I raised a brow at her, knowing exactly why she felt energetic, and she rolled her eyes at me.
“Well, do you need a taste tester? I feel like you need a taste tester.”
“I want to taste! I want to taste!” Amelia said as she clapped her hands against my cheeks. I winced ever so slightly because I had no idea why her hands were so sticky. I knew the running joke between my friends with children that they always had jam hands, but I hadn’t truly lived it until this moment.
“Okay, let’s get you both washed up,” Livvy said with a laugh. I carried Amelia to the sink, and we washed her hands, her face, and then my face.
“I like your beard,” Amelia said as she patted at my face.
“I wonder what you look like with the beard,” I said softly.
Amelia’s eyes widened and she put her hands on her cheeks. “Oh no. No beard for me.”
“You never know, one day you just end up with car tweezers though.” I looked over at Livvy, who shrugged. “There’s always a hidden chin hair. And you can only see it in the light through your car windshield.”
“These are things I do not know.”
“I guess you’re learning everything.”
My heart lurched again, wanting to know everything but not sure when the end would come.
As we finished up the cookies, and started on dinner, I couldn’t help but relish in the domesticity of it. Amelia always had family around her, and Livvy was supported. Yes, her job meant that she could work anywhere, but her family was here. She washappyhere.
I could leave Wyoming. Maybe fly back often to help out when needed during high seasons, but I could find something to do here.
I had fallen in love with this family, and it meant I would do anything to figure out a way to make it work.
By the end of the evening we found ourselves sitting on Livvy’s porch, rocking on the wooden bench one of her uncles had made. Amelia sat between us, talking a million miles a minute about one of her cousins.
I wrapped my arm behind Livvy’s shoulders and played with her hair as the sun began to set, and things just felt right.
Tonight. Tonight I would tell Livvy I loved her. And that I would do all I could to make sure I did not fuck things up for her family. I didn’t have any answers, other than I needed to find those answers.
A car pulled into the driveway, and Livvy frowned.
“Who is it, Mommy?” Amelia asked, leaning forward.
Unease settled over me as Livvy stood up and walked toward the man getting out of the truck.
I recognized him as one of the Montgomerys, but I didn’t remember which. Amelia tried to wiggle off the seat, so I stood up and took her with me. For some reason, everything felt off about this, so I put Amelia on my hip again, and lifted my chin at the other man.
“Hey. I’m Noah. I don’t know if you remember me.”
Another car pulled in beside Noah, and fear coated my tongue. Shep and Shea Montgomery got out of their SUV, and ice filled my veins. If everybody was coming here unannounced, something was wrong.
“Grandma! Grandpa!” Amelia wiggled down my body, oblivious to the tension, and ran toward her grandparents.
Shep lifted his granddaughter up and nodded at me.
“Hey Amelia, darling, let’s go inside. I really want some lemonade. Do you have any?”
“I do. I do.”
Shea leaned forward to kiss her granddaughter’s cheek before squeezing Livvy’s hand. “We’ll be right inside.”
There was something wrong, something they needed to protect Amelia from, and I wanted everybody to leave. Whatever perfect moment we had been enjoying was shattered, and there was no going back. I did not want to know what Noah had to say. Only I knew I wasn’t going to have a choice.
“What is it, Noah? Who’s hurt?”
