Page 120 of Fighting a Riot

“Anyway, we’re not staying tonight, dear,” Mom said, reaching back to grab my hand.

“Why?” I asked.

She grinned. “Part of this trip was to check on you. The chemo’s taking its toll no matter what you try to tell me. But the other reason for this trip was to scope out retirement condos, so, we’re headed to a few places south of here and maybe a little west of Orlando.”

“Really?”

Gary nodded. “Yep. Then we’re flying out of Tampa at the end of the week.”

“Well…” I said, not sure if I was relieved or disappointed by this news.

Mom smiled at me. “Honey, it’s easier to rest without house guests. I get it, but until you have a child, you’ll never know how hard it is to stay away when your child is going through something tough.”

Gary glanced over at Yak. “Translated, now that she’s met you, she can rest easier.”

“Gary Powell!” Mom cried.

We hardly heard her, though, because all three of us were laughing too loud.

An hour later, Yak and I stood in the driveway waving as Gary motored the rental car toward the downtown.

I had an arm around Yak’s waist and I gave him a squeeze. “Yesterday you said you had something else to tell me, but Mom and Gary showed up, and then you never mentioned it.”

With his arm around my shoulders, we went back into the house through the side door. He led me to the kitchen, then picked me up by the waist and put me on the counter.

His teeth sunk into his lower lip for a beat before his eyes met mine. “Don’t get excited.”

I laughed. “I love it when people say things like that. ‘Don’t look now,’ or ‘don’t get excited.’ Spoiler alert, I’m always gonna look and I’m already excited.”

He sighed. “Now that I’ve met your mother, I was afraid of that.”

I waved my hands toward myself. “So, the suspense is killing me.”

“When I came in here, I’d been at the clubhouse.”

“Right, you were going to meet Cal.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist. “I wanted to know why he went back on his word. He’d been through the system and said he was never having kids.”

“But he has a daughter now.”

Yak nodded.

My legs wrapped around his thighs. “So… what did he tell you?”

His eyes seemed even more bronze in the bright sunlight pouring in through the windows. “He told me everything changed when he met Mallory.”

“Right,” I whispered. For some crazy reason, this conversation in this position was turning me on.

He exhaled through his nose. “I told you not to get excited, Nora.”

I leaned closer and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. “I can’t help it. You haven’t said it, but it sounds like you’ve changed your mind.”

“Not yet, but I am considering the possibility of kids. With you. But not now, obviously.”

I beamed at him, then kissed his jaw. “Obviously. But, I don’t care what you said, Yak. I’m so freaking excited!”

Epilogue

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