Page 83 of Tangled

Stacy’s story makes me nearly choke on my water. “Barbie shoes?”

Olivia rolls her eyes but there’s a slight blush to her cheeks of embarrassment. “In my defense, Barbie was just trying to help, but walking around in heels is uncomfortable.”

“So she kicked them off in a fit of joy and they landed in the green beans?” I tease her.

She shoots me an angry glare, but there’s humor behind it. “Apparently so.”

“So that year, we made it a game that whoever found Barbie’s shoes got an extra piece of pie,” Stacy chimes in. “I’ve never seen Cooper eat that much green bean casserole in my life. And then he almost choked on the shoe.”

I laugh uncontrollably, loving hearing these stories about this woman.

The more I study her, watch her, get to know her—the more I’m falling and the more I see a future with her and can’t imagine another day of my life without her in it. I can feel those three little words take shape in my mind, but something is holding me back from saying them. That fear that I’m putting all of my faith in what we have rings loudly, making me cautious that I might end up hurt again.

If you had asked me two months ago where I thought I would be right now—it sure as hell wouldn’t be in the kitchen of a woman I’m falling in love with, getting ready to spend the holiday with her family. And at that exact moment that thought enters my mind, she looks up and wrinkles her nose at me, giving me a knowing grin and twisting my insides even more with the notion that I know without a doubt.

I love her.

“Hey, boys,” Olivia says, catching me off-guard as I turn and see two men this time—her brother, Cooper, and another man who I can only assume is her father.

“Ladies,” her father nods at them before focusing on me. “You must be Kane,” his deep voice fills the room as I stand and motion to shake his hand. Olivia’s dad is tall and built, an older version of her brother for sure. It’s crystal clear her family has strong genes.

“Yes, sir. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Likewise. Come on, Kane. Cooper and I were just hanging out in the garage and drinking a few beers. Come join us.”

Even if I had a choice, the demand in his voice is one I comply to, following him outside but not before turning back to get one last look from Olivia. The worry on her face is unsettling, but she mouths a “Good luck” to me before I turn back around and walk into the lion’s den. I take a deep breath and stand tall knowing no matter what they may ask me or test me with, Olivia is worth it all.

Olivia

“He seems like a wonderful man. And my God, he’s gorgeous,” my mom confesses once Kane shuts the door to the garage and my anxiety returns. But this time, it’s more for him and what the hell my dad and brother are saying to him, than the thought that I’m still waiting on my period.

“Mom! Back off, he’s mine,” I tease which garners a laugh from her.

“Oh, I’m well aware. I completely understand the draw to him and why you decided to have fun with that one,” she winks. “Have you noticed how he looks at you?”

I shake my head in distraction from my mother’s bluntness. “What do you mean?” I ask curiously, knowing that my mother has a better instinct that I ever will.

“He looks at you like you hung the moon and the stars, baby girl,” she says while reaching up to cup my face.

"Really?"

She nods. “Absolutely. He’s in love with you, baby. And if those tears you were about to shed before he got here were any indication, I’d say you feel the same way.”

“I do, but that’s not why I was about to cry, Mom.”

“Then what’s the matter?” Her brows narrow as she sets down her spoon she was stirring a pot on the stove with.

I take a deep breath and close my eyes, bracing myself for her reaction.

“I’m late…” I whisper, even though I know the boys couldn’t hear us in the garage if I was louder.

My mom’s eyes go wide and her head drops closer to mine. “Are you sure?”

I nod. “And I’m never late, Mom. I keep telling myself it’s stress or I’m just really tired. It is that point in the school year where I tend to get extremely exhausted.”

“Olivia, I’m going to ask you something and it’s not to make you sound stupid, okay?”

“Okay…”

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