Page 128 of This Wild Heart

He broke the gaze to pull the first board down.

My dad misses you, and he couldn’t go any longer without telling you.

The second board joined the first.

(He’s really impatient, but he’s working on that.)

The third fell to the floor.

You’re his best friend.

The first tear spilled over, and I dropped my hand away from my mouth. Behind me, the girls tittered uncontrollably until Isabel gently admonished them to stay quiet.

He’s always known you were perfect for him, and that was a little scary because he’s never felt that before.

Leo refused to let go of the next board, trying to pull the top one up to his mouth. When the pacifier got in the way, he spit it out.

“Leo, dude, we talked about this,” Parker said quietly, and his voice made my heart skip. He tugged, and Leo let out a loud, angry squawk, yanking on the board until he could start gnawing on the corner.

Parker’s grimace had me smiling through my tears, and when he finally got the next one free of Leo’s grasp, my smile faded.

He’s so sorry he let you leave. He shouldn’t have. He should have fought for you.

Parker’s eyes were glossy with unshed tears too, and I could hardly look away from him to read the next one.

Because you fight for the people you love. You show up and do your best, even if it’s not perfect.

There’s only one person he wants to face life with—the good and the bad and the hard—and that’s you.

He wants to see you every morning. Every night. Every moment in between.

I pinched my eyes shut, tears rolling unchecked down my cheeks. It was like a sunrise bloomed from the center of my chest—almost unbearable warmth seeping straight into my bones.

It was happiness. Relief like I’d never known.

And more than that. It was love.

Sweet love. Passionate love. Wild, wild love that didn’t simply just exist. It was returned, which was the very best kind.

Nothing in the world was better than that.

Behind me, I heard a quiet sniffle. When I opened my eyes, Parker was dashing at his cheek.

I smiled as I started to walk closer. My hands trembled as I cupped Leo’s face and gave him a sweet kiss on his forehead. I breathed in his scent and closed my eyes at the force of how much I’d missed it.

When I lifted my head, Parker looked at me with such intensity that my heart rolled in my chest. I held his gaze, unhooking Leo from the holder so I could do this properly.

“Dad?” I said, not looking back.

“Right here,” he said, voice thick with emotion.

Another tear slid down my cheek as I pulled Leo from the carrier. “Why don’t you come hold your grandson?”

Parker’s eyes flared, his jaw tightening as he slid his hands over my hips, fingers trailing lightly at the skin on my back. My dad took Leo from my hands, and Parker pulled the carrier straps off his shoulder, dumping it onto the ground with the discarded signs.

The moment he was free, his hands were on either side of my face, his thumbs brushing the tears away.

“I love you,” he told me, his eyes searching mine. “Iloveyou, and I don’t ever want to be apart from you like that again. Like living without my heart,” he whispered. “Trust me with yours, golden girl, because you’ve already got mine.”

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