Page 87 of Hit the Ground
I told her that too. “You’re better than Christmas.”
Her head popped up. “I am?”
“Mmmhmm. To me, you are.”
“Even though I cried all over you?”
“Yep.” I took her face in my hands. “I love that you trusted me enough to break down with me. Makes me feel like I’m in there.”
She tapped her chest. “In here?”
“Am I?”
“Undeniably.” Her nose scrunched. “I can’t shake you.”
I raised a brow. “Are you still trying?”
“No.” She scooted up my body to bring us face to face then ran her nose along mine. “I’ve learned to give up on exercises in futility.”
With a growl, I rolled her to her back and rubbed my scruff all over her chest and neck, making her shriek and giggle. Laughing, I raised my head and planted a kiss on her lips.
“Don’t you forget it, darlin’.”
Chapter Thirty-three
Caleb
Therewereonlyafew people I welcomed visits from outside of my family, and the man standing on my porch wasn’t one of them. If he hadn’t caught me outside, awaiting Alice’s arrival, I wouldn’t have welcomed him at all. It was either my unlucky day or Kent’s lucky one.
Then again, the last few weeks with Alice had been some of the best of my life, so maybe I was due for some upheaval.
On the weeks Jesse was with me, Alice and I took things slow, but we still saw each other, and she fit in seamlessly. She’d cooked with Jesse and me at my house. Met us in town for a meal or two. Went fishing with us one weekend and held her own at a few Kelly family dinners. Jesse had always liked her as his favorite librarian. Now that he’d gotten to know her as his dad’s girlfriend, his affection had only grown. I couldn’t have been happier about the way things were going.
When Jesse was with his mom, though, Alice and I made up for lost time. Whole stretches of days blurred together with her laughter in my kitchen, her socks tucked into the corner of my couch, her hair spread across my pillow. I’d laughed more in afew weeks with her than I had in the last year. Never could have predicted how funny and playful my shy little librarian would turn out to be once she trusted me enough to let it show.
And it waseverything.
I’d been afraid of change, certain shaking up my careful balance would end in regret. But she’d proven me wrong just by being herself. Life didn’t have to stay the same to be good. With her, it was better. Richer. Brighter. She’d brought light to corners I hadn’t even noticed were dark.
Maybe I’d had it too good for too long and Kent showing up now was the world’s way of balancing the scales. Still didn’t change the fact that his presence on my porch pissed me off, and he hadn’t even said a word.
He raised a hand as I got up from my rocking chair. “Hey, Caleb. How are you?”
I folded my arms over my chest. “Where’s Jesse?”
After a week with him, I’d dropped him back with Shelby a few days ago. As far as I knew, that was where he was, but Kent driving all the way out to the ranch had my alarm bells ringing.
“Oh.” He scratched the back of his head. “He’s with his mom. I’m not here about him.”
Relief swept through me, quickly replaced by trepidation. “Then I can’t think of any reason for us to be talking. We have no business with each other.”
“Well, we might. I was hoping we could have a conversation, man-to-man.” He plopped himself on my porch railing, his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankle, making himself at home.
“A call would have sufficed.”
He spread his hands in front of him. “Some conversations need to happen face to face. This is one of them.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “You’re not gonna leave until you’ve said your piece, are you?”
