Page 79 of Stolen Kiss

The expression on Evelyn’s face told me she wasn’t buying it either. Ensley probably just wanted to spend time with her.

How cute.

It seemed she just grasped onto the fact that her parents weren’t all knowing, and she could lie to them.

I walked over to the living room with Ensley in my arms and took a seat on the corner of the long, L-shaped tan couch. I didn’t know if I could ever get used to all this space.

Our childhood home had been huge, especially since there had only been five people living in it at one point, and then when my mom died, just four. But this house was like a fairytale castle. It made our large six-bedroom home back in Swampscott seem modest.

I wondered if Evelyn ever got used to it.

Jensen’s home was just as spacious, yet there was something comforting about it. It reminded me a lot of my childhood home, and all I wanted to do was spend my time there and not go home.

Evelyn came into the room with a plate of PB&J sandwiches with the crusts cut off. She had one sandwich in her other hand, and it looked like she’d taken a bite out of it already.

I raised an eyebrow in question.

“What?” she asked, taking another bite of her sandwich.

“I think you’ve been spending too much time as a mom.”

“I’m always a mom,” she mumbled around her food.

I grabbed one for Ensley, who attacked the sandwich like it was her last meal of the day. She obviously loved PB&J.

“Good?” I asked her. She nodded and grinned up at me, a small smear of jelly on her chubby cheek. I smiled and used the bib hanging around her neck to wipe it away before grabbing a sandwich for myself.

“True, but when was the last time you hung out with anyone over the age of ten?”

“Right now,” she said cheekily.

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t count.”

“Why not?”

“Because we barely hang out as it is.”

“I went to that meeting for Reading Kids.”

Reading Kids was Evelyn’s other baby. A charity she’d started to benefit children’s literacy.

It seemed the only things Evelyn did these days were her charity work and care for her kids.

I didn’t think there was anything wrong with being a stay-at-home mom, and being a mom was what Evelyn had dreamed about being since she was a little girl. I just didn’t think it was the role for me.

I’ve never actually given much thought to being a parent.

But now that I was thinking of a possible future with Jensen, I realized I would need to wrap my head around the fact that I would be a permanent fixture in a little girl’s life. I could have the privilege of being her entire world for years as she grew up. I could be someone she would need, someone she could come to for advice and help.

What a terrifying thought.

Yet I wasn’t scared.

I didn’t want to run.

I wanted to be with Jensen and Elodie.

I hadn’t even realized I had spaced out until Evelyn waved a hand in front of me. I shot her a sheepish smile.

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