Page 168 of Contentious

“Thanks,” Carson said as he shut the door and handed the box to Ty, who took off running toward the kitchen.

In the minute it took Carson to catch up, Ty already had powdered sugar all over his face.

Laughing and shaking his head, Carson returned to his seat at the counter and picked a sugar doughnut from the box. “You’d better not eat all of mine, too.”

“I will when you’re not looking.”

“He will, too. Last time, he ate them all before I got one bite.”

“Piglet,” Carson said.

“Oink-oink,” Ty replied. “Don’t get in the way of me and my doughnuts.”

“I’m seeing a whole new side of you.”

“Wait till you see me with pizza. It’s bad.”

He was the cutest little guy, and Carson was truly thrilled to have him around—a thought that never would’ve crossed his mind until Ty came along.

But everything was different now, and as he sat in the kitchen with them, eating doughnuts, drinking coffee and simply being together, he knew a kind of contentment that had eluded him in the past. In a million years, he’d never expected to find that with a single mom and her seven-year-old son, but now that he had had them in his life, the only thing that seemed to matter was keeping them close.

His phone rang with a call from Julian.

“Hey. What’s up?”

“How’re you feeling today?”

“I’m all right.”

“Glad to hear that. Dad wants all of us at a meeting in fifteen minutes, and he’s wondering if you can attend remotely.”

“What’s it about?”

“He didn’t say.”

“Are we being ambushed with their romance?”

“I sure as hell hope not.”

“Send me a link or call me.”

“Will do. Isla is bringing you the dinner she made yesterday.”

“That’s nice of her.”

“She wanted to help. We all do. Let us know what you need.”

“We’re good. Ty DoorDashed doughnuts, so we’re all high on sugar over here.”

“I see how it is. If there’s anything I can do…”

“You can stand down, Jules. All is well, and we’re hoping it’ll stay that way now that Marlon is locked up. We’re ready for some peace and quiet.”

“I’m sure you are. I’ll check in later to talk smack about Dad after the meeting.”

Carson chuckled. “I’m here for that.”

“Mattie will send you a link, or we’ll call you in.”