Page 21 of One More Baby for the Boss

“Yes,” Jack said firmly. “I don’t want us to go anywhere. I don’t want either one of us to go anywhere. Okay?”

“Okay,” Elijah sounded mystified. “I’ve got no plans for us to move, buddy. This is our home.”

Alex thought she heard something else in Jack’s question. “No matter where you might go in the future, Jack, you and your dad will always be together. Right?” She turned to Elijah.

Understanding broke over his face. “Of course we will be,” he assured Jack. “We’re a family.”

“But Mom was in our family,” Jack said.

“Is this what your nightmare was about?”

“Kind of.”

Elijah put the book down and scooted closer to Alex so that he could rest a hand on Jack’s back. His proximity made Alex’s heart pound. This was a private family moment. She should really get up and leave. But Jack made no move to leave her arms, and Elijah wasn’t removing him either, so she had no choice but to stay. And besides, she didn’t want to go. Sitting beside Elijah like this was a visceral thrill, especially after their near-kiss earlier. She should walk away from him, but being near him felt too good, and she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Can you remember your mom?” Elijah asked gently.

Jack nodded. “Not very much, but I remember she smelled like flowers.”

Elijah’s lips pressed together. Alex could see that he was overcome with emotion, so she jumped in to give him a moment to collect himself. “It’s so nice that you have that memory, Jack. I’m sure it would make your mother happy to know that.”

Elijah recovered. “She did smell like flowers,” he said. “That was her perfume. You know, I think there’s still a bottle in the back of the closet.”

“Really?” Jack’s face lit up. “Could I have it?”

“Sure you can,” Elijah said. “It’s not doing anyone any good in the back of the closet.” He glanced at Alex. “Maybe it’s silly that I kept something like that for so long.”

“It’s not silly,” she said. “You never know what things are going to mean the most to you after you lose someone. I kept all my sister’s old purses because they happened to be in my car the day of the fire. We were going to take them to a secondhand shop the next morning. And eventually I did end up doing that, because the thing that reminds me of her the most is this bracelet.” She held up her arm so the two of them could see the friendship bracelet she always wore. “But I drove around with those purses in the back seat of my car for three years. Even when I was pretty sure I didn’t need to hold onto them, the idea of actually letting them go was always too overwhelming to face.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Elijah said.

“People say scent memory is one of the strongest we have,” Alex said. “If Jack remembers a smell, that perfume might be one of the most powerful gifts you could give him.”

Elijah smiled. It was the most relaxed, purely joyful smile she thought she’d ever seen on his face. “I guess there was a reason I saved it all this time.”

She nodded. “You just didn’t know yet what the reason was.”

Elijah looked back down at his son. “I’ll find you that perfume tomorrow,” he said. “But in the meantime — Jack, what happened with your mom was really sad for our family, but I’m not going anywhere.”

“You could. If something happened to Mom, something could happen to you.”

“Nah. Mom got sick. I’m super healthy. And I go to the doctor all the time, just like you do, so I can make sure of it. You don’t need to be worried about this, okay? Nothing is going to happen.”

“And you’re not going to move away and leave me with someone else?”

“Is that what you dreamed?”

Jack nodded. “I dreamed I was living here with some stranger. I tried to find you, but everyone just kept telling me you were gone and that you weren’t coming back.”

“That’ll never happen,” his father assured him. “I like this house too much to just leave. You know that.” He grinned at his own joke, but Jack didn’t smile in return, so Elijah got serious. “I loveyoutoo much to leave you with anyone else,” he said. “You’re the most important thing in the world to me, Jack. I’ll never leave you. And you know what else?”

“What?”

“We’re going to have a special day tomorrow.”

“We are?”

“It was all Alex’s idea, so you can thank her for it. The three of us are going to spend the day together, and it’ll be all kinds of fun. You’re going to have a great time, I promise.”

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