Page 37

Chapter thirty-seven

Emmett Foster

I’m about to press another gentle kiss to Hazel’s lips when the back door slams open.

“You kissed!” June shouts the accusation at a decibel reserved for umpires at baseball games.

Hazel quickly moves away. There’s a soft blush staining her cheeks. I bite back a smile at the sight. Hazel shoots me a look like she knows I’m entertained by her embarrassment.

“Yes, we did,” I say to June. No point in trying to lie. I should have been more attentive to our surroundings, but it was difficult to think of that when Hazel just confessed she loved me. My smile breaks free, spreading across my face. Hazel loves me.

“That’s what happens in all the princess movies after they get married! Now that you’re married, can I ask Miss Hazel to be my mommy?” June bounces with each word like she’s still on her trampoline.

“We’re not married yet, sweet pea,” Hazel says. Yet . That word makes my smile grow.

June pouts. “Daddy said I have to be patient, but that’s hard. I want a mommy now.”

Hazel looks at me in confusion.

I sigh and rub the back of my neck. “June asked if you could be her new mommy, and I explained that she needed to wait until you were ready for that. I didn’t think she would bring it up so soon.”

Hazel’s eyes, red from crying earlier, well up again. She lowers down to June’s level and outstretches her arms. June runs into her embrace without hesitation.

“I’m so honored that you want me to be your mommy. I-I don’t know if it’s quite time yet, but maybe soon.”

“That’s okay. I will keep being patient!”

Hazel laughs through her tears. I find my eyes stinging at the sight of them.

“You’re doing so good, June.” She pulls back to look June in the eye. “I would love to be your mommy, because you’re the best little girl in the whole wide world. We just have to wait on a few grown-up things, okay?”

June nods. “Okay.”

Hazel gives her another hug. “Why don’t you go wash up and then you can help me pick out what to cook for dinner?”

My daughter’s eyes light up. “Yes, ma’am!” she says, then runs off toward her bathroom.

Hazel stands, giving me a sheepish look. “I hope I didn’t cross a line. I wasn’t sure how to handle it, but I wanted her to feel loved and wanted.”

I grab her hand and pull her to me. “I don’t want lines. I want us to be tangled up like the yarn you crochet with.” I kiss her temple.

“My yarn is actually very organized–” I give her a look and she laughs. “Okay, okay, I get what you’re saying.” She toys with a button on my henley. “All tangled up, huh?”

There’s a new heat in her eyes that sets me ablaze.

“If we were alone, I’d give you an example,” I say.

She bites her lip and I have to stifle a groan. “We’ll have to make time for that soon.”

“Yes, we will.”

I kiss her just hard enough that it’s a promise of what’s to come. When I pull back and see her pupils dilated and her lips parted, I know I’m not the only one feeling on fire right now.

“Time to play restaurant!” June shouts as she comes barreling in the room.

Hazel laughs. “Later.”

I squeeze her hips. “Later.”

“Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?” Hazel asks, curiosity shining in her green eyes.

“You’ll see when we get there,” I say as I turn the key on the side-by-side I use to get around the property. It rumbles to life beneath us.

Earlier, Hazel went and picked up Raven from a friend’s house. We all had cookies that the girls made together, and now Raven is watching June. Really, they’re watching a movie together, but Raven is ‘in charge’ while we’re gone. Since we’re not even leaving my property, I’m not too nervous about leaving them alone.

June and Raven were both as curious as Hazel, but I wanted Hazel to hear my plan and see what her future home could be without any little spies listening in. So, we’re letting them stay behind while I take Hazel to my parents’ house.

I pull out of the garage and turn to go through the backyard toward the trail that leads to the house I had built for my parents. After earlier today, I’m less anxious about this part, but the nerves are still there. It’s one thing to say we’re all in, it’s another to be it. There’s still a part of me worried I’ll go too far and scare Hazel away, but I have to risk it. Jason is always going on and on about some phrase his old coach used to say: Worth the risk. I know loving Hazel is worth the risk, so I’m going to put aside my fears and commit.

The setting sun paints the trail in hues of gold. Beside me, Hazel’s hair flies around her. She pushes it away with a huge smile that my lips match. I find myself smiling more easily around her. And when she and June are in the same room? I could be mistaken for someone like Jason or Shaw with how wide I grin.

I take a bend a bit faster than usual so that Hazel slides into me. Her laughter floats on the wind. I take one hand off the wheel and wrap my arm around her to hold her close. The drive goes by too fast for my liking. I park in front of a modest brick home with pale yellow shutters and a matching door. I’d forgotten they were that color. Seeing that detail settles the debate in my mind completely.

“Is this your parents’ house?” Hazel asks once I cut the engine.

“For now, yes.”

She turns to look at me, confusion knitting her brows together. I step down off the side-by-side and gesture for her to follow me to the porch. I unlock the front door and hold it open for her to walk in.

“Emmett, what’s going on? Are your parents okay?”

I shut the door behind us. My mom hasn’t been here in weeks, but the house still smells like the cinnamon candles she likes to burn. It’s strange to think that she and my dad won’t live here for the next few months, and not only that, but Hazel and Raven could instead.

“My parents are great. They’re having the time of their lives. I believe they’re gallivanting around Scotland right now.”

I got an email with a photo of my dad in a kilt the other day. Not what I expected nor wanted to see, but it was nice to see him smiling.

“So why are we in their house?”

“What do you think of it?” I ask instead of answering.

She shoots me an exasperated look. “It’s adorable. I love the yellow shutters and the flower beds out front. Now why are we here ?”

“How would you feel about living here?”

She opens her mouth, then shuts it again. “Why are you asking me that?”

I reach out and take her hand. “My parents aren’t going to need this place for a few months. I talked to my mom, and she gave me the go-ahead to offer it to you and Raven.” Hazel’s eyes widen. “Don’t say it’s too much. It’s really for me.”

She raises a brow. “How on earth is giving me a house for you ?”

“I hate your apartment complex,” I say, and she laughs. “Having you here will give me peace of mind. Plus, I’ll get to be with you more often if you’re closer. So, you see, the whole thing is selfish of me, if you think about it.”

“ Selfish ,” she repeats in a skeptical tone.

“I want to see you all the time, Wildflower. Having a thirty-minute drive to your apartment building is too much space.” I step to her and place my hands on her waist. “I don’t want anything between us.”

“You make it difficult to say no,” she says.

“Then say yes. You’ll have your own space, but still be close enough to see me and June as much as you want. Raven will be safe here and can hang out here or at my house while you work.”

“Are you sure that’s okay? I don’t want you to think my attention is compromised if Raven is around while I’m caring for June.”

“I know you better than to think that.” I tuck her hair behind her ear. “Would you like to live here? Don’t think about me, just what you want.”

She closes her eyes. I can sense the war raging within her. I don’t push her; instead, I just wait while she makes her decision. Her eyes blink open.

“I would love to live here.”

I smile and pull her in for a hug. “Thank you. I love you.”

She laughs against my chest. “I’m supposed to be the one thanking you.” Her head tips back. “You don’t know what this means to me. I know that I’m stubborn about accepting help. The fact that instead of giving up, you just try harder–” Her eyes water. “I love you so much.”

“You deserve all of this and more, whether you believe that or not yet.”

I cup her jaw and bend down to kiss her. Our lips meet and everything around us slips away. It’s just Hazel. Her citrus scent, the sweetness of her lips, the feel of her palms sliding up my chest. I let myself sink into the moment and simply be with the woman I love. The one who wanted me when I didn’t know what that felt like. The one who treats my daughter as her own. The one whose soul shines in such a way that it casts light on all she encounters.

My Wildflower.