Page 3 of Waiting For A Girl Like You (Haven House #4)

“So, ah, Ben’s here.” He stepped closer, snaking an arm around her waist as he ate his popsicle. “And last week, he bought a new grill for the back patio. Maybe we should let him handle dinner while you and I rearrange the furniture in our bedroom.”

“That grill is enormous.” She placed her hands on his chest. “And yes, I want some alone time with you, too, but Benjamin cannot grill. I don’t know if he’s ever even turned a grill on.”

“I bought hamburgers.” Devon gave the popsicle a long lick, hoping the move would seduce her. “He can’t mess up hamburgers.”

“Oh, yes he can.” Simone pressed her lips together as she fought a smile. “He’ll set the whole house on fire.”

Squeezing her butt, he grinned when she giggled, but the sound was drowned out by the chorus of ewws and yucks coming from the side porch.

“Daddy, don’t grab Mama’s booty!” Hands on her hips, Annabeth shook her head at them. “That’s dirty business.”

Holding Annabeth’s popsicle and her own, CeCe rocked vigorously in a side porch rocking chair. “Mama SiSi, you should spank him.”

“Yeah, you should totally spank me,” Devon whispered, finishing off the popsicle in one go. “And then I’ll return the favor.”

His beautiful wife rolled her eyes and elbowed him as if offended. He snatched her close, popping the ice to his lips to run it down the column of her neck. Simone shrieked, the girls gagged, and Devon realized that maybe enjoying this hot summer day wasn’t so bad.

“No!” Livy’s cry of denial echoed out of the forest, and two seconds later, Samuel appeared. The kid was hauling ass, long legs and arms pumping hard as he ran across the yard.

“Patio is base!” Samuel screamed, his foggy glasses half hanging off his face. “Victory is mine!”

Genetics dictated early on that Samuel would be tall like Ben. Once they were grown, he and Selah would be well over six feet, but Samuel would take top billing in the height department.

Livy shot out of the forest next, too far behind to have a chance of winning. “Someone stop him!”

Reaching the patio seconds later, Samuel collapsed. “I win,” he panted up at the sky. Turning his head, he caught sight of Ben coming over. “Oh, hey. I won.”

“I see that.” Taking Jamison from Laura Jean and settling her on his hip, Ben arched an eyebrow at his son. “Don’t you think it’s a little hot to be running?”

Samuel lifted a finger in the air. “I had a point to make.”

Livy gave up, taking her time as she walked over. “I need a popsicle.”

“I got you one,” Evie announced, striding out from the rear kitchen door. The screen slapped shut behind her with a satisfying pop. Crossing the patio, she stepped over Samuel like he was roadkill and casually dropped a popsicle onto his stomach. “And you. It’s blue.”

“I knew you loved me.” Still on the ground, Samuel stripped the paper off the popsicle. “It was only a matter of time.”

Evie turned to kill him with a death stare, but saw Ben standing with her mother, and she instantly turned on the charm. “Ben! You’re home!”

“Hey, kid.” Ben let out an oof when Evie tackled him with a hug. “I missed you, too.”

“Are we grilling tonight?” Devon called over to Ben. “We can make you the chef.”

Ben hesitated. “Um… Sure?”

For a man who ran a corporate empire, it always cracked Devon up how out of sorts Ben became with domesticated things.

“I ain’t eating Ben’s cooking.” Ty rounded the corner from the opposite side of the patio. Dressed in his gardening overalls, he was covered in sweat and dirt. “I’ve worked hard today and don’t want burnt meat as my reward.”

Ben grinned at his friend. “Listen here, asshole.”

“Swear jar,” the kids shouted in unison while Jamison clapped her hands. As the collectors of the swear jar money, every child watched Ben like a hawk, knowing he was the one who provided a guaranteed payout.

“I sure as hell—”

“Swear jar!”

“Can cook a damn hamburger—”

“Swear jar!”

“And not fuck it up.”

“Swear jar!” CeCe squealed, jotting it all down in her notebook. “That’s five, Uncle Ben!”

“The beach arcade in Port Michaelson has a new go-kart track.” Samuel sat up and took a huge bite of his popsicle, chewing the hunk of ice mercilessly. “If you keep talking, Dad, we’re going to have enough money for all of us to race together.”

Ben’s eyes narrowed at the mini-version of himself. “Very funny.”

“Fine, Ben can cook them.” Ty wagged a finger at Devon. “But Devon has to season the meat and supervise the grilling.”

“And there goes our alone time,” Simone whispered under her breath. “Told you.”

She gave him a parting kiss, leaving him for her shaded spot on the porch. Officially grumpy, Devon called Selah and Samuel over. “Finish cleaning up.”

