Page 19 of Chase Our Forever

“Honey, Liv has her own room and bed.”

Clara juts her bottom lip out. She crosses her arms over her chest as her eyes narrow on me. “I want a sleepover,” she states matter-of-factly, her eyes bouncing between me and Dean.

“Oh, I promise you don’t want to sleep with me. I’d wake you up all night.”

Clara reaches up and presses her tiny palm to my cheek. The gesture is adorable, stealing a little piece of my heart. “Do you have bad dreams like Daddy?”

I can’t help it—my eyes immediately travel to Dean. He must have nightmares often if Clara knows about them, but I tryto pretend I didn’t hear her. It seems like her comment isn’t something I’m supposed to know about by the hard set of Dean’s jaw and the vacant look in his eyes as he looks back at me.

“No nightmares for me,” I tell her, trying to lighten the mood. “I just snoresoloud,” I lie. I reach out and tickle her sides a little, making her double over in a fit of laughter.

“Ah!” she screams, trying to wrestle out of my grasp. “Daddy snores, too!” she gets out through more laughs.

I laugh with her, unable to resist with how cute her giggles are. “Oh, so then you know you definitely don’t want me to share a room with you. My snores would keep you up all night.”

“Fine,” she agrees with a sigh, finally breaking free from my grasp and backing away. “I want to show you my room.”

“How about we let her step foot inside before we start making demands?” Dean interjects, his eyebrow raised as he stares at his daughter.

“Step foot inside, Livvy?”

I smile at the nickname, playing with the end of her messy ponytail. “Let me get my bags first, and then you can show me inside. Your house is pretty.”

“My daddy built it with my mommy,” Clara declares, looking proudly over at her father. “Mommy doesn’t live here, though. She lives in Heaven.”

Dean clears his throat, his jaw tightening as he takes a step forward, picking up my duffle bag off the pavement. “Let me help you with your bags. Are there more?” He completely ignores what Clara just said, and I let him. I don’t know if the tragic passing of his wife was something I’m supposed to know about yet.

I nod as I open the door to my back seat. Heat floods my cheeks as I look in the back. Suddenly, I’m a little embarrassed for him to see it. It’s clear I’ve been partially living in my car with a pillow and blanket folded nicely in the seat and my small,dwindling stash of food. I’d kept it clean for the most part, getting rid of trash when I had it, but I still can’t hide how all of my possessions fit inside the back seat of this car.

“Uh,” I begin, trying to fake a smile as Clara skips across the driveway. “Just these two additional bags. I pack light,” I add at the last minute, trying to laugh at the uncomfortableness of the situation.

Dean doesn’t say anything. He simply takes my purse, as well as the other bag from the back seat, and closes the door with his free hand. His eyes meet mine, and I hate the look of pity etched across his face. He’s sorry for me, and Ihateit. I don’t need anyone’s pity. Getting out of Florida was the best thing that could’ve happened to me. I’m exactly where I need to be, even if I don’t have many belongings to my name.

“Let’s show Liv inside, Clara,” Dean calls over his shoulder, walking to the front door. Only when his footsteps hit the wood porch do I notice he’s wearing a pair of cowboy boots. I don’t know why the sight of them makes me smile, erasing some of the embarrassment from my system. The two times I’ve seen Dean in the past, he wore a suit that screamed business. It feels almost wrong to see him dressed down in a pair of worn jeans and a flannel—the look complete with a pair of cowboy boots.

I hate to admit that I love it. I remind myself that he’s my boss and I can’t be attracted to him. The last thing I need to be doing is studying the way his old pair of jeans expertly cling to his thick thighs, yet here I am, watching him walk to the house in a pair of cowboy boots and worn jeans that only fuel my attraction to him.

My boss is a whole lot more interesting than I was expecting.

I push the thought to the back of my mind, and with a deep breath, I follow Clara and Dean up the porch, excited to see my home for the foreseeable future.

12

DEAN

Liv’s eyesare wide as she takes in the space. She stands in the opening of the front door, her gaze raking across the great room.

“This is…” Her words fall off as she continues to look around. “I don’t even have a word for what this is.”

I swallow, trying to look around the space through her eyes. It’s stunning. Every single detail of this room Selena pored over in the planning of the house. It was her baby. She spent every day huddled over wood samples and paint swatches, wanting to make sure she got everything perfect.

It did end up perfect. I just hate that she didn’t get to see it through.

The house is still missing the finishing touches. Selena hadn’t finished doing the interior design. She was still picking out the pieces that made this house a home. Years later, I look at the empty walls and the lack of decorations and wish she was still here to finish out the planning of our dream house.

As I look at the house through the eyes of a stranger, a knife twists in my heart. If Selena was still here, this house would seem so much more full of life. But it’s hard to recognize life’s fullness after losing someone like her. It’s hard to accept shewon’t ever be here to finish the house, but I need to for my daughter—and for me.

Maybe getting Clara’s help to finish decorating the space will allow me to do that.

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