The Lemon Sisters (Wildstone #3)(45)

She tiptoed into the boys’ room next. Mason was asleep in his bed, his feet on his pillow, his head under the covers. She gently turned him around, tucked him in, and brushed a kiss to his brow.

Maddox had his face smashed into his toddler bed, his butt in the air, fast asleep.

No diaper.

She was a little worried about that, but didn’t want to wake him. So she concentrated on the man curled up in the tiny bed with him.

Dr. Linc Tennant, father of her children, keeper of her heart, which started pounding like crazy with nerves, anxiety . . .

Love.

His dark eyes opened, heavy-lidded as he worked to come awake, and as it had since they were little kids, her heart took a big, stupid leap at the sight of him: hair messy, eyes sleepy, a crease on his cheek from the pillow. He was in his old college sweats and a T-shirt that read TRUST ME, I’M A DOCTOR.

He blinked at her and slowly sat up, wincing, as he unfurled his long body and stood. Taking her hand, he held a finger to his lips and pulled her from the room into their master bedroom. There, he flipped on the light and turned to stare at her.

She knew what he was seeing. She was showered, dressed, and in makeup—all put together for the first time in . . . forever.

And he wasn’t. He looked like how she’d looked every day since having kids—a wreck—and she couldn’t help it . . . she smiled.

He smiled back and reached for her, but she put a hand to his chest to stop him.

Covering her hand with one of his, he gently squeezed as he ducked down to look into her eyes. “You look beautiful, and I want to hear about your week, but first, I know we’ve got some things to talk about. I know I’ve screwed up.”

Oh God. So Brooke had been wrong about him not fooling around. She stilled and dropped her gaze to stare at his chest, wondering how long it might take to clean up the mess if she killed him right here and now. “Define ‘screwed up,’” she said carefully.

With a finger under her chin, he brought her face back up to his. “It’s not what you’re thinking. It never will be. Brooke shocked me with what you believed about me. She was like a pit bull about it, too, but I convinced her—I hope I convinced her—and I plan to convince you, too.”

Brooke had taken on Linc for her. Something to think about. “But—”

He put a finger over her lips. “What I mean is that I’ve screwed up my priorities. I get that you think I’ve forgotten our vows, but I haven’t. I wouldn’t. We’ll circle back to that in a sec and discuss why you think I could ever, would ever, do that to you or the kids.” He paused, and in the silence, she could hear her heart pounding in her ears. “Mindy,” he said. “You need to know that you’re not the only one not getting what you want or what you planned on.”

Now her heart completely stopped.

“I’ve missed out on being with you and the kids,” he said. “And the years are going by too fast. I’m trying to fix that.”

The words were both a balm to her soul and a worry. “Do you mean it? Because I don’t want to be the one who makes you do something you don’t want to do, Linc. That will only cause more problems.”

“No, it won’t. I’ve let my life rule yours, and that’s not fair. I want to be around more for you. Starting with Hawaii.”

This caused a surge of excitement. A long time ago, they’d planned to honeymoon in Hawaii, but she’d been three months pregnant and sick as a dog when she’d walked down the aisle. They’d canceled the trip and had never been able to reschedule due to Linc’s crazy work schedule. “Don’t tease me.”

“I’m not.” He smiled. “I rescheduled it for two weeks from now. Your parents said they’d come stay at the house and watch the kids if we needed them to. Ethan’s going to handle the practice while we’re gone, and beyond that, he’s going to have to step up to do his fair share.”

The hope dwindled as fast as it’d come. She didn’t want to talk bad about his dumbass brother, but, well, Ethan was a dumbass. “Linc—”

“He owes us.”

“Yeah, he does,” she said. “Because you’ve always been there for him, but he’s never returned the favor, not once. You know damn well he’s going to pull the poor-me routine and back out on us at the last minute.”

“Not this time,” Linc said firmly. “He promised. And I’m promising you.” He took her hand in his and drew her in closer, pressing her palm to his chest. “I missed you, Min. I want this. I want to make you happy. I’m pretty sure I’m going to make mistakes. Hopefully not too many, but we both know I will. I’ll try to learn from each of them, though. Is that enough for you?”

She drew in a deep breath, still raw from her talk with Brooke. She’d really thought she’d gotten herself together, but as it turned out, she was more screwed up than she’d thought. “I want it to be.”

“Okay, we’ll start there.” He was watching her think, his gaze pensive. “Do you really think I’m having an affair?”

She looked away from his searing gaze. “I don’t know what I think. You’re always gone, working with cute nurses and doctors. We never see each other. Why wouldn’t I wonder?”

“Because we’re married and I love you.” He shook his head. “Remember when my dad was dying, and Ethan and I agreed as his sons to take over his practice? We talked about that, you and me, about the long hours, about me being gone a lot, and you said it was okay with you, that I should step up and handle the practice rather than sell it.”