Page 142 of It's Always Been You
Originally, Jamie was going to pick her up, but he called me out of the blue to ask if I wanted to instead. He claimed he thought she’d think it was a “nice surprise.” After hearing radio silence from my stiff upper-lipped best friend for months on end after he learned I was the father of the baby Evie miscarried, I took his invitation to pick her up from the airport as his blessing.
I think he’s finally started to forgive me.
Evie’s brows rise, like she’s thinking the same. “Wow.”
Teddy leans his head on Evie’s shoulder, swinging his legs back and forth. He tells her all about the new daycare he’s attending while we stare at each other, communicating a thousand thoughts to the tune of my son’s incoherent rambles.
Finally, he asks to be set down, and Evie obliges. He grabs her hand and turns to me, asking if we can get McDonald’s before we leave.
“Are you hungry?” I ask Evie, inching closer to her, desperate to close the distance between us.
She smiles at the expectant look on my toddler’s face. “Starving.”
My hand finds the small of her waist. She tips her face up, and I give her cheek a soft peck. A sweet, flustered grin breaks across her face—a sight more stunning than any sunrise. Brushing her hair behind her shoulder, I hand her the flowers. “Welcome home, Spitfire.”
“It’s good to be back.”
We stop at the McDonald’s near the terminal exit and eat in the car before we hit the road. It’s a three-hour journey back to Blairs Ferry, but it feels like no time at all. Evie convinces me to buy Teddy an overpriced gas station trinket for every pit stop we make. She informed him that McDonald’s used to includeway better toys with their kid’s meals—information that should have never been shared with an impressionable toddler. She also told him that there used to be indoor playgrounds and ball pits for kids to play in while the adults ate their food. Teddy was amazed.
By the time we made it back to town, Teddy had five new toys—one of which was a siren-equipped police car that gave us both a headache.
“That’s what you get for indulging a toddler who is already spoiled rotten,” I say to Evie as I walk her to her parents’ front door, wheeling her suitcase behind me.
“He’s notreallya toddler anymore, Brandon,” she reminds me as we face one another on the doorstep. “He’s almost four.”
“He won’t be four for another five months—and not a second sooner.”
She laughs. “He’s growing up so fast.”
“It’s bittersweet,” I say, staring at my son in his car seat as I set down Evie’s carry-on bag. He’s waving his new police car around like it’s an airplane.
A lump forms in my throat as I watch him.
Evie wraps me in an unexpected hug. “You’re an amazing dad, Brandon.”
Grinning, I return her hug. “It feels like I’ve been waiting forever to hold you like this,” I whisper into her ear before dropping a kiss to her neck. My lips linger against her skin a little longer than what’s probably appropriate.
“Oh yeah?” she teases, attempting to pull away. I hold on to her. “How long?”
“I think you know.”
She shivers, then gives me a brief kiss. Her eyes dart to the car where Teddy is waiting, disentangling herself from me. I pout, and she giggles.
“More,” I beg, reeling her back in by the waist.
She laughs, glancing over her shoulder as I kiss her neck. “You’ll have to wait a little longer, I’m afraid.” The front curtains move, and an eyeball pokes out from behind the fabric, then disappears. Maggie. “We have an audience.”
Stepping back, I tuck my hands into my pockets so they won’t betray me. “Do you want to join me and Teddy for dinner this evening?”
She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear shyly. “I’d like that.”
I nod, take a deep breath, and offer a lackluster wave as I turn. Walking away from her is nothing short of torture. “Dinner’s at seven. Don’t be late.”
She smirks and waves. “Aye aye, captain.”
Chapter 48
Evie
