“There you go!” I yell, clapping loudly. “You did such a great job!” Olivia runs with the unsteady gait of a two-year-old, back across the field toward me, totally forgetting about the soccer ball she just kicked in the opposite direction.
“I did it!” she yells.
“You did it!” I look over toward the front porch, the fresh coat of white paint gleaming in the sun. We had to have the kitchen and the porch redone after the fire, but now both are pristine. And now the place has a full gourmet kitchen, which is good for me.
Autumn waves back at both of us. “Lemonade?” she calls.
“Yes!” Olivia yells, running across the driveway toward her mother. “I kicked! Kicked!”
“I saw you kick, Liv,” Autumn says, wrapping her arms around her. “That was so awesome!”
I stand there, a few feet away, watching the two of them for a moment. My family.
Hell, that’s something I never imagined I’d have, not in a million years. But here I am, staying in one place – the one place I never thought I’d return to. And I’m with Autumn and Olivia.
It’s more than I could have ever hoped for. I finally understand what it means to have people in your life that depend on you, and what it’s like to depend on them.
“Luke?” Autumn asks, smiling. “Are you going to stand there all day, staring at me?”
I can’t help but grin. “I could, you know.”
Her cheeks flush, like they do when she’s embarrassed or when she’s self-conscious. I can’t get enough of that. I can’t get enough of her, either. And that’s what I want her to know, every day.
I slide my hand around her waist and walk with her inside the house.
“Do you want me to help prep for tonight?” she asks.
“Nope,” I tell her. “I’m forbidding you to even lift a finger.”
“You’re just saying that because you think I’ll burn something,” Autumn says, laughing.
“I know for certain you’ll burn something,” I tell her, swatting her on the butt as she walks away, with Olivia’s hand in hers.
“Let’s get all cleaned up for lunch, Liv,” she says.
“No! No wash hands!” Olivia protests, as she disappears around the corner with Autumn.
“If you don’t wash your hands, then you can’t eat lunch.”
I listen to their chatter as I grab food for lunch. It makes me happy, hearing them, the noise of their laughter echoing through the house. I never thought I could be still, and yet, now that I am, I can’t imagine things being any different than the way they are now.
Except better. There’s only one thing that would make things better, and that’s why all of our friends and family are coming to dinner tonight.
I take the box from my pocket, and pop it open again, just to see the ring. I never thought I’d be asking this question of anyone, and I feel like the luckiest man on earth, getting to ask it of Autumn.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Autumn
“Is this super lame?” I whirl around so I can see June’s reaction. She’s holding Callie in her arms, bouncing her because she’s fussy from teething, while Cade and Luke keep an eye on Stan and Olivia, who are most likely in the middle of trashing the playroom.
“The dress?” she asks. “No, I love it. That’s not new, is it?”
“No, not the dress,” I say. “The box. This.” I hold out the gift bag, pink and blue patterned, the only thing the drug store two towns over had in stock that wasn’t plastered with “happy birthday” wishes all over it. I had to drive thirty minutes to make sure I didn’t let on about this secret before I told Luke.
June looks at me and then at the bag. “It’s…oh. Oh!” she says. “You’re pregnant!” She wraps her arm around me, hugging me, the baby between us. “Is that for Luke?”
“Yeah,” I tell her. “It’s not going to be completely lame, is it?”
“Are you kidding?” she asks. “He’s going to be over the moon. He’ll love it, whatever is in the bag.”
“I’m nervous about this,” I tell her. The butterflies in the pit of my stomach aren’t going away anytime soon. I haven’t exactly had the best of luck with pregnancy announcements, after all.
“It’s going to be great,” she says. “I’m so thrilled for you.”
“I never thought it would end up this way,” I tell her. “It’s more than I hoped for.”
June smiles. “Everything works out in the end,” she says. “Even if it takes some time.”
“Is that how it was for you and Cade?” I ask.
She laughs. “Honey, our road was definitely a winding one.”
I check my hair quickly in the mirror, tucking a loose strand behind my ear, and take a deep breath. “Cade is a good man,” I say.
“So is Luke,” she says. “We’re both lucky.”