Page 32 of Cannon

“When I want to do something nice for Winnie, I think of what she likes. Now my woman loves books. She loves for me to spend time with her, especially on the bike. She also wants to knowI’m thinking about her. I write notes sometimes and hide them where she’ll find them.”

“Notes?” Cannon asked.

“Here’s a picture of one I hid in her desk drawer.”

Bear leaned over and showed him a picture. The note saidI can’t wait to spend time with you tonight. I love my sunshine and our lightning bugs.

“Another way I show her she matters is I send her a note with some meals I’ll bring home for all of us from the diner. When she’s worked all day and we’re both low on sleep, knowing that she doesn’t need to think about supper helps her. She gets home first with the kids, so if I don’t bring something from the diner, she’ll start supper before I get there. Telling her I’m taking care of it is one less thing she worries about. I also set up date nights for us and figure out who is taking the kids.”

Cannon could see how Winnie would love that stuff, but how could he figure out what Jesse would love?

“Think about Jesse’s likes and dislikes. What makes her smile? Bear had it easy because he’s known Winnie a long time. I had to figure it out with Sprite while also having a bunch of kids who need our time. For Sprite, her love language is time and physical touch. Her mom was not someone who gave her either. Sprite and I start most mornings watching the sunrise together. I fix her coffee and have it ready for her. I get to cuddle her on the porch swing, and she gets to know I value time with just her,” Roam said.

Cannon nodded like he got it, but it seemed like this was going to be a lot harder than he thought. He imagined the guys giving him a blueprint and following it exactly. But to do it right, he needed to get to know Jesse better. Well, he had a plan and now he’d need to work on it.

“I’m going to figure out the rest, but for now, I’d like to set up having a delivery of Chinese food tomorrow night from the diner. Jesse really likes the lo mein.”

Baron laid his hand on Cannon’s shoulder. “Fantastic start. Now, how do you think they’re doing?”

Baron motioned to the Nelsons down on the course. It looked like they were starting over because Quinton had knocked everyone out. Depending on how easy clean-up was, he might make this a monthly thing or something that could be booked specially. Of course, once they had the twins, he didn’t think he’d be wanting to be gone in the evenings. What if he missed the first time they smiled or rolled over? There were so many things he was looking forward to. He so totally could do this.

Last night, when he’d been forced to move into Jesse’s room, had been the best sleep he’d had. She’d leaned toward him, kissed him on the cheek, and said good night. It was the sweetest kiss without any expectation of anything sexual. He’d thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep with her beside him, but he’d relaxed and drifted off to sleep. He wasn’t sure if it was the pain medicine making him sleep so deeply or being around Jesse, but he hadn’t woken up yelling from any dreams at her house.

When they woke up, Jesse had smiled at him and said good morning. He’d realized he wanted every morning to start that way. He might need to buy Lilly and Dolly a bag of treats. He’d hoped they’d eventually get to him sleeping beside her, but the dogs had forced it earlier.

Now he needed to get his head screwed on straight so he and Jesse could start building their life together. He wasn’t looking forward to talking to anyone about his childhood. As an adult, he’d realized his dad was abusive. As a child, all Cannon had known was that his dad was mad at him all the time.

Chapter Twenty-One

Cannon held one of the gifts as Jesse tore the paper off. With his arm in a cast, they’d quickly decided instead of taking turns, they’d open them together. He’d hold them and she’d unwrap them.

When they’d walked in, he’d been floored with how many people had shown up. The whole Nelson clan had shown up. The fact they’d all taken the time out of their Sunday had amazed him. He’d known Hennessy would be here. When they’d finished up on Friday night, Cannon had heard Hennessy was making a trip to Wichita. Cannon asked Hennessy to pick up some items for him. Heck, Hennessy had even made sure they were wrapped, so Cannon didn’t have to figure that out.

For once, his head didn’t feel naked. When they’d walked in the door, Jesse had left for a minute and returned with his favorite ball cap. She’d put it on his head, then smiled. Whether she did it because that’s how she liked him or because shewanted him to be comfortable, he didn’t care. She’d smiled at him.

Roam had texted his therapist and Cannon had an appointment on Monday. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

“Cannon,” Jesse’s whisper brought him back to the gift they were opening. It looked like a bunch of papers laminated in a 3-ring binder.

“What is it?” he asked.

“So, needless to say, when we started having sons and none of their moms stuck around, Burt, Bill, and I had to learn fast,” Peck said.

“Oh yeah, talk about being thrown into the deep end. As we started figuring stuff out, we wrote it down or we wrote down stuff the nice women from Bluff Creek clued us in on,” Burt said, smiling and touching the bill of his hat toward Regina.

“It’s a copy of the book, but Vivi organized it by subject with the additions the next generation has learned,” Burt said.

Vivi started giggling. “I may have included some anecdotal instances to help you realize everyone messes up with their kids.”

“Hey, let me see that,” Whiskey said as Hennessy came closer too.

Jesse laughed and held the book to her chest. “Back off boys.”

“It better not have anything in there about me!” Hennessy grumbled.

Jesse flicked over the open book. “You mean likeremember anything that smells bad going in—smells twice as bad coming out.Ask Hennessy how many times he’s puked changing Bailey’s poopy diapers.”

“Vivi, you were my favorite sister-in-law,” Hennessy said, pouting.

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