Page 89 of Come Back for Me
I laugh because her mind just bounces on a whim. “That’s good.”
“I’ll take a puppy instead.”
Ellie snorts. “Let’s start with a pumpkin and go from there.”
Chapter Thirty
Connor
Today was perfect. Everything went even better than I could’ve planned. Hadley had fun, we got a ton of apples, pumpkins, and some weird-looking things that Ellie called gourds.
Ellie is currently putting away the apples, and Hadley is waiting to head out to the tree house. Not only did we get pumpkins for the house but we also got them for the tree house because she explained that all places need decorations.
I may turn one of the cow pastures into a pumpkin patch to keep this kid happy.
“You ready?” Ellie asks as she comes out with the two pumpkins and a tablecloth.
“What’s that for?”
“Curtains.”
“Curtains?”
“Hadley needs to make the place a little homier, and curtains make a house a home.”
I never knew they were so important. I look back at the house, which is curtain-less. I think my father was drunk once and ripped all the curtain rods out of the walls. Not that I think curtains would’ve madethishouse a home. The only thing that did that was my father dying and no longer being here.
“I think the people inside it do that,” I tell her as I pull her to my chest. “You made this house a home.”
Ellie smiles softly and gives me a quick kiss. “I think we should tell her now.”
“Now?”
My heart begins to race and nerves hit me. I’m not a guy who feels fear. After my time in the military, I learned to breathe through it and not allow it in. In this moment, I can’t stop it. Once we tell Hadley, her world will change. Mine has already been tilted on its axis, but I’m an adult. She’s a child, and I worry about how she’ll handle the news.
“The longer we wait, the more I feel like we’re taking this from her. She should know that her father cared enough about her to give her a day like this. I want to give her this—you as her father.”
My mouth opens, but words don’t come. I can feel my palms start to sweat, and I feel like a kid again, not the grown man I am.
It’s nerves and excitement and adrenaline and anticipation.
“Are you not ready?”
“No, I am,” I say quickly. It has nothing to do with being ready. I’ve never been more ready for anything. “I’m sure, and I want to tell her. I just didn’t think you were.”
“It’s time.”
She’s right. It is time. “Let’s head out to the tree house.”
Hadley comes running outside, carrying a basket and her doll. “I brought cider, cups, and cookies.”
“Where did you get the cookies?” Ellie asks.
“The kitchen.”
“I asked for that.”
I hold in a chuckle because Hadley has great timing for a seven-year-old. The three of us make the trek out to the tree that has come to mean more to me than I ever could’ve known. Here is where I hid when I was scared and found what I had lost.
