“Which means I might be embarrassed if I knew what was said though I’m positive I could guess some of it.” She turned to her father. “Dad, I appreciate the support and protection. I let you have your moment because you mean well, but I’m old enough to handle things.”
“You said that with Tucker too,” her father argued.
“I should have listened more, but not everything was horrible. It happened, it’s over with, I’ve got a wonderful son out of it, and we are moving on.”
She slipped her arm around his waist and Jayce nudged her a little closer to his side.
“We are,” he said. “I’m not Tucker. I’ll never be him.”
“Nope. Let’s go play with Archer before he loses his patience.” She pulled him away from her parents. “Sorry about that. I think it might have gotten out of hand, right?”
“No. They love you and are concerned.”
“I told them there isn’t anything to be concerned about. We’ve got a good thing going and it’s moving in the right direction. I went fast before; I’m not again.”
Heard loud and clear there. Which made him not want to express his love either.
Maybe she didn’t feel the same way and it was for the best. Everyone was so worried about Farrah getting hurt, but he was wondering if he was the one who would come out with the aches and pains.
32
MOVING SLOW
“Where’s Jayce?” Archer asked. They’d just pulled into Bull City for dinner. She didn’t like going out to eat during the week. There was just too much going on and Archer had school tomorrow.
“He’s on his way,” she said. “He’s meeting us here.”
They’d barely had time for her to get Archer from the after-school program, shower and change and leave again. Jayce was coming right from work.
“It’s my birthday dinner. No one can be late.”
“I know,” she said, turning to look at him in the back seat. “He’s not late. We are a few minutes early.”
Her son frowned. “But you said we were running late.”
“I said that to get your butt in gear.”
“So you lied?”
“It was a little motivational lie. It doesn’t count.”
“So I can do that when I want something?”
Crap. This was one of those parenting traps to bite her in the butt.
“Nope. Not until you’re a parent yourself.”
“No fair,” Archer said, frowning.
“Life isn’t always fair.”
“There’s Jayce,” Archer said, already fumbling with his seatbelt. She unbuckled too, knowing her son was seconds from bolting straight toward her boyfriend.
Boyfriend. The word slid easily enough through her mind, but in her heart…it was heavier, messier, deeper than that.
And yet she’d been the one to slam on the brakes and insist she liked moving slow.
How did you backpedal from that? How did you look at a man who had become your anchor, your safe place, and suddenly admit you loved him after you’d already dumped ice water on what could have been the perfect moment?
