“Who is it?”
I swallow hard. “Harrison James.”
“Liam’s friend?”
I nod, biting my finger. The pain it causes me is nothing compared to the pain in my heart.
“Are you ready?”
“I don’t know, but I’m willing to try.”
“It’s only been a year.”
I nod. “I know. Believe me, I know. But I’m not sure there’s a pre-determined time frame. We’ve been seeing Dr. Brooks and he thinks it’s okay to date and that’s all I’m doing, dating. Nothing more.”
“Do the girls like him?”
“They do, especially Elle. He’s very good with them. Peyton doesn’t like many people right now, except Noah and Liam, but she’s nice to Harrison and his son, Quinn.”
“He has a boy?”
“Yes, he’s just a few years older than the girls.”
“And they get along?”
“They do. They’re all in school together.”
“Can I meet him and his son?”
“Of course you can.” This elates me. If things were to work out between us, I’d want Mr. Powell to accept Harrison and Quinn.
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Whatever you want?”
“Can you please stop calling me Mr. Powell?”
“Never,” I say as I lean forward to kiss him on the cheek. He laughs, but knows I’ll never stop calling him Mr. Powell. I like it, and secretly, he does too. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Have fun with the girls.” I get up off the couch and start toward the stairs.
“I will and Katelyn?” I stop and look at him. “Thank you,” he says. I smile at him and nod. I don’t know what he’s thanking me for, but I’m going to assume it’s because I’m here and so are the girls and that we aren’t going anywhere.
My house is quiet. Too quiet for me, but the break is a relief. Everything in me is telling me to call Harrison, but I don’t want to interrupt his time with Quinn or make it seem like I need to see him, even though I do. It’s just hard to admit and take the step of picking up the phone.
I’m not there yet. I hope to be, someday. I’m just not sure how to get to that point, but I’m hoping Harrison is persistent and shows me the way to make it happen.
I walk around the house, picking up the girls’ toys and backpacks. We’re a month into school and so far so good. I’m concerned about Peyton, though and think that extra sessions with Dr. Brooks will be required. I feel like a failure of a parent. Both girls should’ve been the same. Once they gravitated toward one of us we allowed it to continue. Elle is too much like me and Peyton, she’s all Mason. Of course, neither of us thought we wouldn’t be here to watch the girls grow up. We were na?ve, and now Peyton is struggling and I feel powerless to help her. I can’t keep pawning her off on Liam.
I’m pleasantly surprised when I walk into their room and find it clean. Yes, I’m that bored that I’d actually clean their room. I decide to call Josie or maybe Jenna. Wedding plans need to be discussed and I could use a bottle of wine.
The roar of an engine catches my attention. I walk faster than normal to get back to the living room. There’s a knock at my door before I can look out to see who it is. I swing the door open and am taken aback by the man standing at my door. The one I’ve been fighting my affections for, for so long. I smile as he opens the screen door and steps in. He’s dressed in his normal Harrison attire of cargo shorts and combat boots.
I want to reach up and kiss him, but I hold myself back. I’m not sure what I should be doing around him right now.
“Hi.” The way he says hi makes my knees weak. I can admit that now. “I was in the neighborhood,” he adds. I want to say thank God for that. Instead, I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from embarrassing myself.
“Come on in,” I say, stupidly. He’s already in the house. It’s not like I can kick him out now.
He sets his helmet down and takes off his sweatshirt. It doesn’t escape my notice that his hair is covered again. I want to rip the doo rag off his head and run my fingers through his hair.
“Where’s Quinn?”
“He’s at Liam’s for the night.”
I pretend like that doesn’t faze me, but it does. Not that I’m looking to spend the night with Harrison, but I wouldn’t mind a little more kissing.
“Where are the girls?”
“At their grandpa’s.”
Harrison steps toward me, placing his hands on my hips. His hand slides under my shirt. His fingers press into my skin as his lips come down on mine. There’s no urgency in his kiss, he’s taking his time.
“Can I take you somewhere?”
I can’t think enough to form a coherent thought, so I nod and realize I have no idea what I’ve just agreed to.