Chapter Twenty-Four
David
Tossing my duffel in the back seat, I turn the ignition and blow out a heavy breath. I tap the controls on the steering wheel and press the call button. The ring hums through the truck as I wait for her to answer.
“How’s my favorite brother-in-law doing?” Ava’s voice rings through the speakers just as I turn onto the highway heading home.
My cheeks pull up. “I’m looking for my best friend, do you know if she’s around?”
“Hold on and let me see if I can find her.”
“You’re so dramatic!” I huff out a laugh, and Ava chuckles.
“That’s why they pay me the big bucks! You know, actress and all.” The smile lingers on my lips. “What’s going on?”
A huge breath escapes me, and I run a hand through my hair before sighing. I open my mouth to say something, but stop, trying to find the right words. But I don’t know if I have the words, forget about the right ones.
I glance at the touchscreen and see the seconds ticking by. Ava’s still there, waiting patiently for me to tell her why I’m calling. My mouth quirks at the corner, and I chuckle softly. This is why she’s so good with Duncan.
“A?” I grip the steering wheel and blow out another breath. “How do you think Fiona would feel about Cat?”
“What would Fiona think of Cat?” Ava repeats, a slight shake to her voice. “I’m pretty certain she would love her.”
My grip on the steering wheel loosens, and I swallow hard, trying to ease the tightness in my throat.
“I think she would love your story,” Ava continues. “I think she would love the way she adores Scarlett and Scarlett adores her.”
I try to take a deep breath, but my chest feels like it’s clamped in a vice.
“I think she would love the two of you together. But David?”
The pressure in my throat is overwhelming, and I try to talk past it, but I can’t. The back of my eyes burn, and my heart thunders.
“The thing I think she would love the most is that you found someone. You found someone who makes you happy.” Her voice is so sure, filled with conviction, and I want nothing more than to wrap her words around me and let them dissolve the heaviness weighing me down. “Someone you can love who loves you.”
A single tear rolls down my face. I try to swallow past the lump, but I can’t—it’s jammed there.
“Do you love her, David?” Ava asks.
I nod, but remember she can’t see me. “I do, A.” Pulling over to the side of the road, I put the vehicle in park. The tightness gripping my chest makes it hard to breathe. “But why do I feel so guilty? I’m plagued by this gnawing guilt that’s tearing me up.”
“David, you didn’t choose to leave Fiona, you lost her.” Her words strike me, an arrow piercing its target. “If she were still alive, you’d be together. Of course, you feel guilty. I think it’s a normal emotion.”
I wipe my chin, tears streaming.
“I feel guilty every year I celebrate our birthday,” Ava’s voice strains, and I hear the pain she’s been hiding from me for years.
“Ava! How come you never told me?” My heart aches for her. I was so lost in my own grief that I never even thought about hers. She always seemed to handle losing Fi so much better than I did. “You did it for me.”
“No, David. I did it for her. Fiona asked me to take care of you for her. She asked me to take care of you until you found someone else to do it.” I can hear the smile in her voice, and the lump in my throat moves.
The tightness in my chest eases, and I can breathe again.
We sit in a comfortable silence, each of us letting the moment breathe.
“So what are we going to do about making this marriage of yours real?”
“We?” I lift a brow, my mouth tugging at the corner.
“Yes, we! You’re going to need someone to watch Scarlett while you date, and her godfather and I are up for the task.” She chuckles, and I laugh with her. “Do you have any ideas for—”
“No, I don’t have any ideas yet,” I scoff.
“What about this weekend? Don’t you have an away game?”
“Yes, but it’s a series of games and I’ll be gone for a few—”
“Perfect!” Ava squeaks, hands clapping in the background. “A few days of you and Cat alone is just what you need.”
“Doesn’t Duncan have a game?” My brows pull together. “How’s that going to work?”
“I’m coming home for the weekend.” She sing-songs the last word. “I’ll be here to watch the girls with him.”
“Speaking of the girls…did you hear about the poll to replace the Smokies’ mascot?” I say, changing the subject. I need to let Ava’s idea percolate a bit before I commit to a first ‘date’.
Ava’s laughter fills the car as we talk about Emmy and how the entire fanbase is in love with her.
I hit the blinker, look around, and pull back onto the highway, making my way home. For the first time in weeks, the guilt that’s been hanging around my neck is gone. A glow warms my heart, and happiness fills me. An ease I haven’t felt since before Fiona got sick.
The closer I get to home, the lighter I feel. And for the first time, in what feels like forever, I can’t wait to get home to my family.
The house is settled for the night, and Cat and I are sitting on the couch watching a rerun of ‘Everyone Loves Raymond’. The episode where the Barones come home from vacation and leave a piece of luggage on the landing, neither Ray nor Deb wanting to take responsibility for it.
It’s a nightly routine we’ve fallen into, staying up and watching TV together after Scarlett’s in bed. Tonight is the first night that a rock isn’t sitting at the bottom of my stomach.
Cat’s sitting a few feet away from me, a blanket covering her, holding a cup of tea with both hands as she laughs at Deb’s and Ray’s passive-aggressive struggle. The sound inches the grin I’m wearing higher.
