Chapter 96 (1/2)

She cocks her head at me. “You promised you would stop throwing that at me.”

“I didn’t promise. The word promise was never used.”

She’s going to slap me any minute.

“Are you going to tell anyone else about the baby shit?” I say to change the subject, sort of.

“No.” She pulls her lip between her teeth. “I don’t think so. Not anytime soon.”

“No one has to know until we adopt in a few years. I’m sure there are loads of damn babies waiting for parents to buy them. We will be fine.”

I know she hasn’t accepted my offer of marriage, or even being in a relationship with me, but I hope she doesn’t use this opportunity to remind me of that.

She laughs softly. “Damn babies? Please tell me you don’t think there is a store somewhere downtown where you walk in and purchase a baby?” She lifts her hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing at me.

“There isn’t?” I joke. “What’s Babies ‘R’ Us, then?”

“Oh my goodness!” She tilts her head back in laughter.

I reach across the small space between us and grab hold of her hand. “If that damn store isn’t full of babies, lined up, ready for purchase, than I’m suing for false advertisement.”

I pull my best smirk out at her, and she sighs, relieved to be laughing. I know this somehow. I know exactly what she’s thinking.

“You need help.” She pulls her hand out of mine and stands.

“Yeah.” I watch her smile fade. “Yeah, I do.”

Chapter fifty-nine

HARDIN

You two travel across the state of Washington more than anyone else I know,” Landon says, looking up from the couch in my father’s living room.

After our laughter broke back down into silence, I’d convinced Tessa that we should come back east and hang out with Landon before he leaves for good. I had thought she would immediately be ready for that—she loves hanging out with Landon, after all—but she sat quietly for a few uncomfortable moments before agreeing. I waited on her bed while, for some reason, she packed up basically everything she had, and then I waited in the car as she engaged in far too long of a goodbye to Kimberly and Vance.

I give Landon a flat-eyed stare. “You don’t know many people, so I don’t know how relevant that is,” I tease.

He glances at his mum, sitting on the chair, and I know he wants to say some smart-ass comment to me, and if she weren’t sitting there, he sure as hell would. He’s gotten better at the comebacks lately.

Instead he just rolls his eyes, says, “Ha-ha,” and goes back to the book on his lap.

“I’m glad you guys made it safe. The rain is heavy and only supposed to get worse by the end of the night.” Karen’s voice is soft as she smiles at me, causing me to look away. “Dinner is already in the oven; it will be ready soon.”