“Ray…” I fought to find the words to express my gratitude. I wanted to tell her thank you for loving my daughter. She deserved to hear how much it meant to me that she had done all of this, especially for all the time she spent watching her while I worked, taking an enormous burden off my shoulders.
“It’s fine. It was just a thought..” I stopped her with a hand on her arm as she motioned to close the notebook. I flipped it back open and pulled it towards me, getting a look at all the planning she had done.
“This is… everything.”
“Are you sure? I just figured, with everything going on, that planning a one-year-old’s birthday party would be the last thing on your mind.”
She shyly flipped through the pages, showing me all the ideas she’d written down. She had even sketched out a cake idea. A two-tiered monstrosity covered in flowers, mushrooms, and woodland creatures.
I watched with rapt attention as I saw how much love and enjoyment she had put into planning and designing. Her artistic talent went far beyond that of interior design. She was a talented designer and planner as a whole. I wondered if she had ever given any thought to expanding her business into the party planning sector.
“Ray, this is amazing,” I said, thumbing through the pages. “I was just planning on getting a cupcake and singing happy birthday over breakfast.”
I leaned down to rest my cheek on top of Charlie’s head as she pointed at things in the notebook and babbled words only she could understand.
“Faiwee!! Chawee faiwee!” she shouted as she wiggled to the floor. She ran around the kitchen flapping her arms and twirling in circles until she plopped on the floor in a dizzy daze.
“But what about the guys?” I asked. I didn’t want to take the spotlight away from Wade and Max’s birthday. They deserved to be celebrated just as much as Charlie did.
“Pshh,” Ray said with a flick of her wrist. “They have had twenty-nine years of birthdays. You only turn one once.” She smiled down at Charlie, still attempting her best fairy impression, with a tenderness of someone filled with love.
Ignoring the familiar ache in my chest—a dull throb that always surfaced when witnessing their familial love—I chuckled at her nonchalant attitude towards celebrating her best friend and his brother’s birthdays.
“Fine, but please, let’s make sure to do something special for the guys as well. I’d really like to make them feel included.”
“I’m sure they’ll be perfectly happy to spoil little miss fairy princess over there.” She tapped her chin with her pointer finger. “I wonder if I can get them all matching tutus and wings.”
Before I had a chance to object, she was pulling out her phone and searching the internet for adult sized fairy costumes.
I’m not sure how Wade had put up with Ray’s antics over the years, but she sure did keep things interesting.
When we got backto the house, Charlie had already fallen asleep in her car seat. Ray had warned me that she’d been fighting her naps and cutting down from three shorter naps to one long one mid-afternoon. Just another way that my little girl was growing up before my eyes.
As soon as I pulled into the driveway, Max emerged from behind the house, likely from the barn. He was outfit in his signature Wrangler jeans, boots, a plain tee shirt, and that sexy as hell Stetson he always wore when working out on the ranch.
I fought to control my raging hormones, yet Max’s sex appeal was undeniable. He emanated an air of authority everywhere he went and I was happy letting him take charge in and out of the bedroom.
He met me at my door just as I’d swung it open, the furrow between his brows appearing at the fact that I hadn’t let him open my door. I got out of the car and softly closed the door behind me, hoping to keep Charlie asleep and avoid a meltdown.
Max bracketed my hips with his hands, and I slid mine up the broad expanse of his chest. I massaged the scowl between his eyes with a single finger and an innocent smile. He huffed in annoyance before gently pressing his lips to mine.
We didn’t need words to express our feelings. We could read one another as if we had been learning each other’s nuances for years.
Max snuck a glance over my shoulder into the back seat of the car, and a soft smile appeared on his lips. It never ceased to amaze me how he had folded himself seamlessly into our family unit.
“So, we never got to talk earlier,” he said as he took my hands in his, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles. “I just wanted to check in with where your head’s at.”
He seemed almost nervous as he looked down at our entwined hands. I took a page from his own play book and used my pointer finger to lift his chin and look into his eyes.
“Are you having the ‘what are we’ talk right now, Maxwell?” I chuckled.
With a nervous rub of the back of his neck, he started, “I mean...”
I stood on my tiptoes and coasted my lips across his in a whisper of a kiss.
“Ask me.” I commanded.
“Fuck, Stell. You make me nervous,” he chuckled.
