Finally (Neighbor from Hell #12) - R.L. Mathewson Page 0,33

double-checked the slot to make sure that the drawer was going to slide in correctly.

“She can’t get up the stairs by herself,” Devin pointed out, picking up the drawer and slid it inside the secret slot that he’d created between the top two drawers.

“True,” T.J. murmured, sounding thoughtful before he asked, “Do we need to finally have that talk?”

“And what talk would that be?” Devin absently asked as he double-checked the thin drawer before he focused on the latches that were going to make this work.

“The one where I tell you that you should cut yourself some slack and finally ask her out.”

“That’s not a choice and you know it,” Devin said, shaking his head as he grabbed the wooden latch that he’d carved last night off his workbench. Sighing heavily, he grabbed a screwdriver and knelt down in front of the bureau so that he could slide it inside its slot to make sure that it blended in well with the design before taking it back out.

“Why not?”

“You know why,” Devin said as he placed the small latch back on his workbench and reached for the small can of stain.

“The kids are older now and they seem to really love her,” T.J. pointed out.

“I made a promise,” Devin said, grabbing the rag and dipping it in the stain so that he could rub it over the latch, making sure that the entire latch was covered before carefully placing it aside to dry.

“And you’ve kept that promise, but I don’t think you realized what you’d be giving up when you made it.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Devin said, because he’d made a promise to his children and he planned on keeping it.

His children came first.

End of story.

He didn’t have time for the drama or bullshit that came with dating or having to worry about his children getting close to a woman only to have her suddenly disappear from their lives when things didn’t work out. Besides, he had enough to deal with right now with work, the kids, and-

“Daddy!” Abbi said, sounding upset as she drew his attention to find her standing at the red line that he’d laid down across the floor when she was a toddler to keep her from entering the shop.

“What’s wrong, baby girl?” Devin asked, wiping his hands clean on a rag as he headed towards his little girl to find out what had her so upset and-

“The mean lady hurt Charlie!”

*-*-*-*

“I’m so sorry. It was an accident,” Kelly said with a sympathetic wince as Charlie struggled to breathe through the pain as she pulled Dustin closer only to have him push her hands away and stand his ground as he glared up at Kelly.

“No, it wasn’t,” Dustin bit out as Charlie gave up trying to pull him closer and wrapped her arm around him.

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it,” Charlie managed to get out as she pulled Dustin closer, afraid that he was going to kick the woman who had “accidentally” kicked the bottom of her foot when she’d taken it upon herself to deliver the junk mail that had piled up in Charlie’s mailbox over the past few days.

“I feel terrible about this,” Kelly said, moving to come closer only to step back when Dustin moved to stop her.

“It’s fine,” Charlie said, biting her lip to stop herself from crying.

“You kicked her! I saw you!” Dustin snapped, trying to push her arm away and leaving Charlie with no choice but to pull him onto her lap before he did something that got him in trouble.

“It was an accident. I didn’t see your foot,” Kelly said with a helpless shrug and since Charlie didn’t believe her, she simply said, “Don’t worry about it,” as she was forced to close her eyes and try to breathe through the pain.

God, this hurt, Charlie thought, slowly exhaling as more pain tore through her foot. A moment later, she felt Dustin pulled off her lap. Afraid that he was going to do something to make this worse, she opened her eyes in time to see Devin hand Dustin over to T.J. before crouching down in front of her and-

“Shhhh, it’s okay,” Devin said as she found herself reaching for him.

He had her in his arms and was pressing a kiss against her forehead before she managed to take her next breath. “What happened?” Devin asked as he carefully set her down on top of her desk.

“It was an accident. I heard Charlie was back and I wanted to see if

readonlinefreenovel.com Copyright 2016 - 2024