Page 40 of In this Moment

And just because Evie couldn’t afford all of those things for Jonah didn’t mean she was any less of a parent. It meant she wasmore.

So muchmore.

It wasn’t a competition and Declan knew what he was feeling inside was ridiculous. But he couldn’t help it. And dammit if he didn’t want Jonah to have all of those fun things with his mom, too.

“Sounds like you had a great day, buddy.” Evie gave him another squeeze. “But I’m glad you’rehome.”

“Me too.” Declan had an idea, and maybe he should have run it past Evie first, but he couldn’t stop himself. “Because I have a surprise foryou.”

“You do?” Evie stared athim.

“I haven’t even had time to tell you yet.” He wrapped his arm around Evie and gave her a kiss on the forehead. “While you were in the shower, Ian called and had somenews.”

“Ohyeah?”

“What?” Jonah said. “What’s the surprise?”

Declan knew his brother was going to kill him, but it was such a good idea that even if Ian did get mad, it would be totally worth it. “Ian, and the Dockside, are going to host the first annual Dockside Days and we get to be honored guests. Which means…” He looked to Evie quickly. She was watching him warily but she didn’t say anything, waiting for him to finish. “We get to take out the paddleboards and the kayaks if we want and maybe even go for a boat ride and go water-skiing.”

“Water-skiing?”

“Absolutely.” Declan’s chest puffed up in pride at the way Jonah’s interest grew. “And that’s not even the best part,” he continued. “The best part is we also get to take out the jetskis.”

“The jet skis? I get to go on the jetskis?”

“Of course. And there will be races and games and all kinds of fun stuff goingon.”

“Noway.”

“Way.”

“When?”

Declan hesitated, but finally said, “We just have to confirm the date with Ian. But soon. That’s what he wanted to tell me.” He crossed his fingers behind his back and hoped against hope that his older brother wouldn’t killhim.

“Really?” Evie asked him quietly. “DocksideDays?”

“Oh yeah.” He pulled her close. “It’s going to be great.” He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Ian’s going to love the idea, Jonah gets to do the jet skiing that you promised him and you can finally have that dinner with my family. It’s like three birds with one stone.”

“Right.” She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed before she pressed a kiss on his chest. “Well, even if you just made it up,” she whispered so only he could hear. “Thankyou.”

The only thank-you he needed was in that exact moment—seeing the smile on her face and the appreciation in her eyes, and feeling the weight of her slight body pressed up against his chest. He’d made a career and a life out of helping people. It was what he did. But never before had helping anyone felt as good as what he was doing for Evie. In that moment, he knew he’d do whatever was in his power to make that woman happy for as long as he could.

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