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I’m drawn back to lashes so thick and black they remind me of one of those vintage dolls. She’s not wearing a stitch of makeup, revealing a light smattering of freckles on her nose.
Her eyes, that one little word—it . . . makes my blood pump faster. It makes me feel something in a sea of numbness.
Talking to him seems safe enough. Safer than talking to Bailey Jansen, who watches me just a little too closely with those big fucking doe eyes.
One who starts pulling up a stool every Sunday through Tuesday to drink chamomile tea until midnight, so I don’t have to close by myself.
Beau: Willa doesn’t run my show. Cade: You must be new here. Willa runs everyone’s show.
My molars clamp down and I glance back at Bailey. “Okay. Maybe I am.” But I relax when I’m looking at her.
“No chamomile tea. But you look like you could use a pick-me-up.” She slides a glass of Coca-Cola in front of me, not realizing that she’s the pick-me-up.
“If we’re struggling, we’re still in motion, yeah? Heading somewhere better. That’s what I keep telling myself anyway.”
“Hey, why do cows have such long eyelashes?” I ask, abruptly switching the subject. His brow furrows in my direction beneath the brim of his cap. “What?” “Their eyelashes. They’re just so damn long. What’s the point?”
Beau: You drive a hard bargain, Jansen. How many carats on the diamond, fancy-pants? Bailey: Lol. Four? Five? So big I can barely lift my hand. Beau: Wow. My girl is high-maintenance. Got it. See you tonight, snookums. Bailey: Yeah, no. That’s not it either.
“How goes it, Sweet Cheeks?” Might as well rip the Band-Aid right off. She freezes in place and Gary’s head whips my way. “The fuck did you just say to her?” Gary’s jaw is practically on the floor. I grin. Yep. This already feels good. I can do this. A show. A mission. “We’re trying out new nicknames.” She turns slowly, and the menacing expression on her face indicates she’s going to kill me. “Why on earth?” The older man sounds genuinely flabbergasted. “Did Bailey not tell you the exciting news?”
The man shoots his eyes to the ceiling before they land on my hand and shift to Bailey’s. “Hang on. Please tell me you didn’t propose to her without a ring. Doubt you need her daddy’s permission, but I’ll kick your ass if you didn’t buy a ring for her.”
“I proposed with one, but Bailey told me the diamond wasn’t big enough and to take it back.” Her foot stomps. “I did not!” “Gary, you should have heard her. Said something about how she wanted a diamond so big that she could barely lift her arm.” He nods. “That’s exactly what she deserves.”
She looks very engaged wearing that rock, and it has the caveman inside of me beating his proverbial chest.
“Yeah, Baby Doll. It’s practice.” Silence descends between us. Tension builds. And then, “Hey, Beau?” “Yeah?” “Not that one, either.” I laugh. And then we don’t talk. We
Everyone is here. Rhett and Summer, Cade and Willa, Jasper and Sloane, Theo and Winter—even Sloane’s mom, whom I’ve heard some whispering about. There are babies in arms and a little boy kicking a soccer ball in the field out back.
Because no one has ever taken care of Bailey Jansen before. But I think it’s about time she got used to it.
from everyone dramatically. “Why is no one asking me how fast I can run in my new shoes? Being an adult sucks.” And it’s Luke who comes to his rescue, drawing a few chuckles. “I’ll race you, Uncle Beau!”
open the door to face my big, dumb soldier.
“I know you’re scared of losing control around me.” Her chin tips up as though she’s told me something that will make me back down. Run me off. It doesn’t. “No, I’m scared of you becoming something I can’t live without.”
And then Bailey says, “It rubs the lotion on its skin,” in the softest, most sugary voice. I crack up.
By the time we make it home, I’ve realized that I’ll probably give this girl anything she wants. A ring. Sex. Forever.
His head drops, and he kisses a tear that streaks down my face. “I can’t fucking stand the sight of you crying.”
“I’m done pretending to be head over heels in love with you because I’m legitimately head over heels in love with you. And acting like I’m not tears me up.”
“Still not letting my guard down. Not when I’ve got you to keep safe.”
What an incredible fucking woman. She deserves the goddamn world. And I’m going to be the one to give it to her.
“You’re relentless, you know that?” And I just give her a salute and a wink. Because yeah, I am.
No one has ever showed up for Bailey, but she’s about to get the full experience. “No, sugar. When it comes to you, I’m downright hopeless.”
“That’s okay, baby. I can be your first,” he says. And then he kisses me. The first, last, and only man to love me. And I’m okay with that.
Beau: Everyone better show up tonight. Harvey: YES, SIR. Beau: You can’t say that. Like, ever, Dad. Harvey: Why not? Harvey: . . . Sir? Beau: You just can’t. It’s off the table now. Jasper: REPORTING FOR DUTY, SIR. Rhett: SEE YOU FOR DINNER, SIR. Cade: WHY AM I RELATED TO SO MANY IDIOTS, SIR? Beau: I hate you all. See you tonight.
“Brought the sonogram so you can see there is indeed no tail.” Everyone laughs, recalling my dad’s never-ending jokes about Sloane and Jasper having tail babies because they’re related—even though they aren’t.
