Page 109 of Long Time Coming

“Not sure if it will, but we’ll find out.” Backing up, he laughs. Crossing his arms over his chest, he stares ahead, seemingly caught in his thoughts. But then he says, “Be truthful.If you had to choose . . .”

“I choose her. Every time.”

“You’re such an asshole.” Grabbing me into a headlock, he scrapes his knuckles over my head. That’s my asshole best friend. It’s good to have him back. “Come on. Let’s go play some basketball.”

The rest of the week has flown by with all the things I need to put in place. By Sunday evening, I sit with Beckett, eating ice cream at a shop around the corner from my building. Anna and I sat down with him when I came to pick him up. We discussed the plan we’ve put in place, then asked for his input.

It will be hard not seeing his mom every other week, but we showed him how they’ll video call and talked about visiting. He’s a resilient kid. He’ll go through some adjusting, but he’s happy to be going to Texas. Not so happy about leaving his friends at school.

That’s when I promised him his own horse . . . Promises just fly off my tongue, but these I’ll keep.

“I told Seraphina I was going to marry her, but she has to like horses.”

Chuckling, I say, “Wise words, kid.”

“But now I’m moving.”

I lick my ice cream and think about Pris. “If it’s meant to be, it will be.”

“Like you and Miss Christine?” Bending his head to the side, he’s quick to lick a spot on the cone before it drips.

“Yes. What do you think about me marrying her?”

He’s determined to retrieve a gumball from the ice cream with his tongue, so he’s momentarily distracted. But then he says, “I thought you were. I thought when you found the secret ingredient, that meant you were together forever.”

Grinning like a fool, he’s teaching me as much as I am him. “Yeah, that’s how it works. I’m just going to make it official when we go back.”

He lowers his cone and tilts his head. “By giving her a house?”

I tap his nose and rub his head. “That’s not a bad idea, kid.”

CHAPTER 38

Christine

“I miss you.”Wedging the phone between my shoulder and ear, I lean against Skyward’s stall, where I just added fresh bedding to the ground. “When will I see you again?”

The positivity I’ve held on to for the past three weeks is waning. I need a hit of Tagger in my life again. Just a little one will keep me going long enough until he can visit at the end of July.

If I close my eyes, the sound of his breath travels the distance like he’s here by my side again. The way it would breeze against the back of my neck when he cuddled around me in sleep. If I let myself go further, I remember how the tips of his fingers pushed into my hips as he took me and the slightest of smile he wore right after while he slept.

“I miss you more than those gorgeous Texas sunsets.”

“That’s saying something because the sky is on fire this evening, and it’s just getting started. I wish you were here to see it.”

“Soon, my love.” His voice is low and comforting like his arms when wrapped around me. “Are you taking care of yourself?” He asks me this often because I once mentioned that no one does and I’m just expected to always be strong.

When he’s here, he makes sure I’m taken care of. When he’s not, it makes me feel loved in his absence. I smile to myself, kicking up a little hay that had fallen when I carried it in earlier. “I’m getting by. How about you? How’s the little guy?”

“Excited to be down there again.”

Beckett makes me smile even more. He’s pure joy, enthusiasm, and raw energy wrapped up in that little frame of his. “A full week this time?” There’s a pause in the conversation that has me adjusting the phone against my ear. “Tagger?”

“I’m here, babe, but I really can’t wait to be there with you.”

The little delays in responses make me wonder if I called at a bad time. “I can let you go if you’re busy.”

“I’m sorry. I have a meeting.”

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