Page 65 of Finally Home

Callum scoops his daughter up, and she grabs his cheeks and presses a smacking kiss to his cheek. “Did you miss me, Daddy?”

He holds her tight as he leans over and peppers kisses all over her face, and her giggles fill the room.

“Always, princess. Are you ready to get something to eat?” he asks, and Eva enthusiastically nods.

Callum turns toward me. “We were going to get some lunch down the street. Would you like to join us?”

“Oh yes, please. I’d love to hear more about that puppy yoga class you had mentioned,” Brynn adds.

“Thank you for the invite, really. But I’ll let you guys have some family time. But I’ll take a rain check for sure.”

Brynn smiles and nods. “I’ll hold you to that before the week is over. Maybe you can join me and the girls for happy hour one night.”

“I’d love that, thank you.”

The Murphy family is almost to the door when Cal stops abruptly. “Hey, Hollie, grand gestures.”

“Excuse me?”

“Men love grand gestures.”

“Umm, isn’t that the other way around?” I ask, and Cal just shrugs. “Be sure to ask my wife at your happy hour about her eighteen-thousand-dollar book shopping spree.”

My jaw drops.Eighteen-thousand-dollar shopping spree? In a bookstore, no less? Is that even possible?I definitely can’t wait to hear the details of that story.

Brynn’s cheeks flush slightly as she looks up at her husband with a smile on her face. “Totally worth it,” she says.

Minutes after they leave the studio, I’m still frozen, lost in my thoughts over grand gestures. What the hell did I know about things like that? Ollie was the one who had planned our mini golf excursion. Wanting to torture myself even more, I pull my phone out and flip through the photos we took that day.

His goofy grin fills the screen, and it makes my heart hurt knowing that there is so much distance between us. The smile is my home. I want what Brynn and Cal have—the happily everafter—and I want that only with Oliver Mosby. Now I just need to tell him after I put a plan together.

I quickly finish packing up my bag and leave the studio as I dial the number of exactly who I know can help me out. The moment the call connects, I say, “Hey, I need your help.”

Chapter 28

Ollie

Knock! Knock! Knock!

The loud banging at my front door startles me awake.Where the fuck am I?It takes me a moment to realize that I’m on my couch, face down in a puddle of drool. I’ve also got the worst case of cotton mouth ever.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

This time, the banging is harder and louder.

I push up to a sitting position, and the world spins. Maybe I’ll just lie back down and whoever it is will just fuck off.

“Oliver James Mosby! I know you’re in there. Now, open up!”

That voice and tone I know too well. It’s the same voice that used to tattle on me as a child.

I rip open the front door and wince at the sunshine.Jesus, what time is it even?

“What the fuck, Payton? What are you doing here? And why are you banging on my door and not using your key?”

My sister isn’t waiting for an invitation. With her hands full of canvas bags, she pushes past me and enters the house. I don’t know if it’s the hangover or that I’m just waking up, but when she hits my shoulder, I lose my balance and topple back into the door. I hiss as pain radiates through my side and not just my head.

“Please, why don’t you come in?” I say under my breath as I close the front door. I turn to find Payton taking in the house.

---