Page 120 of Hero for the Holidays

And for them, for their mother, the answer hadn’t actually been for her to be there. It was complicated. But it was true. For them, it was true. For them, distance had mattered. For them, that had been important.

“I love you,” said Fia.

Because even with everything, that was true.

“I love you too.”

And she believed it. She just believed that it was shown in ways that sometimes she couldn’t see.

Hadn’t been able to see.

She hung up and walked back into the house. Back to her family. And she knew that Landry was right.

What if it didn’t matter? Not in the face of what they had.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

ITWASAwhole week of living with Fia and sleeping in the bedroom down the hall. It was hard. Damned hard. Because he wanted that woman. With all of himself. With everything.

More than that. He loved her.

That Monday, they took Lila to the one-room schoolhouse for the first time. There were only three days until Christmas break, but still, she was ready to start. She already had a couple of friends there, plus Daniel. And they felt good about leaving her. But Fia was still emotional like it was Lila’s first day of kindergarten. And afterward he drove Fia to Becky’s diner and got her a hamburger.

“This is so silly,” said Fia, wiping her cheeks.

“No, it’s not,” he said.

They still made a spectacle about town, going around together. But everybody knew now. Everybody had seen their little family. He took pride in it, and he knew for a while it had embarrassed Fia a little bit. He also knew that it didn’t now.

That it was a little different. But things felt more...positive for now.

And he felt like he was getting close. To the right moment.

“How are you feeling? I mean, other than all this. You still liking living with me?”

“Yes,” she said, eating a french fry.

They breakfasted together every morning. Had dinner together every night. He really was never quite so happy as he was with her.

They were beginning to have more of a relationship independent of Lila. And independent of sex. They sat and talked about their days, just because they wanted to.

They were filling in all these gaps. They had done things so out of order. All sex. Then all parenting. And now it was like their connection was coming through. kneading them together into something stronger. He still wanted her, though. And he felt like it was getting close to the right moment to bring their romance back into play.

“I am... I’m happy.”

“Good. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. To make you happy.”

It was true. She seemed like she didn’t know what to say to that, so she turned her head to the side. He didn’t push. They stayed busy, him working on the barn, and Fia back at the farm store until it was time for them to pick up Lila. And when they did, she was chatty and filled with stories about the day. They had Sunday in the car, and she was wildly excited to see her girl.

They drove back to the farmhouse, and he offered to make dinner.

That meant it would be steak and vegetables, but nobody complained. Lila and Fia sat together working on crocheted animals. They ate dinner, and Lila went up to her room.

Because she was a teenager. So as much as she enjoyed spending time with them, she of course enjoyed spending a good portion of her time by herself, in her own space. He often thought that her bedroom was perhaps the thing she appreciated the most that they’d given her.

Fia lingered downstairs for a bit while he did cleanup from dinner. And then she went upstairs too.

He looked around the house. It was a hell of a thing. To be living about three-quarters of what he wanted most. To have his daughter. To live with Fia. To love Fia.

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