Page 22 of Finding Home (Willow Valley #1)

TWENTY-TWO

EVERETT

O nce we finish dinner, Chloe clears the table and grabs her and Lila’s jackets. “I’m going to take Lila out to meet the horses, we’ll be back.”

Before I even have a chance to offer to go with them, Chloe and Lila are out the door, leaving me alone with her parents.

Melanie places a plate of cookies in front of me as she retakes her seat and smiles. Her and my grandmother seem like two peas in a pod, digging for information. I see where Chloe gets her persistence, too.

“So, how are you adjusting to being in Willow Valley?” Melanie asks.

“It’s been good. Lila likes school, the fire station has been easy to adjust to.”

She nods and pushes the cookies closer to me. I take one to be polite, but I also remember them being damn good.

“I hope we can trust having our daughter with you. I know she’s not a child anymore, but she’ll always be our little girl.”

My eyes bounce between Melanie and Randy, and I notice that he’s more of an observer like me.

“Of course. I understand your concerns. I know no matter how old Lila gets I’ll always worry about her.

I’ll make sure Chloe is safe. I’d hope she’s comfortable enough in my home that should anything worry her, she’d say something.

We’re still getting to know each other, but I trust her implicitly with my daughter, which is why I offered her the room after learning she needed a place.

I’ve never seen Lila open up and be so comfortable with someone the way she is with Chloe. It’s like she’s got this magic touch.”

Melanie grins at me. “My daughter’s always been that way. I knew even when she was young that she’d do good in this world.”

I can’t hold back my own smile. “She will leave a lasting impact for sure.”

I take the last bite of my cookie and realize I’ve spilled more to her while eating that cookie than I have to anyone with the exception of that one night with Chloe. I look back at Melanie, and I swear her smile has a hint of deviousness like she knows exactly what she just did.

I shake my head as the door opens and Lila comes barreling in with Chloe behind her.

“Daddy! Daddy! I got to pet the horses. They’re so cool! Miss M said I could come ride them as long as you said yes. Can I, Daddy? Pretty please? I promise I’ll listen to Miss M.”

She looks up at me the biggest pleading eyes and Chloe looks at me sheepishly behind her, but there’s also a little bit of hope in her eyes, like taking Lila riding won’t just make Lila happy, but Chloe, too

“Yeah, Peanut. As long as you listen to everything Miss M tells you, you can ride them.”

The smiles that spread across both of their faces has my heart racing in my chest.

“We should get going, Mom. We should get Lila to bed, and I’m meeting Brin early to head to West Bridgejaw,” Chloe says, and I check the time, not realizing just how long we’ve been here.

“Don’t forget to take some of that soup home with ya. I made enough so you could have left overs.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“What are you grabbing in West Bridgejaw?” Melanie asks Chloe.

“Not sure. Brin asked for a travel buddy, and Aspen and Lennon weren’t available. Brin mentioned something about maybe grabbing a room for the night and coming back Sunday. She wanted to hit a new bar that opened in town.”

Melanie chuckles and shakes her head. “That girl, still ever the energy and centre of fun.”

Chloe grins. “Yup, and I somehow always get pulled into it. That girl’s lucky I love her.”

“Be safe and let me know if you’re staying there,” Melanie says before kissing her cheek.

“Of course, Mom. Thanks for dinner.” Chloe moves and wraps her arms around her dad and kisses his cheek. “Bye, Daddy.”

He pats her arm. “Bye, sweetheart.”

I shake their hands and thank them for dinner and walk with the girls back to the car.

Lila rattles on to Chloe the entire time about the horses and all the cool things she showed her.

While the girls chat during the drive, I’m left with my thoughts, stuck feeling that longing I’ve been pushing aside for a long time.

Seeing Chloe with her parents has me wishing I had that closeness with my own.

Even at twenty-seven, I have this ache in my chest that my parents were never close with me the way I just witnessed with the Maxwells.

My parents don’t know the name of any of my friends. They don’t know their personality traits. I’ve promised myself that I’ll do better for Lila, that I’ll be present enough to know who her friends are, what they’re like. That I’ll know what my daughter likes to do for fun and what makes her happy.

When we get home, I get Lila in the bath and ready for bed before heading back downstairs in search of Chloe. I find her in her bedroom, with the door open, sitting on her bed with a book. I knock on the open door, and she looks up at me and smiles.

“I just wanted to thank you for tonight,” I say.

She closes her book and sits up, and I take that as an opportunity to step inside.

“Thanks for noticing Lila being quiet at the table. She doesn’t open up well to new people, you being the exception. I appreciate you taking her to see the horses.” I chuckle. “She’s going to ask you every day until you take her for a ride.”

She grins. “Sounds like me as a little girl. I’ll take her as soon as I can. We have all the safety equipment, and I’ve been riding since I was a kid. I’ll make sure she’s safe.”

I nod, shoving my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “I know. I trust you.”

Those three words hang between us. Both of us know the weight of them. Trusting someone with your child, the most precious thing to you, isn’t easy. I know deep in my bones that Chloe will do everything to ensure my daughter is always safe with her.

I step out of her room, and as I go to close her door I say, “Text me tomorrow with updates. I’d like to know you’re safe.”

“I’ll be fine, Everett.”

