Page 76 of Fall With Me
Dawson gestures with his hand for me to continue. “Care to be more specific?”
“If I don’t have anywhere to go, I love a rainy day spent snuggled on my couch under a blanket watching movies. Otherwise, seventy degrees with a slight breeze.”
“Did you mean to rhyme?”
“Nope,” I say, popping the P. “I’m just naturally a genius. And you?”
“I love winter. I haven’t been sledding or snowboarding in a while, but I loved it as a kid. A lot of the activities Finn participates in don’t happen in December and January, which means we get to stay home more often as well.”
“Ugh, but then you have to scrape your windows, shovel your sidewalks, and I’m freezing all the time.”
Dawson sweeps his hands down his torso. “Yeah, but this winter you’ll have a bear to keep you warm.”
I lean forward, planting a kiss on Dawson’s lips. “It’ll probably be the only thing keeping me from becoming my usual grump.”
“Then I’m glad we met and I can assist you this winter.”
“I look forward to it. Now—” I tap his wrist. “Your biggest fear is…”
He spits out, “Spiders.”
Listen, they’re horrible little arachnids that don’t deserve to live if they invade my home, but most in Utah are small compared to the size of an adult. He’s really afraid of them? “Huh. I thought you’d say something different.”
He grins. “I’m mostly kidding. I don’t like them, but I’m not afraid of getting rid of them. My biggest fear is not being able to take care of Finn the way he needs.”
I climb onto his lap, wrapping my arms around his neck. “You’re an amazing father. You care about his homework, spend time with him, feed him. He has a roof over his head, clean clothes, and a good neighborhood close to your family. You’re doing better than you think.”
“But I took him away from his mom.”
I pull back, just enough that I can see his face while still hugging him. “Yes, you moved to a different state, but from what you’ve told me, Willow chose her career over Finn a long time ago. You allow him to talk to her anytime she calls. You never say anything bad about her in front of him. I’m sure moving home was an extremely difficult decision to make, but as the primary caregiver, surrounding yourself with family who can help you is important. If you stayed in Nashville, how burned out would you be by now, doing life by yourself with no support system? Here, you have peoplewho can watch Finn when needed. Dinners to attend where Finn feels loved and wanted.”
He scrubs his palms over his face. “No, I know. It’s why we came back to Utah. But there’s always a piece of my brain worrying that I made a mistake.”
“Where are Finn’s other grandparents? Willow’s parents?”
“They live in Florida. Once, when Finn was two, they came to see us. Willow isn’t close to her family like I am with mine.”
“Then you absolutely made the right decision bringing Finn home.”
“I appreciate you saying that.”
“But it doesn’t erase your fear?” I raise a brow, waiting for him to confirm my suspicion. I get it. Well, as close as I can without having children of my own, but I assume as a parent, there’s always the fear of not doing enough for your kids. That you’re failing them in one way or another.
Dawson smiles sadly. “No.”
“It’s okay. One day, when he’s grown, you’ll have an epiphany and realize you did a wonderful job raising your son.”
“I’m really glad we met, Chlo.”
“The feeling is one hundred percent mutual.”
Chapter 35
Chloe
The next few weeks fly by in a flurry of festival preparation, work, and spending as much time as possible with Dawson and Finn. I’m considering asking Dawson if I can move into the guest bedroom in his basement. I’m there almost every night anyway. Why keep paying rent on my place when every day we’re together solidifies the future I want with Dawson and Finn?
We’ve been way too busy for me to ask him though. Finn made a Fall Bucket List, and we’ve done our best to mark off each item. So far, we’ve watched Halloween movies, picked pumpkins at a local patch, decorated Dawson’s house, bought costumes, carved jack-o’-lanterns, and taken Sunday morning drives to Park City to see the leaves changing colors.
