I shrug like it’s nothing, but a knot tightens my gut. “Children aren’t practical in my world, and I’d never bring one into my life if I couldn’t be devoted. It’s not fair to the child. I know that firsthand.”
“You’re not your mother, Kira.”
“My work is my baby,” I say, my voice hitching.
His gaze intensifies as he looks over my face, and I guess there’s no hiding anything from him. I want kids, but long ago resigned myself to the fact that men don’t see me as marriage material.
“What about you?” I say. “Do you want kids? You’re pretty great with Brett and Liam.”
“I like kids,” he says. “But like you say, sometimes they’re just not practical. My dad was absent. What do I know about being a good role model?”
“You’re not your dad.”
“Touché.” He goes quiet, and his brow furrows.
“You okay?”
“I am,” he says. “Just some work stuff on my mind.”
“Want to talk about it?”
“Boring.”
“Hey, you listened to me talk about my work.”
He shifts to his side and puts his arm under his head. The room is cold, so I take the blankets and pull them to his chest. “My father is breathing down my back.” He goes quiet, then opens his mouth like he wants to say more. Instead, he rolls to his back, shoves his arm under his head, and exhales. I guess whatever his father is breathing down his back about is going to stay between the two of them. I’m not sure why I’m upset that he doesn’t want to open up.
Oh, because you’re invested in him, Kira.
Still, I’ve not told him about the studio. I’ve been keeping it close to my heart, not ready to open up, fearing once I do the floodgates will open and might not close again. It was such a special place for us.
“Parents,” I say and shrug. I glance around Gram’s room and laugh slightly. “I wonder what Gram would think of the two of us in her bed.”
“She just wants you happy, Kira.”
I am happy.
Because of Nate. Because of this B&B. This town. The sense of family.
A storm erupts inside me, and I swallow past the lump in my throat. Tears I fight desperately to hold back pool in my eyes, and I try to squeeze them away.
“We should have a party,” he says.
“A party?” I manage to get out without sounding like I’m about to bungee jump off a bridge without a safety harness.
“A celebration of life, for Gram. I think it might give you the closure you need, and since no one in the town really got to mourn…”
My heart tumbles over the damn bridge, free falling without a net as I lift my head to stare at the man stretched out on my bed, his position relaxed, casual, like he hadn’t just offered me the most precious gift in the world.
How could a girl not fall for him?
Chapter Eighteen
Nate
I fix the toque on Kira’s head as she pulls on her mittens. At least Gram and Kira had the same size feet, and her winter boots fit.
“All set?” I ask the crew.
“Let’s go,” Sam says and opens the back door, just as Brett is ready to knock.
“Hey guys,” I say.
“Who wants to ride with me?” Jason asks as he swings his car keys around his finger.
“Me,” Izzy says.
“Me, too,” Cody answers as he rounds the corner, pulling one of Gram’s toques onto his head.
“Shotgun,” Sam yells.
“I’ll take Kira and the boys. Kira’s car isn’t going anywhere with those tires.”
We all head outside, and the crisp air nips at our skin. Everyone piles into their cars, and I put the crazy carpets the boys brought, along with the ones I found in the shed out back, into the bed of the truck.