“I’m sure you will be. But for my peace of mind, text me.”

She tilts her head, not saying anything, and I sigh.

“Please.”

She bites her lip and nods. “Yeah, I’ll text you.”

I nod. “Thanks. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” she whispers, and I close the door and head to my own bed.

Thankfully, Chloe doesn’t spend the night in West Bridgejaw, I’m not sure what I’d have done with the thought of her in some random bar with men watching her as she danced and had fun.

When she gets back, she puts up a calendar on the fridge and adds my work shifts and her important appointments to it.

We slowly start to transition to her taking Lila when I’m on shift.

She’ll often take Lila to Grandma’s and they’ll spend the evening together before she brings her home to sleep in her own bed.

We find a rhythm that works for us. I make dinner on my days off, and Chloe and Lila often leave something sweet for me to find when I get off shift.

Chloe takes Lila to spend time with the horses before she gets her riding.

She has her feeding and grooming them, becoming familiar with them and the work that comes with having them, telling her that part is just as important as the safety of riding .

I often find myself sitting on the couch after Lila goes to bed watching one of Chloe’s reality TV shows, or we’ll both just sit and read.

The more we’ve found ourselves in that position, the more I find us talking about our days.

She’s started sprawling on the couch, her toes just dusting my leg as we talk.

It’s like she wants to be closer but doesn’t want to make the first move, and I’ll be damned if that doesn’t send a little thrill through me.

It takes every fibre of my being to not just grab her feet and pull her closer, or start massaging my thumb up her instep.

The next two and half weeks fly by, and before I know it, it’s Thanksgiving.

While Chloe spends it with her family, Lila and I spend it with Grandma.

It’s the last holiday before she starts treatment, and she decides to go all out.

When we all get home and I’ve tucked Lila into bed, Chloe and I find ourselves in the living room together.

As she reaches for her book beside the couch, I ask, “Can I ask a favour?”

Chloe looks at me, a softness to her expression that once again shows me what an amazing woman she is.

She’s prepared for anything, and I know that no matter what it is I ask, if she’s capable, she’ll do it.

I feel like Chloe would help someone out even if it was a detriment to her, and I just hope that no one in her life has taken advantage of that.

“Of course.”

I grip the back of neck. “Lila asked me to learn how to do braids for her. I was hoping you could teach me. She loved the ones you did for her last week.”

Chloe’s smile is so big it reaches her eyes. “Of course, I’ll teach you. Do you want to watch some how-to videos and maybe practice with some basic braids?”

I nod.

“I’ll be right back,” she says before beelining to her room. She returns with a hair brush, comb, and a few hair ties.

She points to the couch and I sit, and she sits beside me, pulling out her phone and pulling up a video.

As the woman shows how to separate the hair and move the pieces over each other, Chloe sits facing me, doing the same on a small section of her hair, so I can see closer what she’s doing.

When the video’s done, she stands and taps my left knee, and I spread my legs more.

She settles on the ground between them, handing me the supplies she brought out over her shoulder.

“It’s practice time. You’re going to run the brush through my hair and then use the comb to separate it.”

I do as I’m told, maybe taking longer than necessary to brush her hair, enjoying the feeling of the soft strands between my fingers and the way she seems to relax into the couch more and more as I continue to run the brush through her hair.

I grab the comb and divide her hair into three even pieces as much as possible.

“Okay, hair’s divided, what next?”

“You’re going to cross the right piece over the middle one, making sure it’s as snug to the top of the strands as possible, without pulling my hair out,” she says on a laugh.

I do as I’m told, crossing the right piece over the middle and hold them.

“Okay, and now?”

“Now the left piece over the middle, again making sure it’s tight, then you’ll repeat, right then left until you don’t have enough hair to cross.”

Sounds easy enough. I repeat the steps, finding it easier than I thought. I’ve always learned better doing than being walked through something, so being able to put this into practice is nice.

When I finish, I wrap the hair tie around the end, and Chloe grins at me over her shoulder before pushing up and heading down the hall. Her smile is even bigger when she returns.

“You did great, I’d maybe make it a tad tighter, it prevents the smaller hairs from falling out more, but a really good job for your first time.”

Her praise has me fighting a smile. I only want to keep doing things that make her say these kinds of things to me.

I pat the couch between my legs, and she quickly takes her spot back.

I undo the hair tie and run the brush through her hair before parting it and redoing the braid.

We spend the rest of the night like this, she puts some music on and I brush and braid her hair.

I sometimes stop and massage my fingers into her scalp, and her head leans into my touch as her eyes close and soft sounds of pleasure leave her.

Chloe’s done so much for me, between helping out with Lila and providing her a safe place and adult she can feel comfortable around to spending time with Grandma and bringing me snacks at the fire station. I’m glad I can do something for her, even if it’s as small as massaging her head for her.

When she yawns, I brush her hair a few more times and hand her back the supplies.

“You should probably get some sleep,” I say.

She leans her head against my knee, and I instinctively run my hand over her hair. After another yawn, she gets up and smiles at me.

“Have a good night, Everett.”

“You, too, Chloe.”

I think I’m royally fucked when it comes to Chloe Maxwell, because I don’t want her to walk down the hall to her bed. I want to carry her up to mine and wrap my arms around her as I play with her hair and she burrows into me, content and safe.