Page 146

What a day.

What a life.

“I still can’t believe I own a bookstore,” I say.

“I still can’t believe my grand plan worked,” Travis admits.

I chuckle as I squeeze his arm to my chest and lay my head on his shoulder. “There were a few things holding me back, but when I told Mandy I filed the papers, she said something that stuck with me.”

“Wait a minute. You told Mandy ?”

I snag my bottom lip between my teeth and scrunch up my nose with a little bit of guilt.

“And you still made me fake it with you?”

I nod. “I was testing the waters. Making sure it was what I really wanted.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “So you filed the papers even though you weren’t sure?”

I blow out a breath. “Full disclosure, I asked Allen to hold onto the papers for a bit before sending them along to the court.”

His eyes turn to saucers as his jaw drops. “You did what?”

I scrunch my nose some more, and he just shakes his head.

“Full disclosure…so did I,” he admits.

I gasp with a side of extra dramatics. “What?”

He chuckles. “I knew I needed to buy a little more time since I was putting it all on the line with the store, so I asked him for a month. I needed to give you your dream. I needed to prove to you that I’m not your ex. I needed to show you that this is the life meant for you, and it won’t always be easy and yeah, usually the paparazzi kind of suck, but we can find ways to use them to our advantage and we can build whatever life we want together.”

Tears heat my eyes at his words.

“Now tell me what Mandy said.”

I laugh and brush away a tear that splashes onto my cheek. “She asked me what my dream really was, and I’ve been contemplating that a lot over the last couple weeks. I think she made me see that the job at the district office wasn’t really my dream. I just want to help kids learn to love reading, and I got to do that with Harper. I was starting to believe that was enough. But then today, when you were on that stage and you admitted your disorder to the entire world and told them it was me who helped you…” I pause as I shake my head, and I brush another tear away. They’re coming faster now.

He leans over and kisses one away, too.

“I guess in that moment, I realized that you are my dream. I was letting everything else get in my head. I was running scared. I kept thinking about the communication issues, but that’s something we both need to work on. I need to be more understanding that when you’re away, you might not have the chance to get in touch. I need to remember that this is new for you, and we’re both just doing our best.”

“For what it’s worth,” he says quietly, pressing a kiss to my temple in between his words, “you are always on my mind and in my heart whether we’re together or apart.”

More freaking tears. I brush those away, too, and I draw in a fortifying breath. “I kept thinking your pattern is one and done, and eventually you’ll move on from me. But you haven’t. You bought me a freaking bookstore. You created a safe place for me to help more kids than I ever would’ve been able to help at the district position. You’ve given me the family I’ve always dreamed of. But more than that, you kept fighting for me. You didn’t give up on me even when I was so sure it was over, when I kept telling you it was over, and I think that is what I needed from you all along.”

He drops his lips to mine, and our sweet reunion is interrupted by a loud crash at the bottom of the stairs.

“Whoops!” Harper yells, and then she dashes into the family room squealing. “Put on the news!”

Travis sits up to grab the remote, and he turns the television on. He navigates to the local news channel, and it’s on commercial.

We both look over at her.

“They said something’s coming up about our bookstore,” she says breathlessly, and she rubs her elbow a little.

“Why are you watching the news?” Travis asks. He eyes her warily. “And are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She giggles. “I heard someone say this will be all over the news, so I checked it out and I saw there’s a segment coming up.”

When the program returns from commercial, Denise Fields starts in on our segment. She’s standing outside our store, and it’s dark since it’s nighttime now, but the neon sign with our store name shines brightly behind her. “It was a star-studded event and an apparent surprise as Vegas Aces wide receiver Travis Woods surprised his wife and daughter with their very own bookstore. Harts & Harps Book Nook specializes in everything from steamy romance to children’s books with a special section dedicated to helping kids who struggle with reading.”

The program cuts to footage of Travis on the stage. “This is so much more than a bookstore, though. It’s a place where adventure awaits in every nook and every corner.”

Denise’s voice picks up the story from there as the video pans around different areas of our very crowded store. She talks about some of the different features of the store, and the segment fills me with excitement and hope and love. “Store owner Victoria Hartley’s background as a reading specialist will enable her to create specialized programs for kids to learn to love to read, and I for one think this is something Las Vegas will really benefit from. Back to you in the studio.”

