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“Does it bother you that I don’t?”
He shook his head, and in case that wasn’t enough, added, “No. That would never bother me.”
“Okay.” She leaned into his touch.
“Okay.” He brushed his thumb over her soft skin, that string between them tugging on his chest, like theokays they’d just said to each other were about more than money, more than this day, more than the week he still had left in Red Falls, just…more. They should, he realized, probably talk about that, what thatmorecould mean, what it might look like, what he wanted it to look like.
“Come with me,” he said, releasing her seat belt, because whether they needed to or not, now wasn’t the time for that kind of conversation. “It’s almost naptime. We don’t want to miss her.”
* * *
The sensationof seeing Ruby after not seeing her for two weeks, not smelling her baby powder scent, not feeling her fuzzy hair against his cheek, was like the warmest blanket wrapping tightly around him. “She’s huge!” he cried, lifting her into the air until she squealed. “And is that another tooth?”
“Just started coming in a couple days ago,” Becks said.
“Amazing.” Gazing into Ruby’s eyes, he told her, “You get more and more amazing every single day.” When he turned to Mira, her expression was pained, almost heartbroken. But the look passed so quickly he decided he’d imagined it. “Would you like to hold her?”
While Mira held his granddaughter, Becks filled them in on everything he’d missed over the last two weeks: the new teeth, how many times Ruby had fallen trying to stand without holding on to something, how she’d been sleeping better, eating better. It was indescribable, the mixture of pride and love and relief twisting Cole’s chest. Because even though his help might have been necessary after Ruby was born, even though Becks might still want him around, she didn’t actually need him anymore.
Watching Mira bounce Ruby on her knee, one of her raven curls twined through Ruby’s chubby fingers as she laughed at something Becks said, Cole wondered, for the first time in a very long time, what didheneed?
* * *
“I’m sohappy you flew over with Dad,” Becks said, giving Mira a goodbye hug after she’d finished putting Ruby down.
“I am too,” Mira said, then she glanced between them and asked, “Can I use your bathroom before we go?”
After Cole pointed Mira down the hall to the guest bathroom, he pulled Becks into a hug. Or tried to, but she stopped him with a hand on his chest.
“It’s not only your Instagram that’s deeply in love, Dad.”
“What do you mean?” he said, pretending he didn’t know exactly what she meant.
“You’re gone. You’re simping so hard.”
“Becks, what the hell is ‘simping’?”
“You’ve already bought the house, haven’t you?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
She removed her hand from his chest, only to point her finger into it. “In her little town, you’ve already picked out the house you’re going to buy.”
He scoffed. “No.”Because it isn’t even a house.
“Does she know?” Becks asked, setting her hands on her hips. “Have you told her how you feel? Does she feel the same? Please tell me you’ve talked about it.”
Not about to tell his daughter all they’d actually talked about was robot sex, he said,“We will.”
“When?”
“Today. Tonight. I don’t know. But I’ll talk to her.”
“Do you promise? Promise me, Dad. This isn’t like your other partners since Mom. This is different. I can tell. I can’t watch you get hurt again.”
Suddenly, his mouth felt like he’d been sucking on cotton for the last hour. He hadn’t thought about what this might look like to Becks. Probably like he was actually shouting, “I want to get hurt!” right in front of her. “It’s not like that,” he said, not entirely sure which one of them he was trying to convince. “We’re taking things slowly.”Lies. “We’re being very open with each other.”More lies.
Rubbing two fingers up and down the bridge of her nose, she relented. “Okay, fine.”
