AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He paused for a moment as thoughts of her moving back to New York haunted him.
Why? That’s surely no longer in her plan.
He cleared his throat. “Elizabeth, I know things are not going at all according to your plan lately...and well, I’m wondering where you stand on that right now?”
A couple of beats passed. Fear shot through his veins. Really, what was there to think about after all they’d been through.
She smiled warmly. “So much has happened lately, I’m not sure which end is up anymore. I’m leaning toward chucking the entire plan out the window. And perhaps, stop living by a plan.”
Relief sifted through every cell in his body. “Glad to hear it, sweetheart.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Joe, Max, and Molly’s voices echoed down the hallway from the kitchen. Elizabeth yawned and stretched, and pulled up the sheets and blanket, holding them tightly around her neck. The scent of Joe’s aftershave lingered on the sheets, pleasantly treating her nostrils.
She took in a few more moments of rest before she flung the covers back, and rolled out of bed. After slipping into a pair of jeans and a sweater, she glanced into the mirror on Joe’s dresser, and ran her fingers through her thick, unruly hair.
As she walked down the hallway toward the kitchen, it suddenly got very quiet. She could hear Joe, Max, and Molly whispering, but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. When she entered the kitchen she found the three of them huddled around the counter next to the stovetop. Molly stood on a kitchen chair with Max on one side and her dad on the other.
Joe blocked her view of what they were doing for a moment before glancing in her direction. “Good morning, Elizabeth. Are you hungry? We’ve been making, and decorating, pancakes.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Decorating pancakes?”
He looked away from her, toward Max and Molly’s pancake project, before returning his gaze to her. “Yes, decorating them with a little frosting. Take a seat, yours is just about done.”
She grabbed a cup of coffee, took a seat at the table, and watched as Joe handed his son a plate with a large pancake on it. Max carefully set the plate in front of her. His smile seemed unstoppable. She studied the pancake which covered the entire plate. Drawn on it in a thin line of white frosting, were two tall stick people holding hands. One of the people sported long curly hair and the other had short hair. Two smaller stick people, again one with long hair, and one with short hair, accompanied them. A frosting outline of a dog stood off to the side of the stick people.
Max and Molly stood at her side looking as though they were waiting for some sort of response from her regarding their artwork-pancake, but their inclusion of her in their little tight-knit family touched her heart so incalculably it rendered her speechless.
After taking a moment to collect herself, her smile of approval drew wide smiles from the kids.
“Very nicely done, you guys. Excellent work. It looks so nice I’m not sure I should eat it.”
She glanced up at Joe who stood on the opposite side of the kitchen table staring down at her. He was holding another plate with a pancake on it.
“Would you like to see my artwork?” he asked, as he winked and flashed his killer smile at her.
