Page 55 of Chasing Honor

“I love you, too.”

“You don’t have to—”

My words were silenced when he kissed me. And when he slid inside of me I gasped at the force of his thrust.

“Guess I should be ashamed about how easy I gave it up on our first date, huh?”

Ethan slowed his pace and, in a magical moment I’ll never forget, threw his head back and laughed. His body shook with hilarity and it was one instance I didn’t need a photograph to always remember the beauty he’d given me.

I’d never, ever, forget it.

15

“Daddy, did you sign me up for cheer camp?” This was the third time Carson had asked in as many days.

“Yes, Squirt, I did. What’s wrong?”

“Um, nothing . . .”

“Was that a question? It sounds like something.”

“Sorry. Sorry I’m late. It’s so hot out there already, the last half-mile was brutal,” Honor said, shutting the front door behind her. “Give me one second and we’ll start the pancakes.”

“Gran and Pop will be here in ten minutes,” Carson reminded her.

“I know. I’ll be right back.”

Honor scurried off to her room, leaving me with a worried Carson.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“Is Honor going to be my mom?”

“What?”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I was not prepared to have this conversation with my daughter. The last time we talked about moms she was five and had come home from kindergarten in tears because someone had teased her about not having a mom like everyone else. I’d never wanted to kick a five-year-old’s ass so badly. That was a hard talk to have. I went with my gut and explained as gently as I could why Chrissy had left. I made sure to tell Carson that while Chrissy wasn’t ready to be a mom she loved her so much and wanted her to have the best life possible. Maybe it was odd, but Carson never asked about Chrissy after that. And I’d watched for any signs Carson might have needed to talk about it. My parents did as well. However it never looked like it’d bothered her.

“I was thinking . . .” she started. I didn’t say anything, I simply waited for her to gather her thoughts. “Now that we have Honor I don’t need to go to cheer camp.”

That was a change of subject.

“Why’s that?”

“Cheer camp is summer camp. I have to go to summer camp because school is out, and you work. But now we have Honor.” She said the last part like I was dumb, enunciating her words.

“Squirt, Honor isn’t our live-in babysitter, and she works too.”

“That’s why I asked if Honor was going to be my mom. Mom’s don’t babysit their own kids, do they?”

Fuck.

A clatter behind me had me flying out of my chair, turning to see what’d happened.

“Hi, Honor. Ready to make the pancakes?”

Honor looked . . . freaked out. Carson was giving me whiplash. Not to mention she’d dropped a nuclear bomb big enough to take out all the European Continent and was now talking about pancakes. And there was a knock on the door. Jesus!