“Here we go. We have apple and cranberry.” Lynda returned with two juice boxes, and she held them out for Hallie to pick first.
The little girl sat forward a bit and picked the pink one. “Thank you,” she mumbled shyly.
“You’re very welcome, Hallie.” Lynda handed me the apple one. “I’ll be in the kitchen with my crossword puzzle if you need anything, okay?”
“Yes, ma’am.” I inclined my head.
Hallie had no issues sticking the straw into her juice box.
Lynda disappeared again.
I extended my juice box to Hallie. “You did that so well. Can you help me with mine?”
She quirked a hint of a smile at that, and she accepted the juice box.
“I always break the straw,” I chuckled quietly.
She ducked her head, her hair falling forward like a curtain, and she returned the juice box to me with the straw in.
“Thank you very much.” I took a sip, and my phone vibrated at the same time.
A response from Ash.
We’ll talk to Ma and Colleen after. My guess is that we’ll visit the kids for a few days. You might as well cancel your sessions for Monday and Tuesday too. When we’re not here, you and I are house hunting. We’ll call the bank first thing Monday morning.
A rush of excitement hit me—because we were, as always, on the same page. We were going to fight.
“I like chocolate milk too.” Her voice was barely louder than a whisper, yet it captured my attention as if she’d screamed.
I put down my phone and turned to her. “It’s delicious, isn’t it?”
She bobbed her head and drank her juice.
I wanted to give her all the chocolate milk in the world.
“Ash loves it too. He would drink it all the time if he could, day and night.”
That earned me a blush and the quickest of smiles.
I’ll never forget that night. We stayed at your parents’ house, and the moment we were alone in one of the guest rooms, we didn’t let each other go. We didn’t speak for at least an hour either. We couldn’t. Our minds had entered the race of a lifetime in order to make this work. It was everything we wanted. We wanted to be their parents.
Instead of using words, we reminded each other with touch. When I sighed, you squeezed me harder on the bed. When I sensed your restlessness, I cupped your cheek and pressed my lips to your jaw.
We always charged our batteries together.
CHAPTER 5
Six years ago
Arlington
Ash Riley
“Don’t forget your backpack, honey.”
“Oh, shoot!” Hallie grabbed her pack before I shut the door.
“Do you really think Dad can fix the banister before we get home?” Dylan asked, shouldering his own backpack.
