Page 68 of Stay With Me
I smirk and kiss the top of her head. “Want to help me with dinner?”
“Are you going to cook topless?”
I laugh. “I can, but I don’t think Jess or Am will want to see that when they get home.”
She shrugs and bends to grab a pan from the cabinet, causing the shirt to ride up, and I groan as I adjust myself.
Pan in hand, she turns around and blushes. “Sorry, I didn’t think about that.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m trying to remind myself you’re sore and that lifting you on the counter and going another round isn’t in your best interest, regardless of how much I want to.”
She cocks her head to the side and bites her bottom lip. “I could probably get behind that.”
“Lunabella… ” I say as I walk the two steps to close the distance between us. “You’re making it so hard to be a gentleman, but the ideas running through my head will have to wait for another day.”
Her breath hitches. “But we will do them, right?”
“Yeah, baby. We have all the time in the world to get through the list of things I want to do to you, but we have about”—I look up at the clock on the oven—“twenty minutes to get dinner almost done before Am is here with Jess.” I kiss her forehead and grab the cutting board.
“Do you think Jess had fun at the farm?” she asks as I cut the onions.
“I do. She seemed very interested in learning how Am’s farm works,” I tell her truthfully as my eyes start to burn from the onions.
“Yeah, The Family had a large farm, and we grew almost all our food. Usually, the kids from the ages of three to thirteen help work the fields, as we call them. Even though, after seeing real farms here, it was more like a quarter of a field.”
I turn to her as she starts to cook the ground beef, lost in thought. Shock rocks through my body as I realize again how hard her life was. “Was it something you enjoyed?”
“No, not really. I loved hanging with the babies. They were just so innocent and loved so openly. The nursery is where I started questioning everything in The Family.”
“It’s normal to question things. Hell, I was a why child. I’m sure my parents hated it, but they were patient and answered every question I ever had regardless of how silly it was.”
“You’re lucky. We weren’t to question the word of Father. I got in trouble often because I asked questions. It’s why Jess hesitates when she asks a question sometimes.”
“I never thought about it because I’ll answer the same question a million times for her if she needs help understanding something.”
As the meat simmers in the taco seasoning, we assemble a build-your-own burrito line on the island.
“You’ll make a good dad one day. Do you want kids?”
I pause because I didn’t think kids were in the cards for me after my divorce, and in this brief moment, I see my whole future. Jess going to high school. Luna pregnant with my kids. Her holding our babies. Us sitting on the porch swing as the kids play in the front yard. Jess pretending to be annoyed when they start to get into her stuff.
“You okay?” she asks.
I clear my throat. “Perfect. Thank you for thinking I’d make a good dad.” I take a deep breath because I’m nervous about how she will respond to my question. “And to answer your question. I do want kids, but after my divorce, I wasn’t sure it would happen.”
“Abby mentioned you were divorced. Was it long ago?” she asks without making eye contact.
I knew this would come up, and I’m not ashamed of it, but I didn’t know how to bring it up. “It was about ten years ago. Jenna and I got married before we finished college. When my dad passed away suddenly, we moved here and helped my momout.” I rest my hip on the counter and turn to face her. “On the two-year anniversary of his death, to be exact, she handed me divorce papers.”
She gasps. “She left you on the anniversary of your father’s death? How could she?”
“I don’t know. I was caught off guard when it happened, but looking back, it was for the best. She gave up everything for me, and small-town life isn’t for everyone.”
She looks down at her feet and asks, “Do um… Do you miss her?”
My hand goes to her chin, gently lifting it and bringing her eyes back to mine. “No. I do not miss her. If I did, I wouldn’t be here with you. I’m exactly where I want to be, with who I want to be with.” I lean down and kiss her lips softly. Pulling away, I ask her, “Enough about me, what about you? Do you want kids?”
A soft smile pulls at her lips. “With the right person, I wouldn’t mind having a couple.”
