by Ava Miles
His son was never going to eat this.
Danny ate it. All of it. And after he’d snarfed down the broccoli Andy had insisted on including, his son threw his arms around his neck and given him a smacker on the cheek.
“That was the best meal ever, Dad! Thanks.”
Then he hopped off his lap, leaving Andy to stare stupidly at Rufus. “Sometimes I don’t understand anything.”
The dog whined in solidarity. The doorbell rang, and Danny gave a “Whoop.”
Andy smiled for the first time since he’d caved in to his little food monster. Seeing Lucy always brightened his mood. She was becoming one of the greatest joys in his life—a life that felt more balanced with her in it.
Right now, he was surrounded with the people and things he loved: Danny, Lucy, his family, his work, and Dare Valley itself. He hadn’t been this happy since he’d realized Kim was the one. Even though he was trying not to get ahead of himself, he knew Lucy was the one too. She was just way too skittish to hear that yet. And he was way too uncertain of what would happen if she was able to resume her career.
“Grandma!” Danny shouted, catching Andy off guard. He headed out of the kitchen to see what had brought his mother over tonight.
Danny was telling her all about the macaroni and cheese, and while she was listening, she had one eye on the kitchen doorway as he came through it.
He knew that look. It meant trouble.
“Hi, honey,” she said, giving him an encouraging smile. “I thought I’d stop by and see if I could play with Danny tonight and put him to bed. It’s my favorite thing in the world.” She ruffled his son’s hair. “He’s my macaroni and cheese.”
“I’m not pasta, Grandma,” Danny said with as much exasperation as a five-year-old could muster. “I’m a boy!”
“Are you?” she said, crouching down and smelling him. “You smell kind of cheesy to me.”
He scrunched up his nose. “I don’t smell cheesy, Grandma. That would be silly.”
“Yes, it would be, wouldn’t it?” she asked as he wrapped her up in a hug. “My mistake. How about you go pick out some books for bedtime while I talk to your dad?”
“Great! I’m going to pick a lot of them, Grandma.” He raced out of the room and pounded up the stairs, Rufus barking behind him.
Andy crossed his arms. “All right. This is unexpected. Anything you need to tell me?”
The smile her grandson had put on her face faded. “Lucy and her mom had a big fight today.”
Shaking his head, he said, “I’d hoped it wouldn’t come to that.”
“Well, it has, I’m sad to say. I thought perhaps you two might want to be alone for a while. Natalie said Lucy was coming over for dinner tonight, but it didn’t sound like anyone was babysitting later, if you know what I mean.”
Even though he was a full-grown adult and a doctor, a flush broke out over his ears. “Jeez, Mom.”
“Please,” she said, waving her hand. “It’s been a while, but I know what adults who love each other do. Plus, I thought you might be able to reason with Lucy a bit if you were alone together. I’m doing my best with Ellie, but she’s too angry and hurt right now to listen to me. You’ll have your hands full with Lucy.”
It explained why her text had sounded strange earlier. “Thanks for coming over, Mom.”
“I have a bag outside,” she said, giving him a saucy wink. “I’ll just go get it. You might call in tomorrow late if you can.”
The flush spread from his ears to his cheeks. “Could you stop, please?”
She laughed as she went to retrieve her bag. “No way. This is way too much fun.”
He was glad someone was enjoying it. Detouring to the stairs, he took them two at a time. His son was sitting on the floor, pulling books out of his bookcase right and left. What had been a reasonably clean room before had become a minefield of children’s books. Man, they had a lot of books, and while he was glad his son had a healthy appreciation for reading, it was a freaking mess. One he felt a little guilty about leaving for his mother.
“Hey, buddy,” he said, sitting on the floor as his son threw an unwanted book toward the corner near a teddy bear. “Whoa! Watch out for civilians.”
Danny laughed. “You’re funny.” The next book on the bookshelf made its way into the teetering pile between his little legs. “Where’s Grandma?”
“She went to get her bag,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “She realized she couldn’t live without you, so she’s spending the night.”
“Cool!” he exclaimed as the pile of books fell like a row of dominoes.
“And since she wants to do the whole Grandma thing, I’m going to spend the night with my best friend.”
His head shot up. “Lucy? I thought she was coming over. I was going to show her how to play Backyard Football. Blake taught me some new plays, and I’m rocking it. She was so going down tonight.”
There was nothing wrong with a little healthy competition. “Maybe you can play with Grandma.”
He shook his head. “I tried one time. She’s horrible, Dad. She couldn’t even figure out what buttons to push.”
“That’s awful,” he said, trying not to laugh. “I don’t know how you can handle her being your grandma. Okay, give me a kiss. I’ll pick you up after school tomorrow, okay?”
Danny climbed onto his lap for a hug, squeezing him with all his might. “Have fun with Miss Lucy.”
He held his son’s little body against him, inhaling the sweet scent of little boy and enthusiasm. “Will do. Love you. Have fun with Grandma.”
He had risen to his feet and was halfway to the door when his son asked, “Dad, are you going to marry Miss Lucy?”
That question pretty much made his head explode. He stilled and turned. His son was holding Where The Wild Things Are to his chest, looking decades older than his age.
