Page 122 of This Time Around
“I know,” he said. “I saw the newspaper.” He’d almost reached her now, and he held out his hand palm up. She laced her fingers through his, and Jack pulled her closer. “We’ve got plenty of time to talk about who’s the sorriest and how we plan to do better.”
Allie squeezed his fingers with hers, then looked at Paige. “Is this okay with you? If your dad and I date each other again?”
“Uh-huh,” she said. “He’s been very grumpy.”
“Thank you for the birdhouse,” she said, then turned her gaze back to Jack. “Both of you.”
“Does it work?” he asked. “Are they leaving your house alone?”
Allie nodded. “They’ve moved in already. No one’s heard a bird pecking for days. Who knew that’s all it took?”
“Paige did,” Jack said, reaching over to ruffle his kid’s hair.
“I read it in my bird book,” the girl said. “We found the plans online for a flicker house. We got the right bedding in there and everything.”
“Smart kid,” Allie said.
“About a lot of things.” Jack watched his daughter’s chin tilt with pride, and his own pride swelled so big in his chest that it nearly cracked his ribs.
He lifted Allie’s hand to his lips and planted a kiss across her knuckles. “I’m so glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.” Her eyes flashed with sunlight and the green sundress fluttered in the breeze.
“Are you guys going to kiss now?” Paige asked. “Like for real. None of that hand-kissing stuff.”
“We’ll get to that eventually.” Jack’s fingers stayed linked with Allie’s, but he reached up and brushed a windswept bit of hair off her forehead. “I’ve been reading about your mom’s appeal. The headlines make it sound pretty dramatic. Your dad’s laying it all out there.”
“It’s been a busy couple weeks,” Allie said. “It’s going to get messy, but he’s trying to do the right thing. That counts for something.”
“It does,” he agreed. He let go of her hand and slid his arms around her, pulling her against his chest. Breathing in the Chardonnay scent of her hair, he had to remind himself she was really here. That he was really holding her again. Her arms cinched around his waist, and they stood there holding each other so tight he felt his ribs shift. But Jack didn’t need to breathe deeply. He just needed this, right here, right now.
“You guys want to be alone?” Paige asked.
“Nope.” Allie drew back and stretched out an arm. “You should be part of this, too. Group hug!”
Paige giggled and wrapped her arms around both of them, and they stood there on the edge of the driveway like some mutant three-headed creature made of tangled limbs and twisted hearts.
When Jack finally pulled back, he looked down at the two amazing females who made his heart feel whole. “So we’re all in this together?”
“Uh-huh,” Paige replied, then craned her neck to look at Allie. “You good with that?”
“I’m good with that,” Allie said, then stood on tiptoe to kiss him.
Epilogue
“Thank you so much for this.” Allie hugged Amy, squeezing her summer camp friend before drawing back and extending a hand to Amy’s boss. “Kate. I can’t thank you enough for coming here and capturing all this great content.”
“Are you kidding?” Ignoring Allie’s hand, Kate pulled her in for a hug. “It’s not every day I get to film film famous felines.”
The woman worked with celebrities daily so Allie kinda doubted her houseful of cats could compare to Kate Geary’s star-studded world. She still couldn’t get over how amazing this was.
“Please let me pay you,” Allie insisted as she stopped hugging Kate to let the guests pack up their gear. “I can’t even imagine how much I’d have to spend to get professionally produced video footage of Rosewood Bed and Breakfast.”
“It’s a gift,” Amy insisted. “A housewarming gift, wedding gift, and baby shower gift all bundled together.”
With a laugh, Allie rested a hand on her oversized belly and attempted to stretch out her back. “You’re way too generous.” Weren’t housewarming gifts more like vases of flowers or cupcakes? Not two freakin’ Hollywood producers, sent here to capture content of her newly reopened B&B.
“We insist.” Kate tucked a camera into a hard-sided case. “We’ll send you some roughs in a couple days.”
