Page 66 of The Lake House

“Uh-huh,” I respond. “We just hung out for a while until it was time for him to get back to Lily.” I pause for a few seconds after saying her name, reliving my conversation with Declan from last night. I need to let Liv know about it. “But speaking of Lily, he brought something up to me last night.”

“What’s that?” Liv asks. In the background, I can hear Josie singing along to some kid’s song. She must be watching one of her favorite shows on Kid Time Tv.

“He told me he wants me to meet her.”

There’s a slight pause before Liv speaks out again. “I’m sorry, what?”

I chuckle.

“Did you say he wants you to meet Lily, as in Declan wants you to meet his daughter?”

“Yeah, he does.”

She sucks in a gasp. “Giules! That’s great! Do you have any idea what that means?”

I do. I mean, I think I do. I think it means he trusts and cares about me enough that he wants to bring me around the most important person in his life. “Yeah. I think so.”

“Giules, it means he’s totally in love with you!”

I laugh and shake my head, even though she can’t see me through the phone. “Liv, he’s not in love with me.”At least, not yet.“It’s too soon for that. He just really cares about me and he trusts me enough to want to introduce me to her.”

“You don’t get it, do you?” she asks.

“What?”

“Giules, the man’s crazy about his daughter. There’s nothing Declan wouldn’t do for that little girl.”

I nod. “I know that.”

“For him to even be considering it is huge. He wouldn’t have said that if he didn’t truly love you. He’s totally head over heels for you, woman.”

I consider her words. Maybe? But isn’t it too soon? I know he had told me he was falling in love with me, but is he already there? Is that even possible?

But when he said that he wanted me to meet her, that totally blew me away. Surprised is an understatement. Shocked doesn’t quite cover it, but in a good way. I’m truly honored. I didn’t expect Declan to want to introduce me to Lily so soon, but knowing that he wants me to meet her means a lot to me.

I thought for sure that topic wouldn’t have come up until things turned serious, if they ever would. Of course, this thing between Declan and me has so much promise in it, so much potential. I just don’t want to be naïve and think it’ll last. Because what if it doesn’t? What if suddenly one day, we just stop it all? Stop talking, stop seeing one another. Stop missing each other. Nothing is guaranteed as much as I want this to be.

“So,” I finally say, breaking the momentary silence, “we were thinking of gathering his friends up and getting together tomorrow night. Would you and Dave want to come and bring Josie, too? That way, everyone can meet one another, and the girls can play together.”

There’s a brief pause on her end before she bursts out saying, “That’s wonderful, Giules! We can’t meet up until after nine because Dave’s working late and I have to stop by his mom’s with Josie, but why don’t you all come over afterward? I’ll run it by Dave tonight after he gets in from work, but I know he’ll love the idea.”

“Really?”

“Of course!”

Before I can say anything further, Liv says, “Hey, I’ve got to run, but I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m so excited, by the way.”

I smile. “Me too.”

“Later, girl.”

“Bye.”

* * *

The next day comes, and I’m a nervous wreck.

Ever since I spoke to Declan after I got off the phone with Liv and told him how she wanted everyone to come over to her place after we grabbed a bite out somewhere, the knots in my stomach have been turning.

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