Page 27 of Meant for Me (Magnolia Bay #3)

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A h, finally. Linc closed his eyes and drew a deep breath of metal, sweat, and chalk. Home . His workout routine had been off, to say the least, since the sudden arrival of two women in his house.

He had a lot of reps to catch up on.

Thunder rumbled overhead. While today’s storm was frustrating in that it canceled one of the tours he desperately needed, it also provided a chance to kill a few birds with one stone—or rather, kettlebell.

He shot a glance at Amelia, whose tangled mane was pulled up in a ponytail.

She planted her hands on her skinny, shorts-clad hips as she cast a dubious look around the gym, surprisingly vacant for a Saturday afternoon.

At least there wouldn’t be a lot of witnesses for this potential train wreck.

Of course, that all depended on how Amelia and Zoey worked out.

“Why are we here, again?” Amelia asked.

Because his mental health was tanking under all this recent stress? Because if he didn’t lift something heavy, he might actually lose his mind? Because Zoey had told him about her and Amelia’s museum talk yesterday, and challenged Linc to initiate doing things with Amelia? Pick a reason.

Not that he could say most of those without throwing Zoey under the bus.

“Because I’m going to show both of you a healthy way of taking out frustration.

” Linc pointed at Amelia. “And it’s not by running away or slamming your door every time you don’t get your way.

” He then swiveled to point at Zoey. “And it’s not by pretending that you’re not frustrated in the first place. ”

“The door thing works fine for me,” Amelia whispered to Zoey, who grinned as she dropped a backpack on the bench by the door. The two of them had been all giggly since yesterday’s field trip, a fact that made him happy and also incredibly jealous. Why did she trust Zoey so much more?

“Don’t mind him. He just wants to show off.” Zoey, wearing a tank top and running shorts, stage-whispered back, making sure Linc heard.

He tried to scowl again as he headed onto the matted floor, but she wasn’t far off from the truth.

Okay, maybe she was completely on target.

Still, what he said was true too. It’d been five days since Amelia had started school, and she still grumbled that she didn’t have any real friends.

That the homework was harder than in Lafayette.

That she didn’t know her way around town.

None of which seemed true, as she yammered on about some kid named Sarah regularly, could easily get to Chug a Mug and Magnolia Blossom, and had A’s so far in her classes.

He was starting to think teenagers just enjoyed complaining.

“What do those do?” Amelia poked at the J-cups mounted on the tall steel rig.

“They let you adjust the height of your bar on the rack.” He pointed across the gym, to the barbells resting in their stands. “You won’t be doing any of that today. Not on day one.”

Though the idea did sound fun. Get his kid interested in fitness, share the hobby. Teach her how to power clean, squat snatch. There was something so empowering about throwing around a few hundred pounds when life felt out of control.

He figured they could all use a bit of that power lately. “Remember when we talked about endorphins?” he asked.

Amelia scrunched her face. “Is this about to be a science lesson? Because it’s Saturday.”

He ignored that. “Endorphins are proteins in your brain. They make you happy.”

“And exercising gives you those?” Amelia looked doubtful.

“They really do.” Zoey began bunching her hair into a ponytail. “I promise.”

Amelia shrugged. “Okay. If you say so.”

“Let’s do it then.” Amelia cracked her knuckles. “Hand me a bar.”

“In this family, pushups always come first.” Zoey dropped to the mats on her hands and knees. “Come on, might as well get this over with.”

She’d said family . A knot pressed against his throat, and he coughed. Man, he’d been living with women too long if he was getting this sappy over a single word.

But it took a bit of the sting off Amelia’s lack of trust in him, compared to her obvious trust in Zoey. They were a family—and the reason they’d even started this unlikely unit in the first place was paying off. Further confirmation that he needed Zoey in his life.

In their lives.

Though after that whole bus slip-up, he still needed to keep his guard up with Zoey, keep as much distance as the same household would allow.

Kind of hard when they were supposed to be in love in front of Amelia.

Amelia reluctantly knelt beside Zoey and mirrored her position. Both of their forms were terrible, but it made them think they were actually doing a pushup, so he let it go. Never mind the fact their chests were a mile away from the mat.

“He has…to do them…too.” Amelia gasped as her thin arms wobbled.

Zoey shifted into a knee pushup. “Try these.”

They actually had the right form that time. Linc moved into position next to Zoey, set himself into a plank, and then casually stuck his left arm behind his back. Pushed up on just his right. It took three reps before they noticed.

“A one-arm pushup?” Zoey shoved back on her heels, out of breath. “Oh my gosh.”

“What are you?” Amelia scowled. “Alien?”

He sat up, chest on fire, refusing to show it. He shrugged. “Do more pushups, you’ll get there.”

Zoey tilted her head. “Not sure that’s a personal goal of mine.”

“Bet he can’t do a handstand pushup.” Amelia’s dark brows shot up in challenge. “I saw that on YouTube.”

He winced. “You’re probably right.”

She wasn’t.

He walked to the nearest clear piece of wall, making a show of looking confused. “So I just, like, what? Flip into a handstand?”

“Yeah, and then do a pushup while you’re upside down.” Amelia stood to join him, folded her arms. “If you can, anyway.”

“Like this?” He easily launched into a handstand, feet smacking the wall. He pulled his legs straight up, no longer using the wall for balance, and, bracing his wrists, dipped into a pushup. Two. Three.

His pecs were on fire, his shoulders lit up, but the upside-down, shocked expression on his daughter’s face made his inevitable ice bath later worth it.

