Page 36 of Only One I Ever Wanted

She moaned.

I kissed her forehead and slipped out from under her. “Stay. I’ll just go out and see what’s going on.”

“’Kay,” she said softly and wrapped herself around my pillow, one long leg peeking from the sheets.

“Damn.” Quickly, I tugged on a pair of basketball shorts and rushed out, closing the door behind me.

Danny was at the table, a half gallon of milk tipped over and cereal scattered over the river of milk. He swung terrified eyes my way. “I’m sorry. I tried to make Cocoa Puffs, and it slipped.” Huge tears filled his eyes as his hands fisted.

“Hey, it’s okay. Mistakes happen.” I grabbed the glugging carton and righted it, then I pulled him close, and I kissed the top of his head.

“Sorry. I’m sorry.” He kept saying it over and over again.

I crouched down until we were eye to eye. “Hey. Seriously, it’s okay.”

His thin shoulders heaved as the sobs came like a storm.

I crushed him tight to my chest. “It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.”

I had a strong feeling it was more than just spilled milk. Whenever he made a mistake, he would either freeze or freak out which told me that Mindy probably reacted badly. Kids were chaotic and messy and full of mistakes.

Trouble wiggled under the table and started licking up the milk, making Danny’s sobs turn to giggles.

“Okay, let’s just get this cleaned up. I’ll pick up some milk when I’m out.” I capped what was left of the half gallon jug after I grabbed the roll of paper towels standing in the middle of the table.

He nodded when I handed him a wad of towels and started cleaning the floor while I cleaned the table. I saw a flash of blond out of the corner of my eye as I turned. “Hey. Just a little mishap.”

She smiled. “Happens to the best of us.” She crossed to the fridge, wearing one of my baseball shirts which flirted with the middle of her thighs. Her hair was mussed, and she looked so much like the teen Nora I remembered that it was a gut punch. “How about I make us scramble eggs and toast?”

Danny glanced up at me. “She cooks?”

I laughed. “Evidently.” I smiled at her, then I looked down at him. He nodded emphatically.“We’d love that.”

“Good.”

She looked so at ease in my house and with my boy. Danny slowly inched into the kitchen to watch.

“Want to see how I do it?”

He nodded and moved beside her.

She pushed his hair out of his eyes, and he didn’t shy away. If I wasn’t already in love with her—and I damn well knew I was, had been for more years than I ever wanted to own up to—then I would have been after seeing that.

I finished cleaning up and made a mental note to pick up eggs, as well as milk. And from the lone heel in the bread bag, that was also on the list.

We raced through our meal as my phone reminded me it was time to leave for school. I would be lost without the various alarms I set for myself. Working for myself meant a very chaotic schedule.

I checked my laptop as Danny went to get dressed.

“Holy shit.”

“What?” She got up to look over my shoulder and gave a delighted laugh. “I’m definitely putting that video on my main work feed.”

“I can’t handle all I have now.” Stunned at another thirty jobs since overnight, I was just under triple digits, for fuck’s sake.

She looped her arms around my shoulders. “Guess you have to activate the brothers in Murdock Brothers, then.”

“Guess so.”

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