The boys whined but did the chore while Ben took Laura Jean and Jamison inside with Evie right behind them.

Oddly enough, Toby remained outside, sitting next to his sisters and Annabeth.

Once Selah and Samuel had the science experiment boxed up, Devon sent the boys into the house to put everything away while he went to join his wife in the rockers.

“Annabeth, go on and tell your brother to take his shower,” Simone said when he approached. “Then get your things to go next.”

With so many kids packed into one house, alphabetical shower order was the only thing keeping chaos at bay .

“Okay, Mama.” Annabeth trotted off to do as she was told. Where Abe’s head was firmly planted in the clouds, Annabeth was the grounding force between them, keeping her brother in check.

Most of the time, anyway.

Devon took the open chair beside Simone and laced his fingers with hers as they rocked slowly. CeCe and Toby swayed with them while Livy leaned against one of Haven’s white columns, watching the sky’s changing colors as sunset approached.

“Do you think we’ll have enough money in the swear jar to go go-kart racing?” Livy asked.

Ty wandered over, leaning on the opposite column across from Livy. “Hell, yeah, we will.”

The kids giggled, and Devon shared a grin with Simone.

“I don’t know why the hell y’all are laughing,” Ty went on, stoking the fire. “If you get me out on that track, I’m going to whoop all y’all’s as—”

“That’s enough,” Simone warned her brother. “Go inside and make sure no one is causing problems.”

Ty mumbled as he left, but stopped before completely disappearing around the corner. “Asses!”

The girls burst into loud laughter, with even Toby joining in.

“So bad.” Simone acted shocked, her delicate fingers at her throat. “Someone should put him in a time-out.”

“Or ground him,” Toby replied, his voice a little louder. “Get it. Ty likes to garden, so we ground him.”

CeCe and Livy laughed at their brother’s joke, making him beam with pride.

Devon caught Simone’s eye, and she nodded.

They had been told time and again how Toby’s behavior was self-induced, and while Devon agreed, there was something else at play.

Something that needed to be nurtured and not left alone to manifest into what might eventually become a problem.

He hated to say it, but they were already seeing such manifestations in his attachment to Evie.

The fact that Toby was sitting outside without her was a feat in itself.

Working as a teacher, he had seen similar behaviors in a few students, and attachment issues usually went one of two ways.

The child grew out of it, or the attachment shifted to something darker, functioning almost like an addiction until a new fixation was found.

Off near the bayou, Rebecca exited her cottage, locking the door behind her. All at once, her children went to the edge of the porch, waving as she cut across the lawn to her car parked out front. “Hey, Mama!” they chorused.

“Uncle Ben is making hamburgers,” Livy called out. “Do you want to eat dinner with us?”

Rebecca didn’t even pause. “Not tonight, baby. I’m meeting Daddy at his friend’s house.”

“We’re going go-kart racing!” CeCe shouted, wrapping her arms around a column so she didn’t fall off the porch. “You wanna race me?”

“Maybe.” Rebecca made it to her car, wiggling her fingers at her children. “I’ll see you later.”

Devon remained quiet, as did Simone, and they waited while Rebecca’s children watched her drive off yet again without them. The older they got, the harder it was to make excuses. And once the dust settled from her departure, Simone cleared her throat.

“I believe we were discussing go-kart racing.”

Livy plopped down in the rocking chair beside Toby while CeCe crawled into Simone’s lap, the happy afternoon lost.

“Hey, none of that now,” Devon said gently when CeCe started sucking her thumb. “There’s no need to be sad.”

A sniffle came from Livy. “I don’t think she likes us.”

“She loves you,” Simone assured her. “It’s just that your mama is in a… funk.”

It was rare to see his wife struggle to find the right words, and Devon swooped in to save her. “Your mom does love you. She’s your family.”

“But why can’t we be like your family?” Toby whispered. “What’s wrong with us?”

“Like our family?” Simone placed her finger under Toby’s chin, forcing him to meet her gaze. “You are our family, Tobias. All three of you are our family.”

Livy shook her head. “But—”

“No, buts,” Devon cut her off. “And I’m going to tell you something my mom told me when I was a kid. You see, we didn’t have any blood relatives when I was growing up. It was just me, my mama, my mama’s friends, and their kids.”

“Like here?” CeCe’s big brown eyes blinked in awe. “Just like us? ”

“Well, the apartment complex I lived in wasn’t as nice as Haven House, but the friends we made there were very similar to what we have here, and you know what, our time with them taught me a valuable lesson.”

“And what was that, Mr. Howard?” Simone asked, rocking in her chair again as she cradled CeCe. Livy and Toby followed her lead, rocking as they settled in to listen.