Jensen groaned and Judy chuckled.
Willow kept her eyes on Henry, who smiled at her and made a little squeaking sound.
“Youwouldlike another joke?” she asked him.
He nodded his head up and down hard.
“Okay,” she said. “Let me think of another one.”
“Looks like you all are just fine for a bit,” Judy said softly. “Just bring him back up to me anytime.”
“Thanks, Ma,” Jensen said, getting up. “Guess I’d better get back to work then.”
“Knock, knock,” Willow said softly to Henry.
But instead of smiling at her, he put his arms up.
“Oh, did you want to sit in my lap?” she asked him, her heart melting.
“Up,” he agreed.
“Okay, I’m going to lift you up,” she told him, holding out her hands.
He didn’t seem at all bothered, so she scooped him up and sat him right in her lap.
He smiled his buttoned-lipped smile again, showing off his little dimples, and she couldn’t help smiling back.
Movement over his shoulder caught her eye. Jensen had lowered the axe and was gazing over at them with the funniest expression on his handsome face.
8
JENSEN
Jensen turned back to his chopping, trying to hide his shock at the scene unfolding before him.
He wanted so badly to stop and watch the interaction going on over at the log, but he wanted Henry to have this moment even more. And if the little one turned to see his dad was watching, he might snap out of it and break the magic bubble he and Willow seemed to be occupying.
Henry didn’t talk much, and he didn’t warm up to people easily. He was also shy about anyone holding him but his dad and grandparents. But here he was, chuckling and smiling at Willow, and then verbalizing and even holding his hands up to be held.
When he was in her arms and looked up at Willow fearlessly, like he couldn’t wait to see what she would do next, Jensen had to turn away before either of them saw how much this moment meant to him.
He forced himself to grab another piece of wood,swallowing over the lump in his throat, as Willow kept murmuring those silly knock-knock jokes.
She had liked telling them when she was a kid too. He remembered her tugging at his sleeve to try them out on him when she was five or six. Who would have thought she would be mesmerizing his son with them one day?
She didn’t seem to take it personally at all that Henry wasn’t trying to talk to her. She just jumped in and carried the jokes on her own, like it was the most natural thing in the world that the two-and-a-half-year-old might just like to relax and listen to her.
When Jensen was pretty sure the two of them were doing just fine in their own world, he dared to start chopping wood again.
It felt good to do physical labor when his mind was churning. He lost himself in the effort of it, and chopped until his muscles burned.
Mom and Dad joked about needing the firewood, but he had the sense that it really helped out a lot. The old house was so big and drafty, and with the price of heating oil so high, Mom usually kept the thermostat pretty low. Jensen had offered more than once to buy them a new gas heater, but Dad insisted that the old oil burner would last forever.
Honestly, Jensen figured it was mostly just his pride. Or maybe it was his friendship with Nate Linck, who came out to clean the burner and change the filter every year. Jensen could remember their booming, happy voices filtering up from the basement when it came time to clean the heater, even back when he was a little boy.
At any rate, using the old wood-burning stove tookthe edge off throughout the house and kept the den cozy and warm. And since Dad hurt his back, it was harder for him to do this kind of work himself.
One more reason I’m glad I came home when I did, so I could notice when they needed help.
