“Well? How’d it go? What did Blake say?”
“He wants us to move in with him. This weekend.”
Josie’s jaw drops. “No way! Are you serious?”
“Dead serious. He said he’s Maddie’s family now. My family. And that we should stay with him.” I shake my head in disbelief. “I can’t wrap my head around it. We haven’t seen each other in over a year and he’s already talking about playing house.”
“Julie, he’s not just talking about it. He straight up told you to move in!” Josie grins. “I knew it. I could tell from the second he laid eyes on you.”
I frown at her, confused. “Tell what?”
“That man is head over heels in love with you, sis.” Josie waggles her eyebrows suggestively. “Did you see the way he was looking at you? Like you hung the damn moon.”
“You’re crazy,” I scoff, but I can’t deny the answering leap of my pulse. The intensity in Blake’s eyes... the fierce possession in his kiss...
“No, you’re the crazy one if you don’t jump on this,” Josie argues. “Julie, when was the last time you did something for yourself? Put yourself first?”
I open my mouth to respond, but she cuts me off.
“Never. The answer is never. You’re always taking care of me, of Maddie. It’s time to take care of you for once.”
Josie’s expression softens as she takes my hands in hers. “You deserve this, sis. You deserve a chance to be happy. Blake clearly wants to give you that. Let him.”
With tears pricking my eyes, I swallow hard past the lump of emotion clogging my throat. Josie’s right. I’ve spent so long just trying to survive to keep our little family afloat. When was the last time I dared to dream of something more?
I glance down at Maddie nestled in my arms. Her chubby cheeks are flushed with sleep and her dark lashes fan across her skin.
My heart swells with a fierce, overwhelming love.
This perfect little girl is my entire world. I would do anything, endure anything, just to see her smile.
The past six months have been the hardest of my life juggling work, a baby, and helping Josie. There were days I didn’t think I’d make it. Days when the exhaustion and stress threatened to pull me under.
But every single time, Maddie was my light in the darkness. Her first smile, her first giggle, the way her tiny hand curls around my finger... She gave me a reason to keep going. To keep fighting.
And now, with Blake...
I think back to the awestruck wonder on his face as he beheld his daughter for the first time. The glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes, the gentle way he cradled her to his broad chest, and the way he looked at me—like I was everything.
“Okay,” I whisper.
Josie’s brow furrows in confusion. “Okay?”
I square my shoulders. “Okay, we’ll stay with Blake. For the weekend, at least. I... I need to see where this goes. If there’s even a chance...”
I trail off, unable to put this riotous tangle of fear and yearning into words. But Josie understands. Of course she does.
Grinning, she throws her arms around me in an exuberant hug, accidentally jostling Maddie in the process. My daughter lets out a mewl of protest before settling back into slumber.
“You won’t regret this,” Josie says fiercely. “I just know it.”
I hug her back just as tightly, blinking away the sudden sting of tears. I hope with every fiber of my being that she’s right and Blake is my chance at happily ever after.
Chapter Four
BLAKE
“I can’t believe it,man. You’re a dad!” Drew shakes his head, a grin spreading across his face.
