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“You love me?”
She nodded, and I wrapped my foot around the leg of her stool, dragging it right up against mine then sank my hand under her hair to curl around her neck. The scent of sugar and flowers surrounded me. I didn’t know how much I’d gotten used to her smell until it was gone. “Say it again.”
She blinked a few times as if confused.
“I want to hear what you just said, but this time, I want you looking me in the eyes when you say it.”
She slowly tipped her chin up, lifting her beautiful face to mine, the smallest of smiles gracing her plump lips. “I love you, and I love Finn. I love you both so much that I was afraid to face my insecurities and have it confirmed that I wasn’t good enough for either of you. It was terrible of me to walk away from you and not communicate. I know—” She dropped her gaze to her lap, where she fidgeted with her hands. “I know it was immature, and I know how upset you were. You had—have—every right to be angry with me, but I need you to know that I won’t ever do it again.”
I gently squeezed her neck, urging her to look at me. “How do I know? I want to believe you, but how do I know you won’t get scared and run away?”
“Because I know what it feels like to be without you, and I don’t want to feel that again. Plus, what would I do with all this?” She twisted away from me for her purse and took out a shopping bag, from which she set items on the bar top: a pack of brown bags, yarn, googly eyes, sequins, markers, and three bottles of glitter paint. “Finn and I have a lot more hand puppets to make.”
That pulled a laugh out of me, and I shook my head in amusement.
“Plus, Finn has a playdate next week that I know he was really looking forward to. It’s with Van from his preschool class, and I really like his mom, so…” She held up her index and middle fingers, crossing them. “I really want it to work so I have some mom friends.”
“Mom friends?” I repeated, my heart clanging around in my chest. My pulse doubled in speed with every word she spoke, with every second she sat in front of me, offering herself up, open and honest like the Kennedy I knew and had fallen in love with.
Her teeth briefly passed over her lower lip as she bit back a smile. “I talked to Tessa.”
“You did?”
She sat up tall, like she was excited about this part. “We FaceTimed this morning, and I told her what had happened. I figured you’d emailed her about the staples, but I wanted her to hear it from my mouth. She was so understanding and sweet, and we had a really great conversation.”
Tessa was a sensible, intelligent, and good person. There was no reason why she and Kennedy wouldn’t be friends, but what came out of her mouth next almost knocked me off my stool.
“We talked about me being a permanent person in your life, in Finn’s life. I asked her if, when the time came, it would be all right to call myself Finn’s stepmom.”
“Youwhat?”
“I told her how much I love Finn and explained that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, but only if we were all on the same page. I wanted to get her blessing.”
My mouth went dry. My mind spun, so I couldn’t quite grasp what was happening. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying I want you to know I am very serious about you, about us and our life together. I’m trying to be mature and communicate…you know the thing you said grown men do.”
I bit back a smile, letting her continue.
“I know I have some work to do on myself, and I don’t want to rush into marriage, but that’s what I want eventually. I want you and Finn forever. I love you, and even though you haven’t said it back, I know you do. I feel it every single day, and the past few days wouldn’t have been so agonizing if we didn’t love each other.”
She was a dozen years younger than me, but in some aspects, Kennedy was more mature than me, certainly in giving people grace and consideration. I only wished she’d allow herself some too.
“So you’re saying you’re not planning on leaving me again any time soon?” I asked to tease her a little bit.
“No.” She shook her head, blinking at me so sweetly. “Now, can you say it back to me?” When I didn’t answer immediately, she pouted and slid her hands around my shoulders. “Please?”
I clucked my tongue. “Well, you know how much I love it when you say please.” I bent, leaning my forehead against her. “I love you, Kennedy. Maybe from the night you first walked up to me at this bar and convinced me to hire you as my son’s nanny.”
She laughed. “Best spur-of-the-moment decision I’ve ever made.”
“Me too.” I kissed her once, twice, three times on the lips. “I’m sorry I snapped at you on the phone yesterday. I was surprised and didn’t know how to handle everything I was feeling, but I should never have said that your sorry didn’t cut it. You were trying to talk to me, and I shut you down. That was on me. We could’ve had this conversation yesterday,” I said, motioning to her props on the bar. “Without all the art supplies.”
“Yeah, but I think it gave my speech some extra flair.” She shrugged, and I released a long breath, happy that she was happy.
Cupping her face in my hands, I smoothed my thumbs over her cheeks. “You are everything I want and need in a woman, partner, and parent for Finn.”
“Are you okay if I don’t want to have more kids? That was one of the things that I worried about. I don’t want you to give that up because of me.”
