Page 60 of Second Chance Baby
“Say what? That you’re the sweetest father ever?”
My neck and ears instantly went hot. “It’s no big deal,” I muttered, starting the truck.
“Yes, it really is. It’s a huge deal. Thank you for including me.” She leaned over to grip my thigh. The warmth of her hand through the denim had me instantly hardening, and I didn’t even try to suppress my reaction. I wanted her to know exactly what she did to me.
In every possible way.
I nearly murmuredI love you, then I just squeezed her hand on my leg. I didn’t want to scare her off if she wasn’t all the way there yet.
Even if I definitely was.
Her lips quirked. “And you will definitely need a shoulder massage after putting up those wild displays. I hope you have a ladder.”
“Of course I have a ladder.”
I hoped.
FOURTEEN
He didnothave a ladder.
He searched through the basement and the garage about half a dozen times, climbing over tons of old household odds and ends. Add in the new decorations we just bought and the garage was…scary.
How had I known Travis so long and was completely clueless about how unorganized he was? He’d lived there for the better part of a decade so he should have a damn good idea about what he had. But somehow, he did not.
When I’d gone through his lawn supplies, I should have gotten a clue. I was pretty sure the rose-colored glasses were still in full effect. Now, since he couldn’t find his ladder, the decorating aspect was not going so smoothly.
Carrington was on the verge of tears, no matter how I tried to tell her we’d both work double-time to get the decorations up as fast as possible. But once Travis even saw the threat of tears, he immediately got on the phone to his very large family. He barely even had to voice a plea before his brothers were promising to save the day.
Even Penn showed up, shocking me. I didn’t take him for the family involvement type. He didn’t even live in the Cove. Buthe’d gotten the family SOS at the same time as the others, and he’d just showed up out of nowhere. I wasn’t sure I even saw his car.
No one could miss his sleek sports car amongst the family cars all over the town.
Seeing how they all jumped in without complaint had me fighting tears too. I had no idea what my problem was today. Seemingly overnight, I’d gone from being a woman who rarely cried to an emotional mess.
“You’re still here?” Penn asked, drawing me aside while the other men circled Trav and squabbled over who would handle what. By some miracle, two brand new ladders appeared so we—he—would be prepared for the next decoration crisis.
Families were truly wild. I’d never gotten the full experience, thanks to my small, dysfunctional version. My mother had moved from town to town without landing anywhere for long since I’d been a teen. Back then, her bipolar syndrome hadn’t been well-managed or even understood by us. Walking on eggshells due to not knowing whether her mood was high or low had left both me and my sister riddled with anxiety. In my case, I’d wanted to take care of her and hadn’t understood why my own mother tended to freeze me out. And my sister almost always chose to withdraw.
When my older sister hit her upper teens, she moved out, leaving me alone with our tumultuous mother until she’d finally split for good too. From then on, I’d basically raised myself.
Not a hell of a lot different from my usual home life, to be honest. I’d felt alone most of my life.
No wonder I’d had no clue how to parent anyone else. My dad had left the picture when I was super little. I didn’t remember him much. My mom was too trapped in her own darkness to worry overmuch about her girls.
Versus Travis with his huge, perfect, All-American family. I would’ve been jealous if I hadn’t fallen in love with them all. They’d accepted me into their home for dinners and family gatherings with open arms.
But from the sly suspicious glances his brothers kept aiming my way tonight, I could only imagine what they thought of me now. I’d probably been considered enemy number one for years.
Hell, from their perspective, I’d let down their brother and their niece and left behind a solid relationship and beautiful baby girl to run around the world flaunting myself for money. Not that I could even blame them for thinking like that about me.
I hadn’t wanted to leave. It had been purely a panicked reaction.
Family was supposed to come first. Their own mother was practically a saint. She would never do anything approaching what I’d done.
Ever.
Yet JoAnn had been nothing but kind when we’d talked on the phone before the shoot. As if she somehow understood why I’d freaked out and done what I had without me telling her all the ugly details.