Page 79 of Meant to be Falling
Because he’d been gentle with her, tender even, and Holland was smitten. Grinning, I silently shut her door and then pad down the hall to check on my son before finally falling into bed and dreaming of my boyfriend.
34
LANA
“Do you think he’s gonna like my dress?” Holland asks the following Thursday as I curl another piece of her long brown hair and smile.
“He’s going toloveit,” I tell her because I believe that with my whole heart. I’d struck out in the husband department—excluding my two incredible kids—but I’d scored the jackpot with my boyfriend.
Boyfriend.
Even just thinking the word makes me smile. I thought I was too old to have one after getting divorced, but at thirty-four, I’m more myself than I have been in years.
“And you gave him the tie?” Holland asks for the third time since she got up this morning, and I nod.
“He has the tie and he’sveryexcited.”
I think back to how Mason had been waiting on our front lawn with a sign that readHolland, will you go to the dance with me?as the dogs lost their minds in the house. My daughter had been confused at first, but when Mason pulled out a bouquet of flowers and knelt in front of her, she’d burst into tears.
So had I.
Beck had elbowed me, rolling his eyes, and I took the opportunity to wrap my arms around him and sway back and forth where all the neighbors could see. He’d been mortified but alsopleased.
I’d seen his small smile after he pried me off him, both of us laughing as Holland hugged Mason. He whispered to her while she nodded, and he brushed away her tears.
Things between Mason and me had been the hardest kind of easy. Our chemistry and the soul-deep longing I felt for him made anything seem possible. But it’d also been a steep learning curve because despite the way he resonated through every cell in my body, we’d still come together at two very different times in our lives.
I’d been humbled.
Repeatedly.
But I wouldn’t change it. I needed the reminder that there were things so much bigger than the tiny closed-off world I’d created.
Like a man who insisted on paying for my daughter to pick out a new dress and a tie to match. The purple dress with sparkly flowers had made Holland squeal when she saw it, grabbing the hanger and clutching it to her chest.
It was the only one she tried on, beaming with a confidence I hadn’t seen in a while as she marched up to the register.
Holland had talked the entire way home, and when we got there, we found Beck and Mason playing catch in the front yard.
Mason asked to see her dress, making Holland gasp and then scrunch up her face as Mason pretended to pout. Seizing the opportunity to create more waves, Beck asked if Holland would show him instead.
Her eyes were the size of saucers, glassy and bright as she nodded and led him inside. Beck threw a wink at us over hisshoulder but I knew he felt it too—the magnitude of the moment. The way we’d somehow grown stronger.
Together.
All over a dance and a dress.
And so much more.
“What do you think?” I ask, fluffing the curls to frame her face as she watches me in the mirror.
“It’s so pretty!” she squeals, bouncing in her chair before getting up to hug me tight. Following her into her room, I help her into the dress and hand her an evening bag for the lip gloss we’d agreed upon after a conversation about contouring makeup that had Beck stomping into the room and telling her she’s pretty just the way she is.
I’d given him an extra twenty minutes on his gaming system for that.
His maturity often caught me off guard, but since Mason started spending time here, I’d gotten to watch Beck grow into such an incredible young man.
“Are you ready?” I ask Holland, Beck and Mason’s voices carrying from downstairs.