“Maybe I’ll do a few more pushups after all,” Amelia mumbled under her breath as she walked back to her mat, but not before he caught the awe in her eyes.

“Well done, Super-Dad.” Zoey joined him as he stood upright, lowering her voice, her own gaze lit with admiration. Over his actual pushup, or the way he’d impressed his daughter, he wasn’t sure.

Hopefully both.

“My cape’s at the cleaners.” The blood rushed out of his head, and he steadied himself on the wall. Or maybe that was a rush from the look Zoey gave him.

“Wow, you’re actually cracking jokes. The gym does make you happy.”

So did she.

Zoey looked over her shoulder at Amelia, who was cranking out a few knee pushups with surprising speed. “Any more phone calls from Ms. Bridges?”

He rested one shoulder against the wall. “Not since the last one you knew about.”

Ms. Bridges checked in semi-weekly, but hadn’t had any further updates on Kirsten.

But this past call, she’d started throwing around court terminology.

He’d hidden in the pantry on the phone, facing a row of canned vegetables and lowering his voice to a whisper.

“Amelia’s not ready for permanent. There’s no reason to rush this. ”

Ms. Bridges had hummed under her breath. “Amelia’s not ready, or you’re not?”

“ She’s not.” He’d hissed. “Making this official in court with her mom still MIA would spook her. Poke the bear.”

The bear being, of course, the hormonal teenager who alternated between sitting between him and Zoey on the couch at night, laughing at sitcom reruns, and slamming her door hard enough to shake the house when she got upset.

“I understand. But sometimes what’s best for Amelia isn’t what’s easiest.”

Linc sighed. “Am I legally at risk of losing her if I don’t take this step soon?”

“Possibly.” Ms. Bridges’ voice pitched with concern. “It just depends on when—or if—Ms. West returns, and what she is willing to do when she does.”

So, once again, everything was up to Kirsten. Linc pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t want to mess this up—we’re finally on the same page, the three of us.”

“Getting married was a smart move,” Ms. Bridges said. “It’ll look good to the judge if this ends up in a trial of some kind.”

His heart lurched. “You think that will happen?”

“Unlikely. Though, unfortunately, I’ve been in this industry long enough to know to expect anything. Especially the worst.”

Hadn’t they all had enough of that? So now he had a decision to make about a court hearing. Should he move forward now and risk losing the progress they’d made with Amelia? Or risk losing her in a different way if Kirsten showed back up again?

“Can I try next?” Zoey’s voice jerked him back to the gym, to the hope in her eyes as she eyed the wall behind him.

He scoffed. “Are you crazy? You can’t even do a regular pushup.”

“Spot me.”

Before he could agree—or, more likely, protest—she kicked up into a handstand.

Or rather, a handstand attempt. Her bottom end slammed into the wall with more force than she intended, and her legs crumpled instead of shooting up.

One sneaker clocked Linc in the jaw, and he stumbled back, reaching at the last minute to steady her.

But she took them both down.

They landed with a heap on the mats, his fall slightly more controlled than hers. She flipped onto her side, face flushed red and laughing. “Did that count?”

He lay on his back next to her, rubbing his jaw. It clicked. “Definitely did not.”

She inched closer to him, propping up on her elbow, still giggling. Her ponytail flopped over her shoulder, and her eyes lit with laughter as she looked down at him. “I should at least get points for bravery.”

Linc started to respond with sarcasm, but something about the way she hovered over him, that light in her gaze, the genuine joy—the real stuff, not that manufactured, forced rainbow crap—stopped him.

Still lying flat, he reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear instead. “I think you’re one of the bravest people I know.” Aye . So much for distance.

Zoey’s eyes widened, and her bubbling smile dialed to a simmer. Her gaze studied his, more seriously this time, and he forced himself not to look away, not to hide. She deserved the compliment, plain and simple.

Deserved a lot more, actually.

“Thank you.” The words were a whisper on her lips, and he wanted to catch them with his own. He’d kissed her at the courthouse, yeah, but that hadn’t counted. He’d made sure. Because he’d promised nothing would change. Nothing could change.

Yet right now, he suddenly wanted everything to change.

They held eye contact. His breath hitched. Her eyes darted to his mouth. Then?—

“Look!” Amelia shouted from across the floor. “I’m doing it.”

They craned their heads in time to see her perform a perfectly executed pushup.

“Nice job!” Zoey hopped to her feet, clapping. “You’ll be ready for that handstand way before I am.”

Linc ambled to his feet, a little more slowly. His jaw throbbed, but it was a mild inconvenience compared to the sudden ache in his chest. What had just happened? What had he almost let happen?

The excitement lingering on Amelia’s face as Zoey congratulated her reminded him what they were really there for—her.

The last thing Amelia, or Zoey for that matter, needed was for Linc to take stupid risks with their family.

If Zoey had expected more in their marriage, she’d have made that clear.

It was up to him to hold to what he promised.

They’d stay best friends and raise his daughter together, without pressure or expectation for anything more.

Because in Linc’s experience, more always led to less .

“Did you see that?” Zoey called to him, ponytail swishing as she pointed to Amelia. Her eyes lit with pride, and his heart twisted. Losing Zoey wasn’t an option. He’d rather keep her forever as just a friend than risk not having her at all. A brief moment of chemistry wasn’t worth everything else.

Linc nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Sure did.” He watched his daughter attempt a one-arm pushup and chuckled as she nearly face-planted on the black mat. Looked like he lived with two brave women.

He drew a breath. Maybe it was time to call Ms. Bridges back.

Because at this point, he couldn’t bear to lose either of them.