the only word their daughter knew so far.
“You had bananas last night,” Diane told her. “You’re banana-crazy. Here. There’s some squash.”
“Dat!” Mackenzie said louder. She struggled as Kai attempted to put her in the highchair.
“You rushed home for this?” Diane opened the fridge and found the cooked squash.
“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I’ll take care of her breakfast.” One arm looped around Diane’s waist as he took the plastic container from her hand.
“Good luck,” she teased, although she knew Kai would have Mackenzie eating even her least favorite food within a matter of minutes. He was talented in that department.
While Kai edged the baby spoon into Mackenzie’s mouth in between giggles, Diane made a smoothie for the two adults.
It was a comfortable routine, made slightly different each morning due to Kai’s traveling for work and Mackenzie’s rapid growth. Not long after everything went down that fateful morning in Diane’s New York apartment, her dad had finalized the handover of Johansen Design and found a cottage by the beach.
The town he’d picked was a small one on the Gulf Coast, with shops in walking distance and lots of retired people and young families, including Diane’s cousin and her kids. It had only taken one trip, to help her parents move in, for Diane to fall in love with the place.
And she hadn’t even had to ask Kai about it. Before she brought up moving there full-time, he found a house and made an offer. The home was much larger than anything they needed, with seven bedrooms and eight bathrooms.
“Just in case,” Kai had said.
She had the sense he meant just in case they had more kids. Which was never off the table. Mackenzie was the shining light in their lives, and Diane could only imagine life getting better the more little ones they had around.
As fortune had it, the little town they’d relocated to was big on supporting local artists. Diane had already done a mural downtown and now was in the middle of painting one in the coffee shop.
With her parents nearby, an adorable daughter and wonderful, supportive boyfriend, days spent painting and lounging at the beach, she could think of little else she needed. Well, except for one thing…
When they first got back together, she and Kai had talked about marriage. It was always a “someday” thing, and nothing to be rushed. As the months went on, the craziness of life took over. Diane’s parents moved. Her pregnancy advanced and she and Kai relocated to Florida a few months before Mackenzie was born. Kai got into the groove of traveling up and down the East Coast.
The whole marriage talk had quickly gone to the back burner. At this point, it had been nearly a year since they’d discussed it—which Diane realized when Kai informed her they’d been in Florida for about that long.
Did he even think about marriage anymore?
It wasn’t like it was the biggest deal. Diane knew how fortunate she was, and a ring and a piece of paper wouldn’t change how much Kai loved her and their daughter.
There was something about the concept, though, that really got to her. She’d never been wedding- or boy-crazy, but when she’d imagined her future growing up she had definitely seen a strong relationship solidified by matrimony. It was the one streak of old-fashioned thinking she probably had in her.
“That looks done to me,” Kai said, breaking into her thinking.
“Huh?” Diane hit the stop button on the blender so she could hear him better.
From where he sat in front of Mackenzie’s highchair, he nodded at the blender. “The smoothies. You’ve been blending them for a long time.”
“Oh. Right.” She shook her head. “I was lost in thought.”
“Anything you want to share?”
“Nothing important,” she said with forced cheerfulness. She used the opportunity to get two glasses to turn her back to him so he couldn’t see her face.
When she handed Kai his smoothie, he was busy cleaning Mackenzie up, completely oblivious to any changed mood.
“When are your parents coming over?” he asked.
“Dad said noon. We’re grilling out.”
“Sounds great.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’m gonna pop in the shower and then I’ll take my munchkin for a walk.”
Even though it was Diane’s day off, the morning was still busy. The nanny didn’t come in till the next day, and there were veggies to slice and meats to marinate. Kai took the baby for a stroll downtown, and Diane laid everything out for grilling by the pool.
The pool was, hands