A Million Little Things (Mischief Bay, #3)

“Thank you. I’ll finalize what I want to plant tonight and place my order.”

“My little farm girl,” he teased.

“That’s me. I need to buy something in gingham. Maybe a big straw hat.”

“You need the hat to keep out of the sun.” He stood and surveyed the three raised beds. “All right. There you go.”

He collected his tools and other supplies, then joined her on the blanket. She handed him a glass of lemonade.

“I really appreciate you doing this for me,” she told him. “Seriously. It means a lot.”

“I like working around the house. At the office I’m pretty much stuck behind a desk. Every now and then I get to a job site, but mostly when there’s a crisis, so that’s no fun.”

“Do you miss being one of the guys?”

“Sometimes.” He smiled at her. “I remember the first time my dad took me with him to a construction job. I was maybe six. I had my own tiny tool belt and a hard hat. All the guys called me Sport or Buddy. I thought I was so cool.”

“You never wanted to do anything else?”

He shook his head. “I knew I would go into my dad’s business. Brandon was never interested, nor was Jen. It worked out.”

“But you would have liked to wait awhile to take charge.”

“Yeah. Not just because I miss him but because it was a lot to take on.”

She thought about all he’d been through. How he could have balked at having to take over such a large company. But he hadn’t. He’d given his all and he’d been successful.

She shifted so she was sitting cross-legged. “I have to tell you something.”

“Okay.” His dark gaze settled on her face.

She drew in a breath. “Chad proposed. I told him no,” she added quickly, then stopped talking to give Steven time to process the information.

His gaze didn’t waver. “Are you sure?”

“Yes. I don’t want to be with him. I’ve done a lot of thinking about our relationship. I know why I was interested in him and I know why it didn’t work. I’m as much to blame for all of it as he is. Maybe more. Rather than look at who he was and who I was when I was with him, I played a game of pretend. It was all going to be better someday. I wasn’t realistic.”

She felt herself flushing, but kept talking. She wanted to tell him everything. She didn’t want any secrets with Steven.

“I kept telling myself that everything would be okay if he and I got married. What I couldn’t see or didn’t want to see was that the problem wasn’t tying him down. It was that he didn’t want to be that involved with me. I think I was close to figuring it all out when my mom died.”

He nodded. “That makes sense.”

Because Steven understood what it was like to lose a parent. In fact, he’d been the one to first bring up the theory of how her mother’s death had impacted her relationship with Chad.

“You were right before,” she continued. “I felt so vulnerable and alone. Chad was there. What we had was familiar. So I hung on for a couple more years. I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d been stronger.” She lightly touched her belly. “I want to be clear, Steven. I don’t regret the baby. I regret the how and that it’s Chad’s, but I’m not sorry I’m pregnant. I can’t be. This is my child.”

“I know that, Zoe. You could have gotten rid of it and no one would have known. But you didn’t. I respect that.”

“Thank you. I’ve talked to my lawyer. We’re working to have the parenting plan agreed to before the baby’s born.” She hesitated. “I’m going to ask for full custody with Chad only having visitation rights. He has that with his ex-wife, so I don’t think it will be a problem. So I will be the full-time parent.”

He tilted his head. “You think that’s a surprise? I didn’t expect anything else from you.” He leaned toward her. “Zoe, I get it. You’re having a baby and that baby is going to be around all the time. Are you trying to scare me away?”

“No. I’m hoping you’ll stay. I just want you to know what you’re in for.”

“I’m in this for you.” He brushed his mouth against hers. “Now that I know he’s not going to poop in the vegetables, I’m in it for Mason, too.”

She laughed. “Thank you. You’ve been so great. I really like what we have together.”

“Me, too.”

“Your mom still hates me.”

He straightened and made a noise in the back of his throat. “You and me both.”

“That’s a problem.”

“No, it’s not.”

“You say that now, but she’s your Mom. You love her. You don’t want to make her unhappy.”

“Are you saying I have to choose?”

“I’m not, but she might.” She held up a hand. “Steven, I really don’t want to lose you, but I also don’t want to make trouble.”

He put down his lemonade and shifted on the blanket so he could lower her to the ground. As he bent over her, he smiled. “Zoe, you’re sweet. Thank you for that. Let me be clear. I’m in love with you.”

Her mind went totally blank. She couldn’t speak, could barely breathe. He loved her? He loved her!

One corner of his mouth turned up. “Yeah, it shocked the hell out of me, too.”

When she opened her mouth, he touched his fingers to her lips. “Don’t say anything back. I want you to think about it. I want you to think about us and what we could be together. I love you. I want to be with you. I want to be a part of this baby’s life and all the other babies you have. I have a lot of plans for us. But first you have to be sure. So take all the time you need.”

She wanted to tell him that she loved him, too, but understood what he was saying. They both had to be sure she wasn’t just reacting to his wonderful declaration.

She kissed him. “This probably means I could get some right now.”

He started to laugh. “It probably does. Is that what you want?”

“Always.”

*

“This is Desire.”

Jen smiled at the young woman standing beside Lucas. Seriously? Desire? “Nice to meet you.”