Her nose scrunched up even as she finished her sandwich. “I had friends at the lodge last summer. We met Aunt Presley, and Bernie will be back and maybe some of the others. Plus, I told Levi I’d show him around and take him on some easier hikes.”
She smiled, loving that her daughter enjoyed the lodge so much and was taking to Levi so well.
She led with that. “I’m glad you like Levi so much. He’s special to me. And you’re the most special to me so that makes it easier for all of us to hang out.”
Ollie looked down at the floor.
“You okay, sweet pea?”
Ollie looked up, pinned her with a gaze just like her own. “How come I don’t spend time with my dad?”
Jilly sucked in a breath too quickly and choked. Pressing her hand to her chest, she took a moment, caught her breath, and then went to sit on the bed. “Come here.”
Ollie came to stand in front of her. “Ginny’s mom and dad are divorced and her mom has a boyfriend but she still goes to her dad’s house. And Christopher asked about my dad and Ginny said maybe Levi could be my dad. Then she asked about my dad and I said he doesn’t like me.”
A tear formed in Jilly’s heart. “Ollie. That’s not true.” He didn’t know her. There was a difference. “I want to say nice things and make you feel better, but the truth is, people make choices that we don’t agree with. That we wouldn’t make for ourselves, and sometimes that really hurts us. Your dad made the choice that he didn’t want a wife and kid or a family. I hate that it hurts you but I swear to you, it’s notbecauseof you. It’s because of him. Who he is.” And she knew, absolutely, that she couldn’t let Andrew back in their daughter’s life. He’d walked away from the privilege, and Jilly knew whatever he was looking for now in terms of relationships was fleeting.
Ollie shrugged again. She almost never asked about Andrew. “Will he ever come visit?”
Panic flared in her chest. It was one thing to vow he’d never get near Ollie, but hewasher dad. It was different if Ollie wanted that, too. Jillian took a deep breath, reaching out to tuck Ollie’s curly, slightly damp hair off of her forehead. “I’m not sure. Do you want him to?”
“I don’t know.” She stared at Jillian, her little-girl features too serious. Lines furrowed her forehead like she was thinking too hard.
Jilly gave her a shaky smile. “That’s okay. You don’t have to know right now.”
“I have Uncle Beck and Uncle Gray.”
Nodding, Jilly pulled her closer. “You do. And Grampa.” She almost said Levi but stopped herself. It was nice that they were connecting, but she didn’t want to fill her daughter with expectations she couldn’t see through. She and Levi were new. Wonderful. But new. “You have lots of awesome men who want to be part of your life. Who love you and are grateful for you.”
Ollie gave her a quick hug, nestling her face in Jillian’s neck for just a second. Just long enough to make her heart squeeze.
“I love you,” Jilly whispered.
“I love you.”
Jillian ended up pulling her hair back into a ponytail and leaving it at that. Ollie settled on the couch with her grampa, looking at the word game he was playing on his iPad. She pointed out a word almost immediately. Jillian’s dad tapped Ollie’s nose.
“Smarty-pants,” he said.
Ollie’s smile and her dad’s affection for his granddaughter mended some of the tear, but Jillian still worried. She knew change was part of life, but was it so bad to want everything to stay just like this for a little longer? Everyone she loved, or was falling in love with, to just stay like they were, where they were, until Jillian caught her breath and felt ready for whatever the universe threw at her next?
Jilly’s brothers were joking around about something when the doorbell rang. She was sitting at the table, showing Presley some of the photos from the kids’ camp, her brows pushed together. She heard Ollie exclaim Levi’s name before he walked into the kitchen a minute later.
She was equal parts happy to see him and relieved that Andrew hadn’t followed through on his threat of just showing up.
Getting up from the table, she went over to him, loving thathis arms opened immediately. “Hi. I didn’t know you were coming over. We’re actually just about to have a meeting about the lodge.”
After he kissed her cheek he sent both of her brothers a strange look she couldn’t read.
“Why don’t we all sit down,” Grayson said.
Jilly took Levi’s hand and led him to the table, sitting between him and Presley, who had notebooks out, multiple colored pens, and her iPad.
“Hey, Presley.” He set his messenger bag on the floor beside him.
“Hi, Levi.”
Beckett sat at the head of the table, next to Presley. Gray sat across from her. If her mom were making cookies and there had been music playing, it almost would have felt like a scene from their teenage years, all gathered around the table, hanging out.