“Why would you think that?” he asked, his chest growing tight.
His son clutched the book and shrugged. “My friend, Bobby, said he heard his mom and her friends talking about how much time you’ve been spending with Lucy. I told Bobby that Lucy’s your best friend ever, and she’s really funny and nice. She even took that picture of the camel with the funny face for me,” he said, pointing.
The reminder warmed his heart. Even before their connection had bloomed into romance, she’d supported him and his son in a way few others had.
“She’s a really special lady. Like I told you a few weeks ago, I want to spend lots of time with her now that she’s back home and have her spend time with you because you’re pretty special too.”
Walking back over, he sank down on the floor beside his son.
“I’m your son,” Danny said matter-of-factly. “Of course I’m special.”
Andy smiled. “No one is more special.”
“Even Miss Lucy?” he asked, peering up at him.
Andy pulled him onto his lap. “Do you think you’re any less special to me because I like to go running with Uncle Matt or hang out with your aunts?”
Danny shook his head. “They’re our family.”
“That’s right,” he said, remembering how many times he’d told his son that. “Lucy is my family too. She and I have been friends since I was your age. She’s been away from home for a long time, which is why I want her to come over here and hang out with us. I’d like for you two to get to know each other better.”
“But you kiss her sometimes, and Bobby says that means she’s your girlfriend,” Danny said, blowing his mind yet again.
What in the hell was he supposed to say to that? Sometimes he felt totally unprepared for conversations with his kid. “Yeah, she’s my girlfriend.” Man, that sounded weird. He was thirty-six. Too old for that term.
“I love Lucy,” he told Danny, deciding to be honest. “She makes me happy. Like you do.”
“Like Mom did?” his son asked. “I heard Aunt Moira tell Aunt Natalie she hasn’t seen you this happy since Mommy died.”
His t
hroat thickened. “I loved your mom. So much. And I wish she was here instead of being an angel, but God needed her more.”
Danny nodded like that made sense to him. He breathed a sigh of relief.
“When Lucy came back to Dare Valley after being gone forever,” he said, using Danny’s favorite concept of time, “I just couldn’t help it. I fell in love with her. And yes, I kiss her sometimes.” He should have been more careful. Danny must have snuck out of bed and seen them on the couch or something.
“She’s kinda pretty,” Danny said, putting his finger to his cheek. “And she’s so funny. She put those straws up her nose when we had sodas at Hairy’s.”
Yeah, that had been pretty funny.
“I’m glad you like her, Dad. I think she likes me too. Otherwise, she wouldn’t give me photos or play Wii with me.”
Simple gestures of love were the truest ones—a lesson he was proud to have taught his son. “She likes you a lot,” he said.
He just wasn’t sure if she loved Danny enough to join herself to their family. Lucy had said she’d adjust her schedule to have a family, but he didn’t yet know if that was something she wanted with him.
“So, are you going to get married, Dad?” Danny asked again. “Bobby said when adults have sleepovers they get married.”
Andy wanted to curse Bobby and his older siblings. Surely that’s where Danny’s friend had gotten his ideas. “I haven’t asked Miss Lucy.”
He realized he was scared to. If she said no, he didn’t know where they’d go from there. Besides, she was dealing with enough pressure from her injury. And now her mother. He hadn’t wanted to add to it. But he realized his son was asking the kind of questions that would make an impact on his young mind. Andy needed to remember his responsibility as a parent. Being Lucy’s boyfriend couldn’t trump that.
“What would you say if I asked Miss Lucy to marry me and come live with us?” he asked, deciding to go all out. His son was already thinking about it.
“She’s fun,” Danny said, the highest compliment his son could pay anyone. “And she makes you laugh. Mom likes seeing you laugh.”
Suddenly he couldn’t breathe. “Mom?”
His son nodded. “She visits me sometimes,” he said, smiling brightly. “She wants us to laugh more. That’s why I tickle you so much. She tells me to.”
His heartbeat pounded in his ears. “Danny. Listen to me. When did you talk to your mom?”
“After you tuck me in sometimes. She sits by my bed and talks to me until I go to sleep. She told me she’s always liked Lucy, and she’s glad she’s back in Dare Valley.”
Could his son have actually talked to Kim? It seemed crazy, but Andy had been a doctor long enough to wonder. “What did your mom look like?”
Danny snorted. “She looked like Mom, but she glowed like the blonde lady in Pinocchio.”
The fairy godmother in luminous blue? It could be a figment of his son’s imagination. And yet the hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end. “What did your mother say?”
His son’s face seemed to be lit from within, and Andy clutched his heart. “She said she’s happy to see you so happy, and that you know what to do. Mom said to always follow your heart.”
Tears gathered in his eyes. His logical mind was hesitant to believe in things like spirits, but his heart did. “She’s right,” he said in a hoarse voice. “You should always follow your heart.”
Pulling Danny onto his lap, he held his little body to him, filled with that huge, crazy love he had for his son.
“It’s going to be okay,” Danny told him. “Go have fun with Miss Lucy. Tell her hi for me.”
