Page 9 of All It Takes

My heart felt like it might crack when Ross wrapped his arms around my waist before I left, squeezing me tight for a moment. I smoothed my hand over his hair and realized this little boy probably felt so lost.

Wes followed me out to my car, stopping beside the door. He rested his hand on the top of the door after I had opened it. My pulse felt as if someone had spurred it in the flanks, urging it forward faster and faster. I took the moment to study Wes. This man wasallthat and then some with his rumpled dark-honeyed hair and espresso eyes. Also, nature had been ridiculously generous with his mouth. His face was all hard sculpted features, his nose a little prominent, and his cheekbones strong as they angled down. His lips were warm and inviting. My eyes dropped down, tracing along the lines of his broad muscled shoulders and the way they filled out his shirt.

Wes cleared his throat, and my eyes whipped up. “Sorry, just zoning out,” I murmured, my voice coming out raspy. It wasn’t exactly a lie. Iwaszoning out. I was completely overwhelmed with my life suddenly involving shared parenting duties with a man I didn’t know all that well. I was still trying to absorb the fact that one of my closest friends had died.

“There’s a lot going on,” I pointed out.

Wes pressed his tongue on the side of his cheek as he nodded, his lips kicking up in a wry smile. As if prompted, my belly did a quick flip, one with a flourish.

“That’s one way to put it. So Nilla is a rescue I was fostering because we didn’t have room at the shelter. I hope you don’t mind that we’re adopting her. Conveniently, since my mom runs the shelter, she already formalized the paperwork for me,” he offered.

“Of course I don’t mind. I work at a vet clinic. I love animals. She’ll be Ross’s dog and she can just go with him wherever he is. That’ll be okay, right?”

“I think it’ll probably help him. Maybe we could plan to get together this weekend and take him pet shopping. We could get dog beds and all the things to have at both of our places,” Wes suggested.

I felt my lips stretching into a smile. “You’re a smart man, Wes Stuart.”

He smiled back at me, and butterflies took flight in my belly, sending a scatter of sparks through me.

“I try. This whole thing is kind of… unexpected.”

“No shit,” I said flatly. “Look, I’m guessing we have a lot to talk about that maybe shouldn’t happen in front of Ross. We’ll have to talk about school and more.”

Wes’s eyes widened. “I didn’t even think about school.”

I nodded vigorously. “We need to enroll him, like yesterday. Eileen mentioned it’s best to get him started on a normal schedule as soon as we can. I’ll call the school on Monday. Let’s plan to go talk to them together.”

“Whatever you think.”

“It doesn’t have to be whatever I think.”

“I know, but I’m trying to be agreeable here.”

I took a quick breath, closing my eyes before opening them as I let it out slowly. “I know. You’re going to get to know merealquick, Wes. Rumor has it I can be bossy.”

His gaze studied mine, his eyes crinkling at the corners when he smiled again. “I don’t mind that.”

I felt so flustered inside, heat blooming from my chest outward and climbing up my neck into my cheeks. “So, uh, I’ll go. Today’s Friday…” I paused. I could be the queen of obvious sometimes. “So tomorrow? Maybe we could take a drive to Anchorage with Ross for pet shopping.”

“I think that’s perfect. We’ll make it a thing. I’ll have to figure out who’s gonna watch Nilla while we’re gone.”

“I’ll ask Alice. She’ll be happy to help.”

ChapterEight

WES

Ross blinked up at me, and my chest hurt. Maybe I hadn’t seen his dad in person in over two years, but I had continued to count George as one of my closest friends. We’d been in touch via text several times a week and chatted when we played online games together. Every time I looked into Ross’s eyes, it stung a little. They were so much like his father’s.

“Okay,” Ross said slowly. “Where will Nilla go?”

“We’re dropping her off at a friend’s place,” I said.

I was relieved Tiffany had thought ahead. She was going to be here any minute, and then we would drive over together to drop Nilla off at Alice and Jonah’s place.

“There’s a lake and everything there,” I added.

“She’ll be okay?” Ross prompted.

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