Page 15 of Everything I Promise

I’m not sure he even stops to breathe once, his excitement brings a smile to my face.

“Yeah, buddy, I’m so excited to go with you!” I place him back on the ground as Lacey walks over to us.

“Sorry about that. I know he can go off on a tangent,” she says out of Oliver’s earshot, hanging her head as she approaches me.

I step toward Lacey so she can see my face when I say this to her. “Never apologize for your child being excited, Lacey. I mean it. As long as he’s happy he can knock me over for all I care.” I say this sternly to her while staring in her eyes and holding her hands. She gets goosebumps all over her arms as I run my hands along her silky soft skin. I’m not sure if this is a reaction to me being so close or if I’ve scared her.

“I’m sorry. Usually I would get yelled at if he were to do that with Michael.” She looks away ashamed.

I take a chance by grabbing her hands in mine again. “And that is because he was not aman. No man should ever yell at his wife, the mother of his child, for making his child happy.”

Lacey rewards me with a weak smile and I can see in her eyes how sad she has been for a long time.

I step away from her and lead her to the truck, scooping Oliver up on my way. He bursts into a fit of giggles as I throw him over my shoulder. I open the truck door for Lacey first, then go to the back to put Oliver in the car. “Colton, you are so silly,” he says through fits of laughter.

“I’m not silly! Isn’t that how you’re supposed to carry a kid?” I put on my best confused face.

“Noooo, Colton!” He is in another fit of giggles as I pretend to not know how this seatbelt works. He is more than happy to show off his new skill of buckling himself. I sneak a peek at Lacey in the mirror and see her smiling at our interaction.

As I slip into the driver’s seat of my truck, she places her hand on mine and mouths, “Thank you,” at me before returning her hand to her lap.

This is what I want. This is what I’ve always hoped for. Too bad none of it is mine. Yet.

“Okay, where to, buddy?” I glance back at Oliver, already having a few kid friendly places in mind.

“Pizza!” He shouts from the backseat.

Of course. Pizza is his current favorite according to Lacey and she already warned me that he would choose it. Luckily, I found a great place that has pizza for him, and some other meals for Lacey and I.

“I know the perfect place for pizza, big guy!” I wink at Lacey who smiles back at me like I’ve given her the world.

I can officially say I will be chasing this high with her as long as I live.

Chapter Seven

Lacey

My heart is screaming, my ovaries are screaming, and my head is suffering whiplash from my back and forth thoughts about Colton. Watching him with Oliver does things to my body I’m not prepared for. He is so good with him. So patient. He never once got mad or frustrated as Oliver told another fifteen minute story. He listens to him and responds with excitement. Michael never gave Oliver the time of day, so he is soaking it up as much as I am. Colton even went out of his way to find a pizza place near Home Depot for Oliver after I mentioned his current favorite food.

Yeah, I’m in trouble. As much as I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop, I don’t even know if there is another shoe with Colton. He does and says all the right things.

We walk into Home Depot and Oliver leaves me to go grab Colton’s hand. Colton immediately steps to the other side so my son isn’t on the side of traffic. Another small thing that I’ve noticed.

“Lace?” Amusement laces his voice breaking my through my thoughts.

“Oh, sorry. Lost in thought. What’s up?” Damn. He is always catching me when I’m daydreaming about him.

“Where do you want to start? I was thinking paint so we can order it and they can mix it while we shop for the other stuff.” Logical of course.

“Sure. That sounds good. I generally know what colors I want so it shouldn’t take too long to pick, I promise.” Again I find myself apologizing when this man has tried to make it clear he would stand there for hours while I looked at every color imaginable. This is going to be a hard habit to break.

He stops at the entrance to the paint section, and steps closer toward me, “You can take as long as you want, Lace. This is your business and your home. I want you to be happy and not make a haste decision.” There it is. The constant reassurance that he wants me to be happy and isn’t bothered by what it takes. Why can’t I get out of my own mind when it comes to Colton?

“I want green, Mommy!” Oliver yells excitedly, jumping up and down while still clutching Colton’s hand.

“I know you do, buddy. Let me pick out the other colors first then we will go to greens.” I say.

“Okay, Mommy.” Oliver’s little head sags.

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