Page 89 of One Touch

Her eyebrows lifted. I tipped my head toward the stairwell. “Come on, Katie-girl. Let’s go.”

As we climbed the stairs, and my hands gripped her perfect ass, I heard the now familiar sound of the Sullivan-family double-knock-and-enter.

My grin widened.

“Hey, we’re here,” Duke called out.

I gave Kate’s butt a playful swat and winked at her. “Perfect timing.”

Through the front door Tootie, all three of Kate’s brothers, and Red filed in.

“Well, this is a surprise!” Kate exclaimed, wrapping Tootie in a hug.

Duke nodded. “Beckett said he had something to show all of us.”

Kate pulled Wyatt into a hug. “No work today?”

Wyatt let his arm drape over her shoulders. “Beckett said it was important. Lark and Pickle are terrorizing Bartleby out back.”

I pointed at Wyatt. “Good. That fucker deserves it.” I immediately pulled back my finger and looked at Tootie sheepishly. “Sorry, Miss Tootie.”

She winked and patted my cheek, and she strolled past. “It’s okay, honey. Just don’t let him hear you talk like that. That rooster holds a grudge.”

“The place looks great,” Lee commented, looking around the fully renovated first floor.

Smells of fresh paint and polish hung in the air, and I sucked the comforting smells into my lungs. “Thanks for taking the time. I found something during the renovation that I wanted to share with you. Kate has seen it, but I didn’t quite let her in on my plans for it.”

Her sweet green eyes whipped to me, and a puzzled frown crept over her face.

From behind the kitchen island, I pulled out a long, flat board about five feet tall.

Katie sucked in a breath. “Beckett, you didn’t ...”

Emotion clogged in her voice, and I swallowed down the knot that formed in my throat.

After I had uncovered June Sullivan’s handwriting, ticking off the heights of the Sullivan children through the years, a long-buried sentimental part of my soul couldn’t bear to throw it away.

“It took me a minute to figure out what to do with it. But it didn’t seem right to throw it in the dumpster.”

Kate grabbed the long board from me, holding it out to look at it. I had added a shiny layer of protective lacquer to cover the surface so nothing could ever destroy Mrs. Sullivan’s delicate handwriting. I had also constructed a small black frame around it to make it look like more of a piece of artwork than random construction debris.

Kate turned the board to show her brothers. “It’s Mama’s handwriting. She had measured our heights against the wall that was taken down.”

The boys stepped forward as a unit, staring down at the soft loops of their mother’s forgotten handwriting.

“It was underneath two layers of wallpaper,” Kate continued. “She was there all this time.”

“Holy shit,” Lee breathed out, barely audible.

Wyatt raked a finger across his name.

Duke stood silently staring down at his mother’s writing. Without a word, he turned and wrapped me into a hug, squeezing me tight and beating his hand against my back.

“You did this?” We all turned to look at Red, who was staring down at the board.

“Yes, sir.” I lifted my chin and tried to read his stern expression.

Red grabbed the board and stared down at his children’s names along with the tick marks that documented their growth.

---