“Well, she has us now,” I stated. Keeley might not be ready for anything serious—I couldn’t blame her after getting out of a marriage like hers—but we were ready. We wanted more.
“Yeah, she does.” Spencer smiled and held his hands out to Hannah. "You want up, sunshine?”
“Up, up!” she replied, and I reached for the towel as Spencer picked her up. He stopped with her halfway out of the water when she shook her head violently. “No. Water di-peer.”
“What’s that, Hannah? Can you show me?” Spencer put her down, and she reached for the plug, then threw it out of the bath.
The water gurgled down the drain, and Hannah stomped in it, splashing water everywhere. “Water di-peer.”
Spencer laughed. “It does disappear,” he encouraged.
Hannah lifted her arms up, and we wrapped her in the towel, then picked the wriggly worm up and took her into her bedroom. The window was wide open, the blinds pulled back, and the room smelled of lemon disinfectant. Spencer dressed her in a diaper and T-shirt and said, “Bray’s got some lunch for us. Do you want some lunch, Hannah?”
“Mmm,” she hummed and rubbed her belly.
“Y’all’re feeling better,” I drawled.
We went into the kitchen, and I unwrapped the subs, plated them up, then searched the refrigerator for something to drink. There was a pitcher of what looked like pulpy orange juice, so I poured a few glasses of it.
Spencer had Hannah strapped into the high chair in a few quick seconds and then was at the stovetop boiling eggs and making toast to go with a serving of avocado, chicken, and banana. He set the food down in front of Hannah, and she powered through it, eating like she hadn't touched a thing in days.
I watched, marveling at the confident way he cracked open the soft-boiled egg and cut it into pieces, blew on it to cool it, then added the egg and toast strips to Hannah’s high chair tray.
“How do y’all know what to feed her?” I asked.
He shrugged and grinned. “I remember seeing what my cousins ate when they were little.”
“Y’all're kind of amazing. You know that, right?” I asked.
Spencer’s cheeks flushed, and his smile turned soft. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled him to me. He slipped his arms around my shoulders and tangled his fingers into my hair, then nuzzled our noses together.
My eyes fell closed at the tender move. I pressed a kiss to the pink stain on his cheek and brushed my thumb over the other one. “Love you,” I whispered.
“Love you, too, Texas.” He tilted his head, gesturing to Keeley. “Why don’t you go and wake up our lady so she can eat something too. That coffee you made her was the first thing she'd had all day. I was gonna to make her something, but she fell asleep before I could ask what she wanted.”
“She’ll be starving.” I pressed a lingering kiss to Spencer’s lips and reluctantly pulled out of his embrace.
I went into the living room, eased myself onto the sofa next to Keeley, and brushed a piece of hair off her face. “Keeley, darlin’, are y’all hungry?”
She blinked her eyes open and rubbed them, then yawned, her hand slapping over her mouth as she did. “Oh my God, I can’t believe I fell asleep.” Her stomach rumbled, and she flushed a pretty pink. She sat up and pressed her fingertips to her eyes like she had a headache.
“Hannah,” she gasped and looked around the room.
“Eatin’ in her high chair,” I explained. “Spencer’s watching her.”
Her shoulders immediately relaxed, and she smiled. “He’s really good with her,” she whispered.
“It’s so hot,” I rumbled.
“God, isn’t it?” She grinned and flicked her gaze to the doorway leading to the kitchen.
“Let’s go stare at his ass,” I suggested.
Keeley smiled at me, but it was slightly off. She still looked tired, and her eyes were dull, with dark smudges under them, but the edge of frantic panic was no longer clinging to her. Pride surged in me. We’d been there for her when she’d needed us. Lord, I wanted to keep her. Hannah too.
sixteen
Keeley
