“You’re worried about how young she is.”
“Of course I am.”
“You have a unique perspective there. What it’s like to be in your shoes right now?” She studied his face from behind her coffee mug. It was a probing question, but not an unwelcome one. Other than Will, nobody else had asked him that, and Will’s questions were always a bit loaded, like he knew the path Owenshouldtake. His brother always meant well, though, and the kicker was that he was almost always right. And when he wasn’t, it was rarely that far off the mark.
Kerry’s question felt different.
Owen was damn glad they’d decided to be friends. He needed this more than he knew.
“They aren’t bad shoes,” he said quietly. “I don’t know how well I fill them some days, but I’m blessed and I know it.”
“When did it get easier for you?”
“It took a while. Years. By the time she was in school, I had this house, and she came to live with me more of the time.”
“I got the impression she lived here full-time.”
“That came a few years later. When Rachel had her third baby, and bedrooms over there were in high demand. Until then, she went back and forth.” He paused. “We have a good relationship. Rachel and I.”
“I noticed that. That’s good.”
He nodded.
Kerry smiled. “And now you have Charlie here, too. Baby snuggles are a good thing.”
“They sure are.” He cleared his throat. “How about you? No kids, future kids?”
She laughed. “Future kids.”
He nodded, and lifted his own mug to take a sip. Wrong move.
“I tell myself not to put the cart before the horse, and I don’t even have a horse, you know?”
He snorted and inhaled coffee. Sputtering, he set the mug down and turned around, bracing his hands on the counter as he tried to fix his breathing and stop laughing at the same time. He grabbed a kitchen towel and swiped his face before turning back again.
Kerry’s face was in her hands as she shook with laughter.
“A horse, eh?”
She laughed harder.
He pushed the envelope. “Not a bull?”
She doubled over.
Owen let loose with his own laugh. They should keep it down, because Becca and Charlie needed their sleep, but he couldn’t stop. The laughter shook his whole body, it made his sides ache, and it warmed him from head to toe.
Slowly, Kerry straightened. She took a deep breath, wiped her eyes, and shook her head. She held his gaze as he settled down, too.
Then she bit her lower lip. “Bulls don’t pull carts,” she whispered, and they both started howling again.
It didn’t even make sense, but that was what made it funny.
His insides hurt, and it felt good.
“Thanks,” he said when they both stopped laughing. “I needed that.”
“Any time.” Her expression slid from friendly to serious professional in an instant. “How are you holding up, though?”
