Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 73963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73963 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 370(@200wpm)___ 296(@250wpm)___ 247(@300wpm)
“Stalker.”
“No, I love you, and I know you love me, too. You don’t get to leave me, Wills.”
“Back at you. No more scaring me like this.”
“Deal.”
“Are you going to ski again?”
“Oh, yeah.” I grin at her and squeeze her hand. “And maybe, one day, I’ll get you up there, too. There’s nothing to be afraid of.”
She nods and then purses her lips as if she’s thinking about something serious.
“What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”
“You’re an intimidating man, Max. What can I possibly give to you that you don’t already have?”
I smile. “A daughter.”
***
“I can’t believe that Jenna and Christian got married on a Wednesday,” Alex says. “I mean, who does that?”
“They wanted to be unique,” Willa says.
“It’s cool that I got to stay home from school so I could go to the wedding.”
The reception is over, and everyone has left, including the crew that came in to clean up.
My sister and Christian got married today, only four days late, exactly the way Jenna wanted. At the property in the park, with a small reception after at my lake house. We’re going to stay here tonight and move back to the farmhouse permanently tomorrow.
“Bubba, we have something to talk to you about,” Willa says as she joins us in the living room, bringing us each a cup of hot cocoa. “How would you feel about Max and me getting married?”
Alex’s head whips around, and he pins me with a hopeful stare. “Did you ask her?”
“I did. I’m sorry, I should have asked you first if it was okay, but I got carried away.”
“Do we have to get rid of Rocky?”
I scowl. “Of course, not. I love Rocky.”
“Focus,” Willa says with a sigh. “We need to know how you feel about this.”
“I think it’s good,” he says, staring at his cocoa. “I have lots of questions, though.”
“Ask all of them,” I say and rub his shoulder. “We’re happy to answer them.”
“Are we gonna move in here?”
“No,” Willa says, and Alex’s face falls in disappointment. “Wait, do you want to live here?”
“There’s a whole movie theater,” he reminds her.
“We plan to build a new house,” I reply. “One that you can help design your own space in.”
“That’s cool,” he says, then gets super serious. “I want to ask Max a question, but I don’t want to make Mom sad.”
“You’re fine, Bubba. What is it?”
He looks up at me nervously. “After the wedding, can I call you Dad? Since you’ll be Mom’s husband and stuff?”
I take a deep breath, my eyes finding Willa’s. She gives me a nod, and I pull Alex into my arms, giving him a big hug.
“Is that what you want?” I ask him.
“Well, yeah. I mean, I know I have another dad, but I just think it would be cool to have you as my dad.”
He knows how to reach in and tear my heart to smithereens. I cup his face and smile at him. “Yes, you can call me Dad. Nothing could make me happier than that.”
“Cool.” He smiles at his mom, then scowls when he sees her tears. “See? I didn’t want to make you sad.”
“You didn’t.” She laughs and swipes at the wetness on her cheeks. “These are tears of happiness. I think that calling Max Dad is really great.”
“I have one more question,” Alex says.
“Okay,” Willa says.
“Can we have a baby?”
***
“Is our wedding going to be like Aunt Jenna and Uncle Christian’s?” Alex asks the next night as he sets the table for dinner. He’s started using aunt and uncle when referring to my siblings and their spouses now that we’re getting married. Alex might be the most excited of all of us.
“No way,” Willa says, shaking her head as she sets mashed potatoes on the table. “I do not want to get married in the snow.”
“Where would you like to get married?” I ask her, burying my nose in her neck.
“Maybe the beach?” she says. “I know a great resort in California.”
“You don’t want to get married here, with all of your friends and family?” Alex asks with a frown.
“We’ll fly them all there, if that’s what your mom wants,” I reply. “But there’s still time to talk about it.”
“In the meantime,” Willa says as we sit down, “we are doing something new tonight.”
“Pot roast is new?” Alex asks. The kid makes me smile.
“Listen to me, please,” Willa says, and Alex makes the motion of zipping his lips shut and throwing away the key. “From here on out, Thursday nights are date nights. Dad date nights.”
“Every Thursday,” I continue when Alex frowns, “we will talk about your dad, and you can ask about him, too. We’ll tell stories, look at pictures, and eat some of his favorite foods. Sometimes, we’ll have others over who knew him, and sometimes, like tonight, it’ll just be us.”