Emmy, lying between us, takes that moment to start snoring, and we both chuckle. Cat glances down at the pup, then runs her hand over Emmy’s head, the sweetest smile lining her lips. When her gaze shifts to mine, my breath catches, and I notice her lips drift apart.
A surge of electricity fills the space between us. She turns her gaze back to her hand on the dog’s head, and I let my gaze leisurely run over her profile, my heart pounding like wild horses running across my chest.
“Cat?” I whisper, so soft I’m not even sure the word came out of my mouth, but then she pins me with her big blue eyes.
“Yes?” She chews on her bottom lip, hands repositioning around the cup.
I pull in a shaky breath before quietly asking. “Do you feel this too?” I ask, motioning a hand between us.
Her eyes flare, a hint of surprise in them. She waits so long to answer, I begin to wonder if maybe I am misreading things.
The audience laughing on the television pulls my attention to the screen, and then I feel her hand on my arm. My heart stutters as I turn back to her.
A soft smile curves her mouth, and she nods. “I do.”
The cushion between us dips just as Emmy takes that exact moment to huff out a breath and stretch, pushing against the two of us. “Ouch,” I groan, as she uncomfortably shoves a paw in between a set of my rib bones.
“Are you okay?” Cat giggles, pulling the dog’s foot from my body. Her hand brushing against mine, sending chills down my spine.
“I’ll survive,” I tease, rubbing the part where one toe was particularly sticky. Her hand hangs in the air, focused on where I’m massaging. Her expression is unguarded, soft, and filled with a tenderness that has my blood humming.
I clear my throat. “Do you want to date me?”
Cat’s brows shoot up, and she covers her mouth, giggling. “What?” she squeaks.
“Well, that makes a man feel confident and secure,” I snort, heat creeping up the back of my neck.
“I’m sorry,” Cat chuckles, not making me feel any better. I shift in my seat and turn toward the TV when I feel her hand gripping my arm. “You know I laugh when I’m nervous.”
“Actually, I completely forgot you did that,” I grumble.
“You always did hate it,” she says, still snickering. The warmth from her hand sends tendrils of heat through my body. But I refuse to look at her. Yeah, I’m acting like a child, but I don’t care. Stomping my foot would feel good, too.
Cat stretches over Emmy, who’s sleeping like the dead, rests her hand on my chin, and gently tugs my face toward her. “David, look at me.”
I close my eyes and slowly exhale a few times. When I finally open them and look at Cat, her lopsided grin makes my stomach flip. “Yes.”
“Yes, what?” The corners of my mouth pull up, a silly grin crawling across my face.
“Yes, I want to date you,” she says softly, her mouth twitching at the corners.
My breath stumbles, and my gaze falls to her lips. They part slightly before she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth. I reach my hand out and softly trace her lips, feeling her quiet exhale on my fingertips.
My eyes flick up to hers, and their light leaves me breathless. When her gaze drops to my lips, I feel my body shift forward. A mischievous grin sliding across my mouth. “Good. Because I’m not sure what I would’ve done if you said no.”
She chuckles, and my grin gets impossibly wider.
“Daddy?” Scarlett’s sleepy voice calls from the kitchen. I look up to find my little girl rubbing her eyes, her favorite stuffed animal under her arm. “Emmy didn’t come to bed.”
As if on cue, Emmy gets up and stretches like a cat before drowsily walking toward her partner in crime. My daughter yawns, turns around, and unsteadily walks back to her bedroom, Emmy two steps behind.
The love I feel anytime I watch Scarlett expands through my chest, warming me. Cat reaches out and rests a hand on my forearm, sparking a different type of warmth. When I glance in her direction, her eyes are on Scarlett, a loving glow filling them, and my heart flutters.
If I had any doubt of being in love with Catherine Bailey…James before, it’s replaced with a certainty that I am not just in love with her, but hopelessly so.
“I think it’s bedtime for me, too.” She yawns, before turning to look at me. “Can we talk more tomorrow?”
“Sure. No rush, right?” I pull her up with me as I stand, rolling her hand between mine, marveling at how soft her skin is. When I flick my gaze to hers, it’s to find her staring at me, and for the second time tonight, my stomach flips.
Without letting go of her hand I grab the remote, turn off the TV, and slowly head toward the back of the house. When we reach Cat’s door I grab her other hand and hold it in mine. Leaning in, I press my lips against hers, breathing in deeply, letting the floral scent that surrounds her fill me.
“Good night, Cat,” I whisper against her lips, stealing one more kiss. “Sleep well.”
I drop her hands and turn to head to my bedroom when I feel a tug. I look down to find her holding on to my finger. Glancing up, she has the cutest smile on her face, and in that moment, I hate that I’m going down the hall.
“Good night, David,” she says softly, before dropping my hand and turning. I stand there, unable to move, watching her. She turns to me and smiles just before she echoes. “Sleep well,” and closes the door behind her.
Scrubbing my hand up and down my face, my jaw clenches. I’m not sure I’ll be sleeping at all tonight, forget about well.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28 (Reading here)
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37