Page 67 of The Double Play

Emmett hands the other mug to Raven, who’s occupying the chaise lounge portion of the sectional. She looks up from her phone and smiles at him.

“Thanks, Emmett.”

He simply nods before settling into the other corner of the couch. I hand him his hot chocolate, then snuggle up next to him. He pushes a blanket down off the back of the couch. I shoot him a smile before draping it over my legs.

Emmett grabs the remote, and then the movie begins. I look around the living room while the opening credits play. Raven is curled up beneath a blanket, her phone turned over beside her and her eyes on the tv screen, a content smile on her lips. June is wiggling in between sips of hot chocolate. Her wet curls sway with her movements.

Tears prick at my eyes. This is perfect. Too perfect. All my life, since I was June’s age, I’ve wanted this. A family to make hot cocoa for. A husband who loves me and wants me. People to come home to and to create a home for. It’s right here in front of me, but it’s happening so fast I’m not sure it can last.

It’s cute and fun when June and Raven team up for sprinkles on what’s basically a sleepover, but things will be different in day-to-day life. I have to be Raven’s parent. He has to be June’s. I don’t know how or when those roles will intertwine. He’s my boss, and yet also my boyfriend. Those two don’t go together.

Emmett’s fingertips trace circles on my shoulder. I let my eyes fall shut. If only this could be our life, but it can’t. Not yet, at least. I won’t pressure him into taking care of me more than he already has. It’s simply too much.

I’ll start looking for a new job tomorrow morning, even though just the thought breaks my heart.

Chapter thirty-two

Emmett Foster

IbrushJune’shairback and kiss her forehead. “Goodnight, I love you.”

She wraps her arms around my neck. “I love you too, Daddy.”

I smile softly down at her when I pull away. Hearing that never gets old. I switch on her star lamp, which bathes the ceiling in soft purples and blues with pinpricks of white constellations. Then I turn the lights off.

“Daddy?”

“Yes?” I turn around. She’s clutching the baseball teddy bear she sleeps with when I’m gone, and the NYC teddy bear she got with Hazel. If Hazel were in here, she’d have tears streaming down her face. After the day she had, though, I told her she should go take a long shower instead of help with the bedtime routine.

“Are you and Miss Hazel going to get married?”

I stiffen. Marriage. That’s something I never thought would be on the horizon for me, not after Shelby. But now…now it doesn’t seem as impossible an idea to entertain. At the same time, it’s far too soon for June to have that idea in her head.

“What makes you ask that?”

She bounces the baseball teddy bear beside her on the bed. “I remembered how my friend at school said her dad was dating a lady.” She says the worddatingas though she still doesn’t understand it. Which is good, because she won’t need to until she’s at least thirty. Maybe forty.

“And then last week,” she continues, “my friend told me her dad was getting married and she was going to get a new mommy.”

I wince. I thought that’s where this might be headed. The bed sags a little as I sit on the edge.

“June, I don’t know yet if Miss Hazel and I will get married. I don’t want you to think of her as your mom yet.”

I make out June’s frown in the dim light. “But I want a new one. Mine never comes to see me.” Her sniffles crack my heart in two. “A-and I love Miss Hazel. Why can’t she be my mommy?”

I scoot to sit against the headboard and wrap an arm around June. She curls into my side. “I know you do. She might want to be your mom one day, but you have to be patient. Do you know what that means?” I feel her shake her head. “It means that you wait to call Miss Hazel Mommy until she tells you it’s okay. In the meantime, you can play with her and have fun, and even tell her you love her. I know she likes it when you do that.”

June giggles. “Her eyes get all shiny and she gives me the biggest hug.”

My chest tightens. It’s not easy to keep from falling too fast when June says things like that. I kiss the crown of June’s head.

“See? You can still have fun and be best friends. You just have to wait a little while.”

“How long, Daddy?”

I tip my head back against the headboard. Not long, if we keep moving at this rate. For years, my heart has felt like a worn-out pair of cleats. Manageable, but not in good condition. Hazel makes me feel brand-new, though. Fresh out of the box and ready for the game of my life.

“I’m not sure,” I give her my best answer. “That’s the thing about being patient, it’s something you do when you might have to wait a long time or just a little bit.”

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