Page 64 of Sweet on You
I ran out from behind the rock wall where I had placed my phone on the table beside it. Brady’s name lit up the screen. I answered it, breathless.
“Congratulations, Daddy,” Brady said. “It’s a girl.”
My eyes fluttered closed and I clutched the phone with one hand and braced my weight on the table beside me, not trusting my own feet.
“Lex? Are you there?”
I cleared my throat. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m here Brady.”
“Did you hear me? Olivia is officially your daughter. And of course, your drug test came back squeaky clean. Isn’t that great?”
Great didn’t even begin to describe it. “It’s… it’s amazing.” I knew she was my daughter, of course. I knew it the moment her eyes connected with mine. But having the confirmation? Having it be known in the eyes of the law and community? That was a different thing altogether.
“Mr. and Mrs. Murphy also got in touch me, wanting your personal contact information. Is it okay if I forward them your cell phone? They have a doctor’s appointment on Friday and they were hoping you would be willing to take Olivia for the day and overnight?”
“Yeah.” My voice was raspy in my own ears. “Yeah, pass along my cell number. Of course, I’ll be happy to babysit her.”
Brady chuckled after a moment’s pause. “It’s not babysitting when she’s your daughter, you know.”
I gave a heavy laugh as I felt Ronnie’s hands drift up my arms. She held me from behind, caressing my bicep with reassuring strokes. It was comforting, and I released my grip from the table, taking her hand and bringing it to my lips to kiss her knuckles. “I suppose not, huh?”
We worked out a few other details about the mediation dates and hung up. I was in a daze and in that moment, it was impossible to focus on anything except two days from now… when Olivia would be spending the night in my tiny one-bedroom apartment.
“Hey,” Ronnie whispered, her palm brushing against my cheek. The day-old stubble rasped against her hand and I lifted my eyes to hers. They were bright blue and regarded me with affection that I hadn’t seen from anyone, let alone a gorgeous, fun, kind, woman, in years. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
She dropped her head to the side, leveling me with a look. “Lex,” she warned.
“Okay, I’m a little stunned. I knew this day was coming and now that it’s here, I feel lost. And nervous. But also so,sohappy. It’s like… for the first time in my life, all the pieces are coming together. I have everything I’ve ever wanted within reach.”
Ronnie nodded and swiped her thumb across my lips. I caught the edge in a kiss just as she removed it. “I’m going to give you some space for the next few days, okay? You need some time to get acquainted—”
As she moved to step back, I grasped her hand, tugging her back into me. “Hey,” I said, shaking my head and cupping her jaw. “I don’t need time away from you. When I said everything I’ve ever wanted is within reach… I meant having you as much as I meant having Olivia. This week has been the most joyful week of my sober life. No, scratch that. Of myentirelife. And I don’t want space from you. I want you by my side… if you’re comfortable with that.”
Her eyes misted before drifting closed and she rested her forehead to my chest, nodding. “We’re still taking it slow, though, right?”
“Yes, of course.” Even though we both stated those words, we knew the truth. Nothing about this was slow. We were racing in a car at 100 mph, claiming we weren’t speeding. Yet, I didn’t want to slow down. I didn’t want to look back. I wanted to clutch this woman’s hand and race into our future together.
I kissed the top of her head. “I have an NA meeting and I dreadfully need to shower first.” Curling my index finger below her chin, I tilted her gaze back up to mine. I needed to see those eyes one last time before I left. “Breakfast tomorrow?”
She nodded, pushing onto her toes and kissing me softly. I didn’t close my eyes, but rather widened them as her lips brushed mine. “You just kissed me in public. In the middle of your gym.”
She shrugged. “You’re wearing me down, I guess.”
I glanced around. “And it didn’t have anything to do with the fact that your only other two customers seem to have left?”
She winked. “Baby steps, right?”
I grinned. “Right.”
I backed out of her hold, grabbing my gym bag. “Oh!” she called after me. “Bring more of those granola bars tomorrow if you can. They’ve been selling like hotcakes.”
“Hotcakes, huh? Are peopleflippingover them?” I snickered at my own pancake joke.
Ronnie laughed and unplugged the rock climbing machine. “You’re my hotcake,” she said, winking. “Know why?
“Cause I’mstacked?”
