Page 107 of The Maxwell Brothers
I couldn’t move from Paisley’s side. She was safe. She was with me. I was never going to allow anything like this to happen again. Never. I wanted to protect her at all costs. Nora didn’t want to be part of her life, so it was on me to offer Paisley as much stability as possible, and I was going to do a damn fine job.
Lexi and I were going to be there for her. Always.
Doubt slithered in my mind. What if things didn’t work out between us? What if one day she walked out of our lives?
I shook my head, focusing on Paisley. She was sleeping peacefully. This day had been an emotional roller coaster for her… and for me too. That’s why my thoughts were going in circles. It was the only explanation for why I went from wantingto spontaneously propose to Lexi to contemplating the worst-case scenario.
I rose from the side of the bed, needing to move. I was going to spiral out more if I sat here, so I left the room as quietly as possible and went downstairs to Lexi.
She always balanced me out. She was everything I wanted, and I needed her: her warmth, her calmness, her softness.
I needed all of her.
Lexi
I had no idea what to do with myself. I was in a state. Adrenaline still coursed through me, and I walked restlessly around the kitchen. Part of me wanted to hurry up the stairs and check if Paisley was indeed in her bed, sleeping soundly. Rationally, I knew she was okay, but I got so scared today that I was still beside myself.
I filled two glasses with ice water for Tate and me for no reason at all, to give myself something to do. When he told me she was missing, everything inside me went numb. I'd never been so afraid about anything in my entire life. I couldn't imagine how he must have felt.
I paced the kitchen, perking up when I heard footsteps coming down.
"She's still asleep," he announced, coming into the kitchen.
"It’ll do her good," I said. "How are you feeling? I poured us ice water, but I can get out a bottle of wine or whiskey. I'm sure it's wine time somewhere in the world." I was only half joking.
"That's fine. I don't need any of it." He leaned against the kitchen counter.
"Do you know what happened? Why she left the school? Did she just want tacos?"
"No. Nora told her she couldn't come for her birthday, and she was upset."
"Oh no." My heart sank. "Poor kid. No wonder she was upset. Do you think you can change Nora's mind?"
"No, she has aVoguephotoshoot she doesn't want to miss," he said with a sneer.
"Know what? You should sit down. You're tense, and I'm sure a neck massage is going to help you. You're going to forget about today, and we're going to make Paisley's birthday amazing. She won't even realize Nora isn't there."
He was frowning, as if he wasn't really listening to me, just pacing the kitchen. I took in his body language. His shoulders were rigid, his arms and neck stiff. In fact, the way he moved gave away that his whole body was full of tension.
"Earth to Tate. Where are you?"
"What if we break up?" he blurted.
I jerked my head back. "What?”
“You and Paisley, you’re so close. She loves you as much as I do."
"I love both of you too," I said, biting the inside of my cheek.
"But what if this between us doesn't work out, say, five years down the road? I don't want to put my daughter through more heartbreak.”
I knew he was reacting to everything that happened today with Paisley and Nora ghosting her daughter again. His guard always went up when Paisley was affected. And today, he was in full-on protector mode. It was completely understandable, and I loved him even more for being so consumed by her happiness. I wasn’t sure how to make him see that it was all I wanted too. Iloved him and Paisley deeply. I’d never felt anything like it in my whole life.
I brought a hand to my stomach, pressing against the knot that popped up there. "Tate. Look, no matter what happens, I care about Paisley, and we can always talk about things with her.”
“Or she'll always react like this, and maybe another time I won't find her."
"What are you saying?" I asked in a whisper.
