will fix her something yummy. Want to help me cook her some breakfast?”
Lizzie claps and jumps up and down on his chest. He doesn’t seem fazed in the slightest. “Pancakes!”
Walker laughs. “Mommy likes pancakes or Lizzie likes pancakes?”
Lizzie just nods, making me giggle. Truth is, pancakes are her favorite, which in turn makes them my favorite too. Watching the sheer elation in her eyes as she devours a syrupy, fluffy pancake is the best feeling.
“Let’s go make Mommy some breakfast, Lou,” Walker says, turning and sliding off the couch. Before he gets up completely, he turns and faces me. “Good morning, Mal.” His warm lips brush against my forehead as he adds, “Go shower before breakfast.”
Then he’s up and moving, his big arms holding my greatest treasure in the world, as they disappear into the kitchen. I stare at where they stood moments ago, trying to wrap my head around the fact I’ve let a man into not only my life, but my daughter’s. I swore I’d never do it again, never risk seeing the hurt and pain in her eyes. Yet here I am, standing back while Walker tears down every wall I carefully constructed over the last year.
The crazy part is, I’m not afraid. Sure, I’m a little worried about letting Lizzie form a bond to the man who could as easily walk out of my life as he walked in, but I’m not afraid of the feelings he evokes. In just a short amount of time, I’ve learned to trust a man again, enough with my daughter. And not just him, but his friends too.
Listening to the sound of cabinets opening and closing, of Lizzie talking about her favorite princess movie, hearing the happiness in Walker’s laughter has my eyes burning with unshed tears. I don’t let them fall though. I’ve cried enough over the last year, and now isn’t the time for it.
Now, I need to get in the shower, because my daughter and the man who is making himself comfortable in our life asked me to.
As I make my way to the bathroom, stopping in my empty bedroom to grab some clothes, there’s a smile on my lips. A real, honest smile. One that gives me hope and fills my heart with something I haven’t felt in so damn long.
Faith.
Chapter Fifteen
Walker
As I watch her eat her second pancake, a crazy idea fills my head. At first, I tried to dismiss it, but the thought just wouldn’t go away. In fact, the more I contemplated it, the calmer I felt.
“Go with me to lunch at my aunt’s house.”
There. Said it.
Her eyes are wide as they meet mine from across the table. “What?” she asks, her mouth full of fluffy pancakes.
“We get together every Sunday at my great-aunt’s house. There’s only a few of us, but she cooks up a storm of some of the best food you’ll ever eat,” I tell her, taking a sip of my coffee. I found an old pot in the back of her cabinet, and after a little cleaning, was able to brew a pot with the old ground beans left in the fridge. It’s not the best, but it’ll do in a pinch.
She glances at Lizzie, who’s shoveling another bite of breakfast in her mouth, syrup dripping down her chin. “Is that a good idea?”
I shrug. “Why not? You gotta eat, right?”
She seems to be contemplating, while she plays around with the food on her plate with the fork. “Can I ask you a question?” Her words are soft and full of vulnerability.
“Of course.”
“Why do you want us to go? Honestly.”
I meet her gaze and speak from the heart. “Because my family would love you and Lizzie. Because you don’t have a lot of people in your corner, and you would from the moment they meet you. Because I’ve never taken a woman to meet my family, and for the first time in my life, I want to have someone there with me. You’re the one I want there. Well, besides maybe Scarlett Johansson, but she’s always so busy.”
A slow smile spreads across those beautiful lips. The ones I’ve dreamed about kissing more often than not anymore. Yet, I can’t seem to just do it. I don’t know why, but I know kissing Mallory will be a turning point for me. There’ll be no going back. There will simply be a before Mallory and an after, like those major life-changing events you read about in the history books. She’s my