Page 229 of Small Town Firsts
“Are you okay?” His eyebrows lowered.
“Yes. Just can’t believe she’s growing so fast.” I sniffed. At least these tears made sense as far as Seth was concerned. Rightnow, I was more than willing to hide my face in his shoulder. “She’s getting to be such a big girl.”
He laughed. “I’m so glad I’m not the only one freaking out.”
“Not just you.” But if I didn’t get out of there I was going to absolutely melt down and that wouldn’t work. He’d never believe it was just Laurie growing up on us.
Him.
Me. Sort of.
God, what a damn mess. I stepped back again. “I’ve got to get to work.”
“All right. But hey, wear something extra pretty. Not that you’re ever anything else of course.” He kissed my temple. “But I want to show off my girls.”
“I’ll do my best.”
There was no way I was going to be able to hold off all the emotions running amok in my damn head.
I ran down the driveway to my car and turned to wave at him. As soon as he went back inside, the tears fell. I couldn’t have stopped them if I wanted to.
SIXTEEN
I satin my car nibbling on oyster crackers from my stash from the diner. I’d been a complete wreck the whole night and anything I ate this morning made me nauseous.
Oliver and Seth stood together under the stately oak tree at the edge of the property. Main Street was alive with pedestrian traffic thanks to the shops, and the forty or so parents trying to wrangle children.
One of Laurie’s boyfriends—the girl had a few—had escaped for the lake. Weston’s dad, Dare Kramer, had him tucked under his arm as he hauled him back up to the white folding chairs.
He was a handful, but Dare was patient if a little frazzled most of the time. Another single dad who stepped up when needed. There were far too few of them in this world.
All the little perfect pieces of the town I loved so much.
The perfect place to raise a kid.
I’d been doing it informally with Laurie for years, and now Seth was dangling the possibility in front of my face.
I focused on the little girl twirling between the twin brothers. So different, and so much the same. Even here, when they were both dressed for work, somehow they were still on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
Seth with his laid-back summer-weight jacket in a perfectly acceptable wheat color over dark jeans and a white dress shirt sans tie. And then there was Oliver, who looked like he was about to head into the city for a meeting with people on Wall Street. His navy Savile Row suit was crisp and perfect even with the sun beating down on them.
The only thing that matched on the two men were the indulgent smiles for Seth’s daughter. She was full of happiness from the colorful purple and pink dress with butterflies dotting the hem, to her slightly crooked blond braids. Somehow Laurie had turned into a little girl instead of staying the baby I’d helped to raise. Even when I’d drifted away from them for a few months, she was so much mine in more ways than I ever wanted to face.
Why the hell couldn’t I just calm down about all of this? Let things happen as they happened.
Because you love him madly.
I slumped down in my seat and cursed when Laurie spotted me and came running. No turning back now.
I took a swig from my water to swallow the paste the crackers had become in my dry mouth. Then I swung the door open and rose, catching Laurie against my leg before she could knock me down. “Hiya, munchkin.”
“Yay, you came.”
“Of course I did. I wouldn’t miss it.” I crouched down in front of her and smoothed a flyaway blond curl around her ear. “I love your dress.”
“Daddy got it for me.”
“Did you guys go shopping together?”
