Page 85 of Hello Tease

I laughed softly to myself. This whole week, I’d been wracking my brain for what to do, but I already knew what was in my heart.

I just needed to let it take the lead.

And it was pointing right back at Cottonwood Falls.

48

LARKIN

When I got backfrom picking up the kids, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Knox Madigan was sitting on my front porch steps, two bouquets of flowers in his hands.

My heart leapt at the sight of him, hoping beyond all hope that the flowers weren’t for consolation.

“KNOX IS HERE!” Emily yelled in the back seat. “But we don’t have our prank stuff ready!” she lamented. She’d been planning to leave fake spiders on his door handles next.

I smiled at her excitement. I knew she’d been missing him just like I had. A few pranks here and there weren’t enough—not anymore. “I’m sure there will be time to prank him soon,” I said. The circumstances of the prank, however, were still up in the air.

Knox and I looked at each other through the windshield, and his lips lifted slightly. It was like a peace offering of sorts. But I still couldn’t quite tell what it meant. I couldn’t read people as well as he did. So I got out of the car, letting Emily out first.

She ran up to him, jumping into his arms. My heart was in so many knots I had to look away as I went around the minivan to take Jackson out of his seat. As soon as I had him in my arms and he saw Knox, he yelled, “DADA! DADA!”

There went my efforts at not crying. My eyes stung with unshed tears, and I blinked quickly to hold them back. How would we survive if his answer was no?

Knox smiled at Jackson, and my heart bounced all over the place, a ball in a painful pinball machine. He squirmed and wiggled and fought in my arms.

“Fine,” I said to Jackson. “I’ll hold your hand, and you can walk.” I set him down, reaching for both of his hands, and he stood, feet dancing over the concrete like he wanted to take off. “MAMA!” He screamed, fighting at my hands.

“Okay, okay,” I said, letting go of one of his hands. “Is that better?”

But he yelled at me again.

“You want to walk?” I asked him.

He nodded and screeched at me again.

So I carefully removed my hand from his and put my hands behind him, ready to catch him if he fell.

But he didn’t fall.

He walked the next five steps like he’d been walking his whole life just to fall into Knox’s strong hands.

“You’re walking!” Knox said, his face and voice full of love.

“No, that was the first time!” Emily cheered.

When Knox looked to me for confirmation, tears were rolling down my cheeks. “Those were his first steps.”

Knox kissed the top of Jackson’s head. “I’m so proud of you, buddy.” Then he looked at me, his lips spread into a gentle smile. “Why the hell would I want to miss out on a life like this?” He opened his arm to me, and there was no more fight left in me, no more wall around my heart as I fell into his embrace.

Emily announced, “I’m going to get my spi—toys.”

I chuckled at her announcement. “Go ahead.” I handed her the keys, and she fiddled with them until she turned the lock.

“Do I need to know what that was about?” Knox asked, adjusting Jackson on his knee and letting me sit on the steps between his legs.

I shook my head, taking his free hand in mine. “I missed you,” I whispered, lips trembling. Now that we were together, I could feel how hard it had been to be apart.

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