so I’m hoping to bribe him with some more cousins, instead.”
Drew choked out a laugh. “Whoa, there. Pump the brakes.”
But I knew the truth. Those nights on the couch that turned into epic conversations about our future. Talking about our hopes and dreams, what we loved, what we wanted to change about our lives, our bodacious, pie-in-the-sky dreams, who we were to one another, and where we saw ourselves in thirty years
And family.
Which was why I knew that Drew was very,veryready to consider fatherhood. The timing wasn’t right yet for what we had going on in our lives, but just knowing that we shared that same vision filled of the future me with hope.
It was down the line, but for now?
In this moment we could both enjoy the warmth of a family finding their way back to one another as we forged our own path together.
35
EMILIA
Ethan had scheduled the meeting for me using the hotel code for VIPs; “John and Jane Doe” were coming in for an exploratory walk through. I’d sent him an email reply asking for clarification, because how could I be prepared withoutsomeidea as to who I’d be meeting? Young content creators looking to make a splash expected a different sort of grounds tour compared to middle aged investment bankers planning their third wedding.