Andy pulled himself together and kissed his son’s soft brown hair. “I will.” Rising from the floor, he shifted a few steps, off balance. “Have fun with Grandma.”
Danny was restacking his books. “Okay.”
As he walked to the door, Andy tried to calm the wild cadence of his heart.
“Wait, Dr. Serious!” Danny shouted.
Andy jolted and gave a full-body shiver. No one but Kim had ever called him that. The nickname had been a private joke between them. Danny couldn’t have remembered it. He turned around, chills covering his body.
“What, Danny?”
“I forgot to tell you,” Danny said with a grin. “Mom has the coolest angel wings ever. They’re bright blue and really big.”
His lips trembled as he tried to smile at his son. “You tell her I love her when she visits you next time.”
“Ah, Dad,” Danny said, shaking his head at him. “She knows that. Duh!”
Andy turned back around and headed to the door, unable to keep the tears from streaking down his face.
Chapter 26
Lucy was shaking off her bad mood when she heard a knock at the door. God, please don’t let it be her mother. Or her father for that matter. He’d called her to say he’d heard about the fight. Of course he wanted them to work things out, but things had gone too far this time, and Lucy wasn’t sure their relationship could recover. It was impossible to think about anything else, and Lucy had vacillated between lying on her bed in a sad funk and pacing the small cottage in anger.
She peered through the window to identify the car and was puzzled to see it was Andy’s. She detoured to the front door. “What are you doing here? I’m sorry I needed more time. I was in a mood, but I was just about to head out.”
He stepped closer to her and framed her face with his hands. “Do you have any idea how much I love you?”
The intensity with which he said it, combined with the heat of his touch, seemed to turn some wheel inside her. Well…this was unexpected. “Yes. I think so. Sure.”
“Let me show you,” he said in a deep voice before covering her mouth with his.
He danced her inside the house and closed the door behind them, making her wonder what in the world was going on. Then he swept her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom all Prince Charming-like. It was a little weird and surprising, but his mouth was so hot and insistent on hers she let all the questions flee her mind for the moment.
She fell back into that place of pure heart, pure sensation with him—a place she’d never known until him. After depositing her on the bed, he kissed his way down her body, dispensing with her clothes as he went. His fingers glided over her skin in reverence. His kisses were a benediction to flesh and bone.
Something really was different. But it felt so wonderful, she was content to meet whatever mood he was in.
His mouth gave worship to her breasts and the sensitive core between her thighs, causing her to cry out in pleasure. When she came apart, he continued to love her, causing her to come again.
He was on fire for her, and she was on fire for him. Panting, she rolled onto her side and put her hand on his heart. Arousal had tightened his muscles, but the love shining in his eyes made her heart expand beyond its previous limits. So this is love, big love, she thought, and leaned forward to kiss him again and share her piece of it.
She kissed her way down his skin, just as he had done for her, and as she removed his clothing until they were completely bared to each other, the only wish she had was to love him—all of him—and to help him feel the wild beauty he’d unleashed in her heart.
The tips of her fingers tingled as she ran them across the hard planes of his body. Her love was so great, so large she could have hugged the whole universe. She honored the differences between their bodies in a whole new way, and when he finally slid into her, holding her gaze, it felt that they were floating up in the stars.
When she resurfaced, she realized he was sprawled across her, his elbows preventing him from crushing her. He was always so careful about that. Their hands were still linked, which made her smile. His warm, rapid breathing tickled her ear, making her giggle.
He shifted until he could see her face. “Wow,” he said in a stupefied voice.
Her body felt like a small container for all she was in that moment. “Yeah. Wow.”
Rolling onto his back, he drew her onto his chest, not that she needed urging. Her favorite place in the world was to be cuddled against him, listening to his heart beat, feeling the rise of his ribs as he breathed.
“I’d like to analyze what happened,” he said with a snort, “but after this evening, I’m pretty much open to anything.”
She inched higher so she could meet his gaze. “Sounds like you have an interesting story.” She had no desire to share hers in this special moment.
His smile was soft. “I do,” he said and proceeded to tell her about Danny’s visits from his mom, who had blue angel wings.
By the end, they were both brushing away tears.
“As I was driving over here,” Andy said, “I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Kim wanted me to know she was still watching over our son like she promised she would before she died. She told me she’d find a way—even if it took petitioning God multiple times.”
Ah, that sweet woman. Lucy wiped at more tears running down her face.
“But Kim also wanted me to know how happy she was that I’d found love again. With you. I didn’t need her blessing—she gave it to me in the letter you read—but it still feels…pretty darn great to have it.”
Lucy could tell the last pinches of guilt he had felt about moving forward with his life had dissolved on the way to her house. It was no wonder their lovemaking tonight had taken them to a whole new level of love and connection.
“I’m so happy for you,” she said, tracing his chest. “And for Danny. I’m glad he still has his mom in some form.”
“You really believe it?” he asked.
“I really do. The things I’ve seen overseas… I believe in spirits. I’ve even felt a few of them help me in moments of danger. Call them angels or whatever you’d like, but there was something there. I don’t think I’d still be here otherwise. Plus, they say kids are so much more open to the otherworldly than adults.”
