Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 77043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 385(@200wpm)___ 308(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Mom?” a little boy’s voice called, sounding a mix of concerned and stern somehow at the same time.
When I turned, Lana’s son was standing there, eying me with distrust.
He looked just like her. Her eyes, her bone structure, her cleft chin. But he had slightly lighter hair and that kind of gangly build kids had when they were growing too fast to keep enough weight on.
“Hey, baby. Good. I want you to meet Mr…”
“Seth,” I supplied. “Seth,” I repeated at her raised brow.
“Okay,” she agreed, shaking her head a little. “This is Seth. He owns the house and our little house too. Seth, my son, Isaac.”
“Hey, little man,” I said, holding my hand out to him. He eyed it for a second before putting his hand in mine, squeezing with all his might, and I went ahead and forced my lips to stay in a straight line even as his arm shook a little with his effort. “That’s a good shake you got there,” I said, pretending to flex the pain out of my hand when he released me, something that made him puff up a little.
I imagined that, as the oldest child of a single mom, and the only boy, he kind of felt like he had to be the man of the house. The way he was watching me suggested he hadn’t made up his mind about me yet.
“Hazel, honey, come meet Mr—“
“Seth,” I interrupted her.
“Seth,” she corrected as a slightly sweaty little version of Lana came running up, giving me a shy smile.
“Hi,” she said.
“Hey, Hazel. Did you see the big driveway?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“I think I have some chalk lying around in the garage if you want me to put it out here for you to use tomorrow.”
Her eyes brightened at that as she gave me a little nod.
“I will wash it off after,” Lana promised.
“It’s fine, Lana,” I said, shaking my head at her. “Wash it off when they run out of room. Or let the rain do it. You don’t have to erase the traces of your kids around here.”
“I think I see lightning bugs,” Lana claimed, making the kids turn and run off to chase them. “Be easy!” she called. “I just figured,” she said when we were alone again, “that, you know, you might not want to have kid chalk art on the driveway if you… if you brought a woman home,” she said, shrugging it off.
“I don’t bring women home,” I said.
“Oh. Oh,” she said, nodding. “Right, well, or men,” she said.
A little chuckle escaped me at that because how the hell had she missed my gaze moving over her several times already since we’d met?
“It’s not that. I like women, but I don’t bring them home,” I explained. The confused pinch of her brows had me shrugging as I drank my coffee. “I would only bring someone here if my intentions were serious,” I explained. “I think it sends the wrong message otherwise.”
“That’s very classy of you actually,” she decided as she tried to reach for her coffee, but the baby, Clara, thrashed her little body about, making Lana think better of it.
“Here,” I said, placing my mug on the porch railing, and reaching my hands out.
She eyed them suspiciously. “Have you ever… held a baby?”
“Dozens,” I said, nodding. “Big family,” I said.
“Okay,” she said, starting to pull Clara from her shoulder, and holding her out. “She might not be okay with this,” she admitted as my hands went around the baby. “She’s really not used to men,” she explained, hawk-eyeing me as I brought the baby to my hip. Where she settled and immediately reached out, slapping me in the face as she grabbed for the scruff on my cheeks with curious fingers.
“I’ve got her,” I assured Lana as she tensed before finally reaching for her coffee. “Thanks for this,” she said, sighing over the mug after taking a sip. “It’s been a really long day.”
“Did you get everything moved in? If not, I can help when you’re ready.”
“We didn’t have that much to bring,” she said. “But three kids, the dog, and moving…”
“Yeah,” I said, nodding. “I can imagine.”
“I’m hoping they run themselves ragged, so they pass out as soon as we get inside. But they show no signs of slowing down.”
“It’s new. They’re excited.”
“Yeah. We were in an apartment for the past few months. They had no yard. We went to the parks, but it’s different. They need this.”
Across the yard, Hazel had her hands cupped, and was bringing them up to her eye to look in at the firefly.
“Spent my childhood in the yard,” I agreed. “Attempting increasingly more dangerous stunts that likely gave my ma a heart attack. Still got the scars to show for it.”
“Good memories to go with them, though,” she guessed.
“Yeah, definitely that,” I agreed. “Bet you can’t wait to get out there too, huh?” I asked, jiggling Clara who was staring up at me like she’d never seen a man before, all huge eyes and parted lips.