The Presence of Grace (Love and Loss #2)(25)
“Yeah! Chocolate chips would be amazing,” Jax agreed.
I gave them both a smile. “Next time I’ll be sure to add chocolate chips.”
Chapter Ten
Devon
The sound of talking and laughter coming down the hall was what woke me. My eyelids were heavy, and my body was begging me to just roll over and go back to sleep, but in the last three years, that had never been an option. If the kids were up, I was up.
I remembered coming home the night before after my hasty trip to the drug store in town, walking into a dark house, the only light the moon shining in through the windows in the living room. Grace was curled up on her side, shoes slipped off her feet, cell phone on the floor just below her outstretched hand, indicating she’d fallen asleep while looking at it.
Her hair was spread out on the decorative pillow, her dress covering everything important but giving me a nice look at her legs. She looked peaceful and comfortable, prompting an inner battle; I wanted to move her to my bed and take the couch myself, but I didn’t want to disturb her since she was already asleep. I’d picked up her cell phone and placed it on the coffee table, and then grabbed an extra blanket from the closet and draped it over her carefully, trying not to wake her.
After watching her sleep for a few moments, I finally dragged myself back to my room. In any other situation I would have had a hard time sleeping while Grace was just down the hall, but I’d been exhausted and I hardly remembered actually crawling into bed.
My eyes swung to the digital alarm clock I kept on my bedside table and I had to look twice. It was 10:00 a.m. The last time I’d slept until ten in the morning had been back in college. I flung the covers off the bed, pulled on a T-shirt and jeans from a pile in the corner, made my way to the bathroom, and then out to the living room.
The surprises kept coming as I walked into a scene of Grace sitting on my couch with both my kids, all of them looking at our television, watching Jax play Minecraft.
“Good morning,” I said, still confused, when Grace and Ruby turned to look at me, both of them wearing perfect smiles.
“Grace made banana pancakes if you want some, Daddy. We saved you some. We just have to warm them up.”
“Banana pancakes?” I asked, looking to Grace, who was still smiling.
“They are so good, Daddy. I’ll go warm them up for you,” Ruby said, jumping up from the couch and walking past me into the kitchen.
“You’re feeling better, then?”
“Much better,” she said with her head in the refrigerator.
“There’s Gatorade in there. I want you to drink some of that anyway.”
“I already had a whole bottle. Grace made me drink it with breakfast.”
“I tried to stick to the BRAT diet, but we figured banana pancakes were a good compromise. Although, Jax has requested next time we add chocolate chips.”
I was frozen where I stood, trying to take everything in.
“You made my kids breakfast?”
“Well, I was already awake, and Ruby was hungry. I figured she needed something in her belly, considering….”
I heard her trying to defend herself and I could have kicked myself for making her feel like she’d done something wrong.
“Thank you,” I managed, interrupting her unnecessary apology. “It’s been a while since I was able to sleep in.” She smiled, but I still felt like shit. “Kids, we’ve got to drive Grace home, so why don’t you get dressed.”
“You’ve got to eat your pancakes,” Ruby insisted, the microwave dinging.
“I’ll eat them while you get changed.” Ruby placed the pancakes in front of me on the bar and as she passed I stopped her, bringing her head to my chest, looking down at her. “You feeling okay, kiddo?” She didn’t feel warm and the color was back in her face.
“I feel much better, Daddy. I was really hungry when I woke up, so Grace made me pancakes and made me drink the Gatorade. I feel fine.”
I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m glad. Now go get dressed.” She made her way down the hall and when I knew both kids were in their rooms, I turned back to Grace.
“Listen,” I said, dragging my fingers through my hair, “I’m really sorry about all this. Last night was a disaster and then this morning….” I looked up at her to see the smile still fixed on her face. “This definitely wasn’t the way I wanted our date to go.”
She shrugged. “It’s not a big deal, Devon. I hope I didn’t overstep any boundaries though.”
“No. No, of course not. I just don’t want you to think I brought you here to take care of my kids. I didn’t. I’m grateful you did, but you’ve got to know I didn’t even think about it. It’s been years since those kids didn’t come right into my bedroom when they woke up. I never expected they’d come to you first.”
“All right,” she said, standing from the couch and walking toward me. “We’re both sorry and it all worked out.”
Her dress flowed around her knees and some of her hair had come loose from the bun she’d wrapped it up in. Strands fell in soft sweeps along her neck and I wanted so badly to just run a finger along her there. With both excitement and apprehension, I’d envisioned a very different ending to our evening the night before. I would have walked her to her door, found some reason to hold her hand or rest my hand on her waist, and pulled her in to me for a hug. I’d imagined kissing her, but wasn’t sure if we were there yet. The last thing I wanted was to kiss Grace and then realize I wasn’t ready to kiss someone who wasn’t Olivia. I wanted to be sure.