One Look: A grumpy, single dad small town romance(85)

Lark was coming home.

I held her hand in mine as we piled her stuff into the car and headed east. Lark held her phone and smiled at the screen. Someone had filmed the whole scene at the airport and offered to send it to Lark.

She had already watched it four times but still wore a goofy grin when she did.

I snagged the phone from her hands and frowned at her. “I think you like watching me look like an idiot.”

Her hand fluttered to her chest as she blinked. “Me? Enjoy watching grouchy, always-in-control Wyatt pour his heart out? Never.”

I tossed the phone into her lap. “You’re a shit.”

Her easy laugh filled the car, and I grinned beside her as I pointed the vehicle toward home.





37





LARK





“Five minutes! I swear I’ll be ready!” I swiped a light coat of tinted lip gloss across my lips and fluffed my hair in the bathroom mirror.

Wyatt’s chuckle sounded behind me as he leaned on the doorframe. “I don’t believe you.”

I shot him an annoyed look in the mirror and fixed the edge of my lip gloss with my finger.

Penny popped her head into his bedroom. “Dad, can Cheeto come with us?”

Wyatt sighed before looking over his shoulder. “Absolutely not.”

She grumbled and sulked away with her little hamster tucked into her hands. Wyatt crossed his arms and frowned.

I moved into his space and wrapped my arms around his middle. I leaned into the hard plane of muscle and listened to his heart thump against my ear. “Everything okay?”

His arms tightened around my shoulders. “Fine.”

I smiled against his chest. For all his bravado on the field and outward appearances, there were still parts of him that felt alone. For so long, it was easier for him to white-knuckle it through life. It was still new for him to be surrounded by people who loved him.

“You know, we don’t have to go if you’re not feeling up to it,” I offered.

His lips gently kissed my hair. “No, we should go. But let’s stop at the Sugar Bowl and pick something up before we head over.”

My heart soared for him. The Sullivans and all their heartache were slowly healing. Together.





“Did you see this?” I slanted my phone toward Wyatt as he pulled out of the driveway.

“Hmm?” he hummed.

“I texted the group to let them know we would be a few minutes late because we were stopping by the Sugar Bowl to grab a dessert . . . Duke said he already stopped there.”

Wyatt looked over, brows pinched. “Duke hates that place. He never goes unless he’s dropping off berries for Huck.”

I lifted my shoulders.

“Well, all right.” Wyatt made a turn and headed toward Aunt Tootie’s house. Cars were lining the gravel driveway, and Three-Legged Ed ran beside us when we pulled up. I leaned out of the car, trying to shoo him away, but he kept pace with us, his tongue lolled out to the side in a goofy grin.

I spotted Beckett Miller’s work truck off to the side and lifted a finger. My brows shot up.

Wyatt’s lips formed a thin line. “Yep. He’s sticking it out.”

Penny leaned forward from the back seat. “Aunt Katie said that Beckett is an ‘intolerable, pigheaded asshole.’”

A shotgun burst of laughter erupted from me as Wyatt looked at his precocious little girl. “Penny . . .”

She shrugged. “What? She said it, not me.”

“We don’t talk like that. Beckett is Uncle Duke’s friend, and he’s doing us all a big favor by working on the house.” Wyatt narrowed his eyes at me while I struggled to get my fit of giggles under control.

He shook his head. “All right, you two, let’s go.”

The weather was still warm, so we gathered in Tootie’s huge yard to dine outside. Penny took off like a shot toward Lee, Ed yipping and bounding after her. Wyatt rounded the car to meet me and immediately tossed his arm across my shoulders and pulled me in close.

I sighed and melted into him as we walked. “Intolerable, pigheaded asshole.” I laughed again.

Wyatt let his lips brush across my hair. “Those two are going to kill each other before the renovation even starts.”

I laughed again, knowing full well that Katie had every intention of making Beckett’s life miserable. “Most likely.”

As we walked up, the conversation flowed over itself, everyone talking and laughing and picking at the small appetizers Tootie had placed on the table. The afternoon sun was warm, and puffy clouds made sure it wasn’t too hot.

The whole scene was picturesque and perfect. If only you could ignore Kate shooting daggers across the guacamole and Beckett completely ignoring her to talk with Tootie about where he’d start working.

Football season was right around the corner. Penny would be starting school, and for the first time, it felt like all the pieces of this broken family were falling into place.

The Sullivans still had some healing to do, but for now they were together. Wyatt had let me into the darkest, loneliest parts of himself, and bit by bit he was letting the rest of them in too.

I looked around at their smiling faces. Katie’s eyes brightened when we walked up, and my heart pinched in my chest. They may be a little lost, a little broken, but they’d welcomed me with open arms. They’d chosen me, accepted and loved me, and claimed me as one of their own.