Page 31 of Finding Home

“For good reasons, I hope.” His sly smile has me squirming. Yep, I need some alone time with this man. Stat!

Before I can lose my nerve, I turn to him, stepping close but not touching. “Are we still on for our date tomorrow?”

His eyebrows shoot up, shock flickering through his eyes, quickly followed by hope then brighten with happiness. “Really? I mean, yes. Of course. If you are up for it, I would love that, Harper. Really? You sure? Cause we can stay here if you want.” I have never seen him flustered like this. Usually, it’s me that word vomits, and something about seeing him do it turns me on and solidifies that, yes, I want this.

Cupping his face, I kiss him, pulling back, and speaking against his lips. “Yes, please.”

“So polite! How could I say no to that?” He picks me up and spins me in a circle. Small dimples form on his cheeks from the smile that splits across his face.

“I know it’s last minute now, but we don’t have to do anything special.”

“Harper, I have been planning this date since the first time I asked you out. Just need to make a couple calls, but this is happening, babe.” He kisses me again, then abruptly pulls away. “You distracted me. There is a reason I stopped by, although it worked out better than I could have hoped. I have a gift for you and Lizzie. Before I show her, I want to make sure it’s okay with you.” He pulls a small mesh bag from his jacket pocket. It’s tied with a lavender ribbon, and it looks so small and dainty in his large, calloused hands, but he handles it with such care. From inside, he pulls out a necklace with a Sofia charm on it.

“Jace, it’s adorable. Lizzie will love it!” Smiling, I take the necklace, noting another piece behind the charm.

“It’s not just a necklace. It’s an air tag. And the necklace is specially made to be hard to remove. As long as Lizzie is wearing it, you can see exactly where she is. I took it all over town, and to the orchard. There was a signal, and I was able to track the movements everywhere I went. There are some limitations, but…” His voice cracks, and I can’t hold back my tears any longer. “Harper, I get if you don’t want to use it. But Monday was the most terrifying day of my life, and I can’t begin to imagine how you felt. I never want you to go through that again; I never want to experience that again.”

“It’s perfect, Jace. I can't believe you did this. When did you have time to do it?” still clutching the necklace, I stare at this man that waltzed into my life so unexpectedly and turned everything upside down.

“I ordered it Tuesday morning before you even woke up.” Suddenly, all the broken pieces of my heart feel like they are knitting back together. I love this man. The realization hits me like a freight train, scaring the shit out of me while lighting me up with hope at the same time.

I tell Jace to give it to Lizzie himself, and just as I anticipated, my girl loses her mind over the new piece of jewelry, insisting that she wear it right then. Jace gets it set up on my phone and helps me add the other people linked to the device. Raising a non-speaking child with special needs is scary on so many levels, but somehow, he has found yet another way to give me peace of mind.

Chapter 23

Jace

“Knock, knock.” Blake's voice carries to me on the back porch, and I make my way inside to meet him while I work through what all I plan to discuss with him tonight. “Uh, you got something to tell me, Jace?”

I bark out a laugh at Blake’s face while he holds the American Girl doll dangling from his fingers like it’s something abhorrent. “Look, man, I try not to judge. If I came in and saw you had an inflatable doll, I’d mock you for sure but not judge. However, I can’t think of a single reason for you to have a baby doll.” He punctuates the last two words by shaking the offending toy at me.

“Ha ha, you’re so clever,” I deadpan, grabbing the doll from him and smoothing the hair I had brushed out earlier. “It’s nothing weird. I got it to practice doing hair. Reviews and YouTubers said this brand is great for hair styling practice,” I explain, like it should be obvious to him.

“Sooooooo, you’re going into hairstyling now?” Blake still looks confused.

“No, you dope. It’s for Lizzie. The other day, after she went missing, I stayed over to be with Harper. She was understandably freaked, and I didn’t think she should be alone. The next morning, Lizzie asked me to do her hair. It was not good, man. Anyways, I decided to learn to do some braids and shit so I can help out more if needed in the future. That's all, no biggie.” I shrug and put the doll in the hall closet.

Blake watches me in a calculated manner. “You really care about her, don’t you?”

I blow out a breath before responding, “Yeah, I’m crazy for her, and Lizzie. I hadn’t thought too hard about kids, but she’s the best, and I don’t know…I just want to be there for them.”

“Well, it sounds like you’re on the right track. The doll is still weird, but the reason behind it is cute.”

I glare at him. “Did you really just call me cute?”

“Definitely not, but what you’re doing is. Speaking of which, I have the tent and projector in my truck.” He shoots a thumb toward the door.

“Let’s get those, then want to join me out back for some beers?”

“Sounds good to me.” Blake smiles as we head outside.

“I can’t thank you enough for taking care of all this. I planned to do it myself, then with everything that happened with Lizzie, I just assumed the date was off. Then Harper surprised me by wanting to keep the date.” Blake shakes his head at me, waving off the comment.

“I was already going to Portland, it took an extra ten minutes max to stop by the shop, and it’s about time someone got some use out of this tent.” We unload the rest of the stuff then head out back. The firepit is already warming the space enough to make it comfortable even with the slight chill moving in. The scent of burning wood hangs in the air, comforting and inviting. We sit for a few minutes, listening to the wood crackle and the soft sound of the stream babbling over the stones and reeds. It’s peaceful.

“One last question about the doll.” I roll my eyes but laugh at the way he’s hung up on it. “Are you just trying random things with it, or did you get a book or something?”

“Nope, good ole YouTube.”