Page 55 of Together Is Where We Belong

“You didn’t tell me that,” Leo said, his voice sounding panicked.

“I didn’t think. I’ve been the one cooking his meals, and could control the situation. I’m sorry for not telling you until now,” I said embarrassed by the whole situation. I’d have told Leo when he got him on his own.

“How bad is his allergy?” Leo asked in a concerned voice.

“He swells and breaks out in hives. He has an EpiPen. I carry it everywhere I go. The school has one for him as well when he goes. I keep one in his backpack when I take him to my parents’ house as well,” I explained.

“Can I get one for when he’s with me?” Leo asked, the scowl gone and replaced with worry.

“Absolutely. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” I told him. When I had in fact told him in the letters that I wrote. I told him all about the terrifying situation we’d gone through and even included a photo for Leo to see just how bad his reaction was, but he’d never gotten the letters, and I honestly hadn’t thought about relaying that again to him since in my mind I’d already told him.

“How old are you, Luke?” Ainsleigh asked, and I was grateful she spoke when she did to change the subject.

I made my plate, but didn’t really eat, my stomach in knots at being in this home. I felt like an outsider at this table. Like I shouldn’t be here to share this moment with his family. It wasn’t that they didn’t make me feel welcome because they had. I was just too far in my mind.

“Carolina,” Ainsleigh’s voice called and snapped me out of my thoughts.

“Sorry about that,” I said as I picked up a bite of green beans and shoveled them into my mouth.

“How are you likin’ bein’ back in Haven Valley?” she repeated.

“I’m happy to be back home,” I told them honestly.

“What brought you back?” Ainsleigh pried, and I tensed. No one but my parents, Lexi, and Neil knew the truth to that answer.

“I needed a change,” I responded, hoping that she bought my lie.

She eyed me questioningly but didn’t ask for any further explanation, and for that I was grateful. I wasn’t ready to bare that secret just yet. Hopefully, I never had to.

“You like cookin’ I hear?” Holden asked. As we ate dinner, and I diverted my eyes to everyone around the table, I noticed that Holden had moved his gaze between Olivia and Luke. The protective look in his eyes put me at ease.

“Yeah, I do. Mom and Grandma let me cook all the time. I especially love making cookies,” Luke said between bites of food.

“Cookies. Now you’re speaking my language,” Holden said as he rubbed his stomach, making Luke laugh.

“I can teach you sometime,” Luke suggested, and I couldn’t stop a smile from forming due to him feeling comfortable enough to make future plans with his uncle.

“I’d love that,” Holden said with a genuine smile.

Glancing over at Leo, he had a smile on his face as he looked down at our son. He looked over at me, and I quickly looked away, having been caught.

We finished dinner and stayed around the table, his brothers taking turns asking Luke all sorts of questions; a genuine curiosity at getting to know Luke.

I heard my phone ringing in my purse, and excused myself from the table.

Hurriedly, I dug the phone out of my purse, and an unknown number flashed on my screen, causing my blood to run cold. I clicked the side button on the phone to send the call to voicemail. Whoever was stalking me had never called my phone before. I wanted to grab Luke and hurry to the comfort of my home, but as I turned back to the table, he was animatedly telling a story about chasing the chickens at my parents’ house, and I realized I couldn’t take him away from this time with his family.

Olivia started crying, and Luke paused his story and looked over at her. He pushed himself back from the table and got up from the chair. He squeezed his little body between the chairs and the island and around the table to stand in front of Gentry, who was bouncing the baby on his shoulder to calm her.

Gentry shifted his hold on the baby so that he could hold her down in front of Luke. I pulled up my camera on my phone, something in the air telling me that I’d want to capture this moment.

Luke stared down at the baby and put his finger on her hand, her tiny fingers latching around his finger, and he let her hold it as he started to softly sing to her the song I sung to him when he was smaller.

Ainsleigh gasped as she turned to watch Luke’s reaction with her daughter, and tears streamed down her cheeks mimicking my own.

I snapped some photos as he leaned down to kiss her on the forehead. He’d never been around babies all that much, but it was like something in him knew to be gentle with her without me having to tell him. I switched to recording him singing the final line of the lullaby. By the time he was finished, Olivia had settled back to sleep, her pacifier moving in her mouth as she soothed herself.

“You’re a baby whisperer, Luke. I may need you to come do that when she has a rough day again,” Ainsleigh said to Luke as he gently pulled his finger away from her tiny grasp.