Travis squeezes my knee, and Harper squeals.

“That’s ours!” she yells. She does a little twirl. “That’s our store!”

She’s as excited as I am about it, and the realization pulses inside me that he didn’t just do this for me. He didn’t just do this for Harper. He didn’t just do this to win me back or whatever.

There’s a lot more to it.

He did it for our family.

His last day off is Tuesday, and the plan is to spend the entire day at the store. He’s told me several times that I can spend as much or as little time as I want there, and I want to spend it all there.

But I also don’t want to leave Ellie hanging.

I have a tentative plan.

I take Tuesday off from working at PCPR so I can spend the day with Travis at our store. It’s his last official day off—his suspension is over now, but the Aces don’t practice on Tuesdays, so he’s spending the day with me while Harper is at school. Tomorrow is his first day back, and I can sense his excitement over everything.

Not just the store, but the fact that he gets to play again. He’s been waiting for this moment for three weeks, and he’s nearly giddy with excitement. I’m giddy with excitement over the store, and it’s just all-around giddiness in the Woods household.

And that reminds me.

After we drop Harper at school and we’re on our way toward H and H, as I’ve already affectionately nicknamed it, I bring it up. “You know how I said I wanted to change my last name to Woods?” I begin.

He nods.

“There are many reasons why I want to do that, but there’s one that stands out sort of above the others.”

“And that is…?” He flips his signal and turns down the street our store is on. The fact that he kept this secret from me still completely blows my mind.

“My last name should reflect my family situation. And you are my family. You are my husband.”

He glances over at me and grabs my hand in his, and he brings my knuckles to his lips. His beard is still a little overgrown, and the scruff there tickles me. “You are my wife. And I can’t wait to show you how you’re my one and only in your brand-new office again.”

I shift a little in my seat as his words hit their intended target. “Before we get into all that, I have a question. Have you thought about having your daughter share your last name, too?”

His brows dip as he clears his throat a little. “I guess I’ve thought a little about it,” he admits.

“Have you asked her about it?”

He shakes his head.

“I’ve gotten to know her pretty well, you know. And I think she might even want your last name.”

“Has she said that?”

I shake my head. “No, she hasn’t. But if the reason I want to take your last name is because it reflects my family situation, then I think changing hers would do the same. I know this is still relatively new for her, but this is her reality now. It’s been six months since she moved here with you, and it might be time to say goodbye to the past, to use that symbol to really transition into the family we’ve become.”

“I’ll talk to her about it. I like the idea, but I don’t want to pressure her or do anything too soon. You know?”

I squeeze his hand since he’s still holding mine. “I know. And I think you’re an incredible dad for recognizing that.”

“I think you’re an incredible mom, too.”

My eyes widen at his words.

I’ve never thought of myself as Harper’s mom. I’m a mother-figure to her, maybe. An adult she can trust. A teacher.

But her mom?

I’ll never replace her mom, but if I’m married to her dad, well…I guess that makes me her stepmom. Officially.

How have I not even thought of that fact until now?

It sort of blows my mind.

We arrive at the store, and it’s empty. We still have about ninety minutes before employees start showing up, and Travis introduces me to every single corner of the place.

He makes good on his promise to show me I’m the only one in his heart in my office.

And up against the spicy books section.

It sort of gives that section a whole new meaning.

We’re fully dressed and back to being professional when the first employee shows up, the store manager Travis hired. The business manager stops in, too, a friend recommended highly by Allen, and we have a quick meeting before the day gets underway.

We have ham and cheese croissants for lunch from the café, and we walk around with coffee as we take it all in. There’s a steady stream of customers throughout the day, and we’ve already had several inquiries about our reading programs.

It looks like all those plans I had to improve the program at Stratford Elementary are going to come in handy here in our new store.

I talk with Ellie and rearrange my schedule to make it part time. The store doesn’t open until ten anyway, so my new routine will be dropping Harper at school, going to Ellie’s until lunchtime, and then heading to the store to work for a few hours before I have to pick up Harper.

And then Harper and I will head back to the store for homework and our after-school programs. The official schedule will be released next month as I gain my footing and come to terms with this new reality, and I could not be more excited for what the future holds for us.