Pieces of Us (Confessions of the Heart, #3)(87)

“Well, I know he came crawling out your window and sneaking down that tree like he used to do. I was out back when I heard a racket, and I peeked around the corner to see what was goin’ on. But don’t worry your pretty face. He came around the front of the house and up the steps, knocking at the front door, just like a perfect gentleman would do.” It was purely a tease.

I pressed a trembling hand to my forehead.

I was gonna pass out.

“Stop frettin’.”

I went back to my coffee and dumped in a couple spoonfuls of sugar. “How am I not supposed to fret when he is here after what happened last night?” I rushed out of the side of my mouth.

“Seems to me you should be glad that he is.”

I was.

God, I was.

But that didn’t mean my nerves weren’t racing, sure my boys knew something was up. My daddy sure knew it, with the way his glare was cutting between the two of us, though it was different somehow.

Softer and less angry, though he appeared a thousand times more worried than before.

This really was a mess.

“Go on, I’ll feed you,” Mama said, transferring the huge skillet of scrambled eggs into a serving bowl. “You’ve got to be to work in an hour.”

Oh, that was right.

Work.

It was the last thing on my mind.

I shuffled over to the table, my bare feet scooting on the worn floor, trying to play it cool and casual and like Maxon wasn’t affecting me at all.

I started to round to the free chair, and I yelped out when he snagged an arm around my waist and hauled me to his side.

Right out of the blue.

He squeezed my hip in one of those massive hands.

“Good morning, gorgeous,” he said in that grumbly, beautiful voice.

Dillon laughed and a blush the same color of mine was lighting on Benjamin’s face.

“I . . .” I attempted to clear the disorder from my throat. “Um . . .”

He grinned. “Sit.”

Blowing out a breath, I did, and he set a hand on my knee under the table.

With my head dropped, I peeked over at him, catching the adoring expression on his face.

And there was nothin’ I could do to stop the sappy grin.



An hour later, I was rushing out to my car. This whole surprise of a morning had made me late.

Of course, I knew it was only gonna get worse when I felt the presence swallow me from behind, his footsteps heavy as he came out the door and jogged out toward my car.

He was on me in an instant, spinning me around, pinning my back to metal.

Kissin’ me with a passion I’d never known before.

God, this man was gonna do me in.

“I thought you already kissed me goodbye?” I teased, teeth raking my bottom lip as I peeked up at his gorgeous face.

A smirk took hold of his mouth. “So, I wanted another one.”

“Hmm . . . can’t get enough?”

He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, fiddling with it as he angled his head, his expression soft. “Never.”

Then that expression shifted, something somber and bold coming to caress the lines of his face. He traced over the angle of my cheek. “We need to tell him, Izzy. It’s time. I can’t keep sitting beside him and keeping this secret. Feels like I’m lying to him.”

My gaze drifted off in the distance, processing, the fears there but quieted. Because I knew I could no longer be that person. Someone who was bitter and scared and letting the past hold her back.

I couldn’t go on living like it was yesterday.

I looked back at him and slowly nodded. “Okay.”

The smile splitting his face nearly knocked me to my knees, so bright and brilliant.

So free.

“I’d like to do it, if that’s okay?” he asked.

I nodded again. “Okay. Just . . . you have to allow him to have his own reaction. Process it all. He’s gonna be shocked.”

Grief struck across his face. “I know that. I know. I deserve for him to hate me, but I will be there, even if he does, until he sees that he doesn’t have to. That he can trust me.”

He cupped my face, and I leaned into the warmth. “When do you want to talk to him?” I asked.

“Maybe I can take him to his appointment on Thursday? Afterward, I’ll take him to the park or for ice cream or wherever he wants to go.”

Heart shuddering, I peered up at him. “And what about Dillon?”

Determination steeled those strong features. “Wasn’t playing when I said I want us to be a family, Izzy. For the first time in my life, I have a family, right here. I don’t want to be separate from any of them. Not ever again.”

Emotion surged, so thick that it was pricking tears at the back of my eyes. “I want that. So much.”

He brushed his thumb over my lips. Softly. Reverently. Though there was hesitation behind it. “Last thing I want to imagine is you with another man, but I need to know about his father. Where he is. What happened with him.”

As if I wanted to imagine him with another woman. I cringed with even the thought, tucking it down, refusing the remnants of betrayal from clawing its way out.

It didn’t have a place in my life any longer.

I hiked an indifferent shoulder. “There’s not a whole lot to tell. His name was Jon. He left me when things with Benjamin got too rough. Dillon was two months old, and Benjamin had just had another surgery. It was a rough one. Benjamin was up all night crying with his pain, needing me to hold him, while I was trying to take care of a newborn at the same time. Jon told me he was sorry, but he couldn’t do it. He didn’t want to spend his life in doctor’s offices.”