Knowing a longer goodbye with lead to a tantrum, I get up and help Jess
“Why, thank you,” she says as I help her into her coat.
I steal a quick kiss while she wraps the scarf around her neck. Myles and River giggle like it’s the funniest thing they’ve ever seen.
I smile and usher everyone toward the door.
I can’t believe there was once a time I thought I’d never have this again.
Chapter Two
Jess
“No,” I say flatly.
Three faces scrunch up in identical disbelief.
“Pleeease.”
I briefly wish one of my children were begging me with folded hands, but alas, I chose to marry him.
“I said no. Put it back.”
Pouting, Logan lifts the box that’s bigger than our youngest and places it back on the shelf, muttering under his breath that Doritos are basically health food.
I roll my eyes and push the cart forward. “Grab the smaller one,” I toss over my shoulder.
A second later, the box thumps into the cart, followed by a kiss pressed to my cheek.
Shaking my head, I head toward the cereal aisle.
Logan immediately beelines for the sugary options, then hesitates, sidesteps, and reaches for oats and berries.
I smile.
I’d forgotten why I stopped bringing him shopping. He always acts like a menace. No one will believe that the man who scares former seals and rangers, literally begs for Doritos.
At the self-checkout, I glance at our cart, practically overflowing. And not the regular kind either. The jumbo one I could barely push once it was halfway full.
“Do you think we went overboard?” I ask.
“Nah,” Logan says easily, bagging items into the reusable totes I always keep in the trunk.
“How did it go in Florida?” I ask.
He shrugs. “Vinnie did good. I’d prefer the employees not shoot anyone, but there were security cameras, and he was cleared pretty quickly. The police here finally agreed to give the client that restraining order too.”
I frown. “I thought those were pretty easy to get.”
“They’re supposed to be,” he says. “You still need approval, which sounds fair on paper. But not when the person stalking you is former police.”
I frown. “He’s going to jail, right?”
“Oh yeah,” Logan says. “The order’s just to stop him from contacting her from inside.”
I nod, relieved.
Once we’re done, Logan whistles for the kids, who are pressed up against the aquarium like it’s the most magical thing they’ve ever seen.
