for a couple minutes and set her mobile to spinning with the music she loved so much. I couldn’t resist giving her a few extra nuzzles. She patted my cheek as if she knew I needed a little extra encouragement to get through the night.
“You’re such a sweet baby girl. Too bad your daddy is so clueless.”
She giggled at me, a drooly fist already headed for her mouth.
“Is that delicious?”
Her giggle intensified.
“How about we go get Sadie?”
Her eyes lit up at the name of her beloved best friend. The baby books said three months wasn’t enough time to understand things like names, but I had a feeling our—his—little girl was going to be far more advanced.
I switched her from her swing to her carseat and doublechecked all her buckles and tucked a blanket around her for warmth. As I rounded the car to the driver’s side, I texted Mason to make sure he was home. He had a small place above the restaurant while he was getting things off the ground.
The trip in from Ryan’s place in Kensington Square to Crescent Cove gave me far too much time to think. It was only a twenty-minute drive, but I usually kept myself busy with chores or work so I didn’t dwell on things too much.
But now?
Now there was nothing but dwelling. Brooks had our entire life mapped out, fictional baby and all. I could so easily let myself get swept away into it. He was right, everything between us was so easy. I was a simple woman who’d always wanted a family.
It seemed like this should just be a natural fit. Until he’d informed me that things were in a perfect line of checkboxes.
Oh, we should just move in together. What? Next, we’d get married on a Wednesday? Just skip over to town hall during our lunch break?
My fingers tightened on the steering wheel.
No ripples. No waves.
Was I supposed to be thankful that someone like Jared wanted me? It was an instant family for me too. Everything I ever wanted. A woman like me who might not have the chance to have a baby should be grateful.
The bones of my knuckles went white against my skin and the leather squeaked.
Check and check.
He could take his checkboxes and shove them up his butt.
“I’m not a checkbox,” I said to the rearview mirror.
Sami waved a hand at me and let out a peal of laughter.
“Damn right.”
I flipped my signal and turned off at Lakeview Road. Dark came quickly this time of year, but The Mason Jar was a beacon along the shoreline. It was lit up for Christmas with a mix of the traditional lights and the very specific mason jar lights he used for everything from the lamps at the front of the building to the custom hurricane lamps he’d had made for the porch and deck along the back.
There was a new addition of a Christmas tree on the front porch. As we pulled into the parking lot, Sami’s attention was riveted on the lights. Ever curious, she flailed with excitement the closer we came to the front.
They were doing a brisk business, but I found a close spot near the building. Instead of lugging in the portable carseat, I grabbed the baby strap-on carrier. Jared had trained her into loving the face out situation, and while her neck wasn’t quite strong enough to wear her that way, she did love the stimulation of looking around.
I got the various Velcros tightened around us both, grabbed her diaper bag, then gave her an up-close view of the fifteen-foot tree on the porch. The scrabble of nails behind me gave me a quick head’s up of Sadie’s presence before she tried to mow me down.
I crouched down so she couldn’t take me out at the knees. She instantly gave me and the baby a tongue bath before she climbed on my knee to get closer to her baby. Because there was no doubt that in Sadie’s mind, that baby was hers.
Mason leaned in the doorway. So similar to his brother and yet miles different. Where Jared could almost look stiff and overbearing sometimes, Mason exuded a chill vibe about ninety percent of the time. In the kitchen, he was a fair bit different, but he was more of a finishing touches and flourishes kind of guy.
He didn’t want to be the chef. He was the one with the vision and more drive than I’d given him credit for. He was the charmer to