Loving Her (Mitchell Family #9)(71)

“Nobody hates you,” I reminded her.

“It felt like they did. That’s why I ran. I wanted to go where I couldn’t hurt anyone else. I just wanted to be alone.”

“Then you found me,” I added.

She smiled. “When I saw your truck, I knew you couldn’t leave me if I was in there waitin’.”

We both hugged our daughter. “We never wanted you to come here. We just wanted you to be at home where you belong.”

She held both of our hands, and as much as I enjoyed cuddling with my wife, I think neither of us would have traded her sleeping between us.



The three of us drove home the next morning, after Izzy apologized to her aunt and uncle for scaring them. I think Noah was the only one upset that she wasn’t coming to stay with them.

I didn’t know about Miranda, but I couldn’t stop smiling. She cuddled next to me the whole way home, letting me sing the wrong words to all of her favorite songs.

Maybe we should have just given her space. Maybe she needed to hear everything.

We may not ever know exactly what brought her back to me, but she was there and I wasn’t going to ever let her go again.

Everything got back to normal once we arrived in North Carolina. Izzy went to school as if nothing had ever happened. Her brothers welcomed her home by leaving fecal matter on their shared toilet seat and hitting her with a flying video game paddle.

After a black-eye and a huge welcome home dinner from her Mimi, we could tell that things were finally going to settle down. It had been so long since I was able to tuck her in at night. I almost hesitated before walking into her room.

She was sitting there waiting for me in her bed when I walked in. I tucked the covers around her and kissed her on the cheek. “You know, if you think you’re too old for this, I’ll be okay.”

She laughed. “As long as you don’t tell my friends, you can still do it.”

We pinky promised.

When I turned off her light and started walking out, I heard one last thing that warmed my heart. “Dad, I love you.”

I leaned against the doorframe, smiling. “Love you, too Iz.

Miranda was on the couch, waiting for a blow by blow of how it had went. I told her about our pinky promise and what Iz had said to me. She was so happy to hear it, after so much drama that kept us apart. She stood up and took my hand. “I know what you need, Mr. Mitchell.”

“Oh really? I raised my brow and seemed interested. “What are you offering?”

“How about we get naked and get a nice hot bath, that may or may not lead to something more in the bed tonight.”

I couldn’t help myself. “Anal sex?”

She hit me up side the head. “Seriously?” Then she laughed. “I always know things are good with you when you start talkin’ about bangin’ me in the butt. Some things will never change.”

I followed after her. “Baby, it’s all in fun.”

She turned and took off her top as we entered into the bathroom. “You let me do it to you first, and then I’ll let you do it to me.”

I shook my head, after considering it for less than two seconds. “Okay, missionary it is.”





Epilogue


Isabella


6 1/2 years later



I looked around at the crowd of people, letting my eyes coast the audience until I found them. Getting tickets for everyone would have been hard, had I not been the valedictorian of my graduating class.

There they were, sitting right in the middle, where I should have known they’d be. My mother looked so proud and having all of my aunts and uncles there was pretty amazing too. I gave them a quick wave before adjusting the microphone.

My hands were shaking as I finally spotted the one person who could calm my heart and make everything disappear. Just before taking the stage, he’d pulled me to the side and told me to picture everyone in the audience, except for him, naked. It was hard to look out and not laugh, because obviously it was all I could think about.

“Thank you all for coming today. I feel truly blessed to be here, speaking on behalf of this year’s graduating class. I’ve been advised by my peers to keep this short and sweet, so here it goes.” I cleared my throat and then continued.

“As a child, I always enjoyed school and making new friends. I strived to do my best to make my family and myself proud. For most of my life, I’ve considered myself pretty adventurous. Without faith and family, most of us wouldn’t be here today. After twelve years, maybe more for others, we’ve finally come to the end where some of us will go onto college and some find jobs immediately. From what I’ve been told, when we leave this celebration today, we’re officially adults. I don’t know about all of you, but I’ve been assuming I was an adult since I was a little girl. Just ask my family, who had to deal with me.”

The crowd began to laugh and I paused, looking over at my dad, who was standing to the side giving me a thumbs up. I smiled and turned my attention back to the crowd.

“I’ve been thinking about what to say today, contemplating the funny over the serious. The last thing I want to do is stand here and bore you all to death, before you get to experience what’s out there waiting for each and every one of you. I suppose I’m expected to offer advice, but your paths are up to each of you to decide.”