Page 17 of Starry Night Kisses

Embracing her back, I let the tears fall. “I wanted to be a mom,reallywanted it.” My voice cracks, the words splitting between the hoarse rasps of my cries. “But Steven wouldn’t even consider adoption. Andthe treatments made me so sick.” I aggressively sniff, turning my head on her shoulder so I don’t get snot in her hair. “A part of me was relieved when I found out about his secretary.Relieved.Isn’t that stupid?”

“No, it’s not stupid at all,” Daphne soothes, rocking us back and forth as she strokes my hair like a child. “I’m so sorry all of that happened to you, Evie.”

She’s gonna tell Eric to run for the hills.

The thought has me pulling away, hastily wiping at my nose and eyes. She lets me go, sitting back on her shins as she appraises me.

“Is that why you pulled away from him after you saw him with Rose?” she asks.

My eyebrows flatten. “Geez, you two reallyarestill close, aren’t you?”

A melodic laugh fills the air. “I know. I know. It’s weird. Most people don’t understand it, but I can’t imagine my life without him in it. And he really likes you, Evie. Really,reallylikes you. Talk to him about your concerns if that’s what’s holding you back.” She nudges my knee. “Eric would be all for adoption.”

“It’s a little too early to have that talk, don’t you think?” I mutter, turning to gather my art supplies.

My phone vibrates in the pocket of my sweater, and I pull it out while still sniffling to see that it’s a text from Eric.

“I don’t think it’s too early at all,” Daphne muses impishly as I read over the text.

Counting down until I have you all to myself for the weekend. Twenty-eight hours, fifty-seven minutes, and approximately five seconds by the time this text goes through, if you were wondering.

A pleasant calmness washes over me, filling me with a renewed sense of hope.

And, Evelyn?

“As a matter of fact, I’d venture to say that if you two just sit down and have a long conversation in person, he’ll be putting a ring on it by the end of the year,” Daphne states nonchalantly as she stands and turns to leave the room.

My head snaps up, catching her eye as she pauses with a hand on the doorframe and turns to throw me a wink over her shoulder.

I drop my startled gaze back to my phone as another text lights up the screen.

When I return, those dating apps better be gone from your phone.

evie

“So, where exactly are we going?” I’m unfamiliar with Illinois and don’t recognize any significant landmarks as we head north. The snow has melted, and spring looks like it will settle in early this year. It’s been warm for February, according to my cousin, and the only reason Eric has suggested we stay out in the woods for the weekend, I’m assuming.

“If I tell you, I’ll have to kill you.” Eric grins over at me, the vision interrupted by Archer shoving half his body through the opening between the front seats. The dog’s body shakes with excitement as he leans down to lick Eric’s face before moving to give me kisses, too. I feel bad that Bagel is stuck in the back, whining as he tries to reach me, but he can’t because his little body is too short.

“Archer, get in the back, buddy,” Eric gently reprimands him, pushing the giant shepherd backwith his elbow. “I really need to get him one of those crash kennels. Worst dog parent ever, huh?”

I laugh. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Bagel is a passenger prince, so I guess that makes me a bad dog mom, too.”

When Eric arrived at my door this morning with coffee, doughnuts, and a wicked smile that suggested he’d rather tie me up again than journey the few hours it would take to get to his‘magical campsite,’I became all stuttered words and heart palpitations.

All that happened, however, was a sweet, chaste kiss in greeting before he helped himself to my kitchen to put the doughnuts on a plate and the coffee in mugs, even though we needed to get on the road.

Archer and Bagel played in the living room while we made small talk over breakfast. Yes, small talk. Even though what I really wanted to do, and I’m pretty sure he did too, was strip down and play a game of Twister in the bedroom.

Neighbors be damned.

The fact that he took two weeks off work in the middle of a huge shift for the company, just so we could spend time together, is probably the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. As he looked over my sketch ideas for Roselyn’s room and the photos of the progress I’d made so far, the fact that he seemed genuinely interested and continued complimenting my skills was just the icing on the cake.

Eric is kinda perfect.

Now, all I need to do is be a big girl and have the ‘I can’t have kids’discussion before this man makes me fall harder than I already have.

“I wasn’t sure how you’d feel about sharing a tent, so I brought two, just in case,” Eric says as casually as he would ask about the weather. “But I think we both know my preference on the matter.”

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