The Bookstore on the Beach - Brenda Novak Page 0,101
in the lot, and the ring of your phone led me right to you.”
It was also the spot where he’d brought her. “Did you walk over?” She was wearing yoga pants and a T-shirt with flip-flops, so he knew she’d been home.
“No. I have my car. I’ve been all over town—”
“The fundraiser was a lot of work,” he interrupted. “I’m sorry about that.”
“It wasn’t because of the fundraiser. I was looking for you.”
He bit back a groan. “Autumn, I’m not in the mood to talk. I know what you’re going to say, and you don’t need to bother. I understand that you’ve been through a lot with the loss of your husband. And I appreciate all you’ve done for my mother. Truly. I meant it when I thanked you at the fundraiser. But the past few years haven’t been that kind to me, either, and...if you’re not ready to give me a real shot, I understand. I was wrong to push you.”
“You’ve written me off that easily?”
He felt his eyebrows come together. “You’ve made it clear that’s what you want me to do.”
“What if I’ve changed my mind?”
He was excited by the thought that she might’ve done just that but leery at the same time. He didn’t want to get his hopes up again. He needed peace and calm, not to step onto another emotional hand grenade. “I’d ask if you were sure,” he said. “Because my heart’s already been put through a meat grinder. I can’t sign up for more of the same—not with my mother dying. And...”
“And?” she echoed.
“And not with someone I want as badly as you,” he admitted.
Stepping closer, she rose up on tiptoe and pecked his lips. “I just...panicked, Quinn. It frightened me that I could care for you so quickly and so easily when, as happy as I was with Nick, it should’ve been hard. And I don’t want to do anything that might hurt my kids. But my mother made a good point in the car tonight.”
He resisted the urge to pull her into his arms, was still afraid to trust her sudden reversal. “What was it?”
“She said you’re a good man. And the love of a good man is hard to come by.”
He allowed himself to reach up and trace the side of her face with his finger. “How do I know you won’t bail out on me again?”
“I guess there are no guarantees, for either one of us, but it might be reassuring to know I’ve already told my kids about you.”
Shocked, he stepped back. He’d liked everything she’d said so far, but this is what really gave him hope. “You did? When?”
“On the way home from the fundraiser. Caden was telling me how you played volleyball with him all morning the other day. And Taylor said she liked you, too, and that she felt bad for what was happening to your mother. So I took the opportunity to tell them that you’d asked me out.”
He felt a smile coming on. “What’d they say?”
“It was a little awkward, I’m not going to lie,” she replied with a nervous laugh. “They aren’t used to thinking about their mother dating, especially when there’s no closure with their dad. But my mother was in the car with us, which helped. She said that I’d done all I could do to find Nick, that they’d be leaving home soon and there wasn’t any reason for me to be alone.”
“In other words, she used guilt to get them to agree,” he said wryly.
“A little, I guess. This kind of transition is never easy, so I don’t think it’s fair to expect it to be. But I’m hoping it’ll be worth it, for all of us. They said they want me to go out with you if that’s what I want to do.”
He thought of what Caden had told him about Taylor. Autumn hadn’t mentioned the pregnancy. But he wasn’t about to bring it up right now. “Do you think they were being sincere?”
“I hope so. Either way, seeing you won’t stop me from continuing to be a good mother. I’m just going to remember that and take them at their word.”
Pulling her against him, he kissed her before tucking her head under his chin and simply holding her. His mother was still dying of cancer. Continuing to watch her suffer was one of the most difficult things he’d ever experienced. But having Autumn in his arms somehow made everything easier. “I’ll treat them right,” he said.