Page 97 of The Single Dad Project

He loved her. Yes, fear still tiptoed through him, but it didn’t rule him any longer. For once, his hope for himself, for his family and for love overpowered everything else.

And he’d only needed his ex-wife to show him the way. He loosed a bark of laughter. How ironic. Shaking his head, he smiled, and for the first time in, hell, years, he felt lighter. Not burdened. Hopeful.

But he wouldn’t be complete until he convinced Flo that they belonged to each other.

Damn, after the damage he’d inflicted, he had his work cut out for him.

But for the first time in a long time, he wasn’t running away.

He was running toward something. His happiness. His future.

Love.

And he had everything to lose.

Good thing he had zero plans on losing.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

FLOSTOODONthe sidewalk alongside Main Street, surveying the... Well, the only thing she could really call it was a block party. She grinned.

Take that, Jasper Landon.

What had started out as a book rally in front of the library to protest the banning of books had turned into a town-wide rally down Main Street to protest the banning of books. The business owners had volunteered to do much more than post flyers in their storefront windows and donate funds. From Elegant Occasions, Patricia Collins’s boutique, to Six Ways to Sundae, Flo’s former employer, down to Get Booked, the local bookstore, they all offered to host giveaways with prizes from their stores, get a counterpetition against banning books signed and hand out the potential banned books listed on the original petition. And as far as the eye could see people were decked out in We Read the Banned T-shirts. Paid for and donated courtesy of their residentNew York Timesbestselling authors Beck Dansing, aka Jenna Landon, and I.M. Kelly aka Israel Ford. Who, coincidentally, were parked out in front of the library signing complimentary copies of their books—books also included on the original petition’s list.

Smirking, Flo smoothed a hand down the front of her own We Read the Banned T-shirt. She hadn’t seen Jasper Landon today, but rumor was he’d been down at City Hall throwing a hissy fit and trying to get the rally/party shut down. Yeah, good luck with that. Remi Donovan had covered all her basesandpermits.

Damn. She just loved when evil was thwarted for another day.

“Hey, babe!” Leo approached, waving with the hand not curled around her son, Bono. “This is crazy, isn’t it?” She grinned, and Flo swore she glimpsed every last one of her teeth.

“Crazy beautiful,” Flo said, taking Bono, who stretched his arms out toward her. Smacking a loud kiss on his cheek and making him giggle, she settled him on her hip. He started playing with her locs. And it was one of the very few times it was quite all right for someone, other than who she permitted, to touch a Black woman’s hair. “I can’t believe the turnout. I swear, everyone in town must be here.”

“Not everyone.” Leo snickered. “Helene closed down her store and hightailed it out of here along with her shady as—” she abruptly cut off, glancing at Bono “—asinine husband.”

“Of course she did,” Flo drawled and cackled along with her sister.

“I saw your people fromVintage Renovationaround here, too. The producer? Mira’s her name, right? She was down at the library with one of the television crews. Can I stressone of? I saw at least three, and one was from New York.”

Flo nodded, absently removing Bono’s fingers from the hoop earring he tugged on.

“That would be Mira’s friend. She offered to let them know about the rally. I wasn’t sure if they would come since we’re a small town in Massachusetts. But apparently having two famous authors—one of them formerly reclusive—in the midst of a book-banning protest brought them out.”

“Good, whatever it takes.” Leo rubbed her hands together. “With this much coverage and most of the town’s participation, just let Jasper try to railroad something like this again. Jacka—” Once more she glanced at her son. “Apple.”

“That looked so painful,” Flo said with a crack of laughter.

Leo sighed. “You have no idea. He’s at that age where he’s repeating everything he hears, and I’ll be...doggone if I’m blamed for his agitated adjectives before Owen.”

“You and Owen actually turned childrearing into a competition of who can curse less?”

Leo’s look clearly saidduh. “Uh, yeah. He’s an athlete. He shouldn’t be afraid of a little competition.” Holding her arms out to Bono, who eagerly went back to his mom, Leo cuddled him close then smiled, poking his stomach and eliciting a giggle. “I’m going to take this little guy down to the bookstore to buy our copy ofWorm Loves Worm.”

“Go ahead and have fun, my little anarchist.”

“Love you!” With a grin, Leo walked off, disappearing in the thick crowds gathered on the sidewalks.

For the next hour Flo strolled up and down Main Street snapping pictures of the event. Mostly of the people and their different reactions to the protest that had pretty much turned into a celebration of literature—allliterature. She caught people laughing as they talked with one another. Eating hot dogs, cupcakes and drinking beverages. Signing the petitions wearing determined expressions. Reading the books they’d received or bought. Or just sitting on the benches dotting the sidewalk, quietly people-watching, wearing their banned books T-shirts.

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