Page 75 of Noble Neighbor
Clement was mopping the floor, his head bent to his task. “Did he see?” she mouthed to Oliver.
The amusement tugging at his mouth, dimpling the corners, gave her the answer. “He’d be blind not to have. Plus he caught me sneaking home last week.”
Oliver smoothed out the frown forming between her eyes. “It’s cool, Sunny. He’sveryokay with it. With us,” he added, bending to rest his forehead against hers.
“What are we, Oliver?” She held her breath, heart pounding, waiting for his answer. They’d skirted the subject over the last few weeks, openly spending more and more time together, yet not defining what they were to each other.
Oliver pulled back a short distance, his eyes moving from side to side as he looked into hers. “Two people figuring a future, both of us still caught by remnants of complicated pasts.”
Aptly put, reminding Sunny of the web of deceitshe’d woven around her life. She looked away, puffingout a breath.
“But” — Oliver cupped her chin in his palm, forcing her to look at him — “while we figure it out, I’d like to call you my girlfriend. May I?”
Girlfriend? It sounded wonderful. “What do we tell our children?” The last thing she wanted was to get her girls’ hopes up, only to dash it when life unraveled around them.
“Well, it’s just a moniker for what we already are. If things don’t work out between us, life will go on, Sunny. I love your girls and will be part of their future, whether or not we’re together. And I reckon you feel the same about Clement and Dad?” At her nod, Oliver continued, “If we decide, a week” — he shrugged — “a month from today it’s not working between us, I’d like to think we’ve built enough of a base to remain friends.”
Her heart flinched at the thought of going back to being just friends with him. She wanted, desperately wanted, to try thisthingbetween her and Oliver. “I’d be honored to be your girlfriend,” she murmured.
Oliver leaned closer, whispering, “Thank you,” and pressed his mouth to hers. Sunny placed her hand onhis shoulder, fingers toying with the short strands of hair at his nape, enjoying the sheer indulgence of Oliver — her boyfriend — kissing her.
Stifled giggling filtered into the hallway, followed by Frank’s low, “Wait.”
Oliver lifted his head with a rueful smile. “Later,” he promised, but bent to brush his lips across hers again.
“Are you kissing Mommy, Oliver?” Molly sing-songed. She and Kenzie stood at the base of the staircase.
“I am,” Oliver called back. He stood, and walked down the stairs to crouch before the girls. “Is that okay?” Even if Sunny couldn’t see his expression, she heard the smile in his voice. “I asked your mommy to be my girlfriend.”
Molly’s eyes grew round, and her mouth dropped open. “For real?”
Kenzie’s glance shot to hers, and Sunny smiled at her eldest. The answering smile that broke across the girl’s face warmed her heart.
Oliver reached and ruffled Molly’s hair. “For real.” His head turned to face Kenzie. “Kenz? You okay with it, honey?”
“Are you gonna marry Mom?” she asked, transferringher gaze from Sunny to Oliver.
“Hmm. Good question, Princess. But it’s too soon for that. Being boyfriend and girlfriend is a time of discovering if you love the person enough to marry. Maybe after a few months your mommy and I may decide we’d rather be friends than get married. But” — much like he’d caught her chin earlier, Oliver did the same to Kenzie — “what is important is that I’ll always be here for you and Molly. I love you girls, very much, and even if we’re just neighbors, I’ll still be in your lives. Yeah?”
“Okay, Oliver,” Kenzie whispered.
Molly cocked her head, giving Oliver a quizzical look. “Like a nonorary dad?”
He hesitated a beat, shooting a look behind him to Sunny. Her eyes were watering, tears leaking down her face, but she nodded. To have Oliver in their lives was a blessing for them, and they deserved to have a role model as noble as Oliver Armstrong.
“Can we call you Daddy Oliver?”
Oliver didn’t look back at Sunny this time. “No, Miss Molly. I’m not marrying your mom. We’ll stick with just Oliver, honey.”
Molly’s little face puckered as she thought it over. “Okay.”
But Sunny knew her girl wasn’t happy with his answer.Urgh. Was she doing the right thing?
Or setting her girls — and her — up for heartache?
*
Just past eleven, Bella arrived with her family in tow, and soon after the rest of Molly’s friends arrived, but unlike Kenzie’s birthday, it wasn’t just a “drop and go.”At least one parent, or in the case of a couple of the children, both stayed. There were even a few siblings.
