“I love you, Izzy.”
“I love you too. Please don’t let Drake hurt you or Jameson. I don’t think I would do well in prison.” She didn’t even give a hint of a smile. That was both comforting and disturbing.
“I promise to do whatever I can to keep you out of the clinker.”
“I appreciate that. Now get out of here.” She nudged me with her hip.
“Yes, ma’am.” I saluted her on my way out. I admit to feeling a little apprehensive. Part of me wanted to rush to see Drake, but this was so surreal. I thought for sure I would wake up any minute and realize this was all a bizarre dream. Yet, when I touched my lips, I knew it was real. I could still feel Drake’s kisses on them and hear the things he had whispered against them. Things like how beautiful he found me and how he’d thought of me every day we’d been apart. Even more important to me was that he wanted to be a good father. I wanted that more than anything.
I stopped at the picture of George and Daisy hanging on the wall. The same one from the first night I’d ever spent here. I swear Daisy’s smile got ornerier each time I looked at the photo.
“What do you think, Daisy? Am I doing the right thing?” I waited for her reply. A mischievous voice from inside me whispered, I think you know the answer—now go give him hell. I brushed my fingers over the photo. “I can do that. Thanks, Daisy.”
With determination to make this work, I headed for my kiddo and his dad. I walked into our suite to find Jameson in a fit of giggles, watching a blast from the past—Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Of course, there were explosions involved.
Jameson and Drake turned my way when I closed the door. Drake’s eyes were glazed over, and he was still in his clothes from last night, but there was something lighter in his countenance.
“Mom, you have to watch this cartoon. It’s the best!”
I sauntered toward the couch and slid past Drake, wanting to settle in between him and Jameson, but didn’t dare to. I might not be able to keep my hands to myself, and I wasn’t ready to explain to Jameson that not only was Drake his father, but I was in love with him. I should probably say those actual words to Drake first, and not when I was sleeping or making a faux pas. But we weren’t to that point yet. Not that Drake didn’t know. But I needed to know he loved me, too, before I confessed my love. So, I sat on the farthest end of the couch near Jameson.
Drake’s brow pinched as he watched me sit far away from him.
I smiled, happy to know it bothered him, but hoping he understood why.
As soon as I sat down, Jameson filled me in on why he was watching such a classic cartoon. “Drake said this was his favorite cartoon growing up, and did you know he had a brother named Jameson?”
I ran my hand over Jameson’s head, my heart catching in my throat. We were inching ever closer to the truth. “I did know that.” I gave Drake a knowing look.
“Yeah, and they rode horses and watched cartoons together,” Jameson added.
My heart felt hope knowing Drake had told Jameson some of those stories. Drake was trying to connect with our son. I wanted to reach over and take his hand, but refrained. “That sounds like a lot of fun. Maybe we can all go horseback riding together sometime.” I bit my lip, waiting to see how Drake responded.
Jameson beat his dad to the punch, throwing a fist in the air. “Yay!” Wow, he was loud.
Drake didn’t seem to mind; in fact, he smiled at Jameson. “I have a friend who owns a horse ranch in Wyoming. We’ll plan a trip there soon . . . together.”
Oh, I loved the sound of that—together.
Chapter Eighteen
“How are you feeling?” I snuggled into Drake’s chest.
He was resting on his bed, and being the good nurse that I am, I’d brought him lunch. Being the good patient that he was, he’d had me set the tray with a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup on the dresser and invited me to join him in bed instead. Our bed, in a sense. Not that I was going to share a bed with him anytime soon, but it was significant. We’d created our son in this place. When I’d paused, he’d given me a come-kiss-me grin that I couldn’t refuse. I mean, I was his nurse, after all. And honestly, I needed to take refuge in his arms before I had to tell my son that his mother was a liar. I knew the time had come and I dreaded it. Oh, what a mess I had made.