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“Are you all right?” Her hand on his arm, she leaned up to look into his face.
He finally got his voice to work. “I’ll be deliriously happy either way.”
“Me too,” she said, giving him a quick hug before pulling him deeper into the store.
They found cribs and mobiles and bassinets, changing tables and tiny little bathtubs, car seats and diaper bags, baby bottles and changing kits for traveling. He couldn’t believe how much paraphernalia went into taking care of a baby.
“This is cute.” He pointed to a mobile of twirling dinosaurs. “But I like this one too.” It was a mobile of flowers and figures of baby animals.
He suddenly had such a clear vision of the baby’s room. A white crib, an old-fashioned rocker, walls painted with animals or clouds. “I want to paint the baby’s room. Whatever color you want.”
“I don’t want pink or blue.” Her eyes lit up as she decided. “How about seafoam green?”
“That sounds great.”
“And a border around the top,” she said, tapping her finger on her chin as she saw the vision too.
“I can paint animals. Or clouds.” There were stencils. And what could be hard about painting a cloud freehand? After all, Lyssa thought his street art was a masterpiece. “How about clouds on the ceiling, and the sun, moon, and stars on the border?”
“I love it!”
He wanted to haul her into his arms. He could see it all. Seafoam walls covered in suns and clouds, the stars and moon over the crib as the baby slept.
And Lyssa right beside him, in his home. In his bed. In his life.
Forever.
They were standing in the middle of a dozen different strollers when she said, “My parents’ housewarming party is this weekend. How would you feel about telling everyone about the baby—and us—during the party?”
He took her hands and drew her close. “I’d love that, Lyssa.”
He wouldn’t worry about the Mavericks. They’d freak out when they heard the news, but he and Lyssa were a team now, and he felt deep in his bones that they could weather whatever came their way.
There was no longer a reason to hide the truth about how she made him feel. “And I love you.”
* * *
“Let’s not go home yet,” Lyssa said as they climbed into his car. She was still on the high of hearing him say, I love you.
He raised her hand to his lips. “Just being with you wherever you want to be is enough for me.”
She hadn’t yet said those three little words back to him. The moment had to be right. The place had to be just right. “Let’s look for a place by the ocean.”
As if it had been waiting just for them, they found a darling waterfront cottage on a cove so small with cliffs so high that the beach was completely private. Normally, it was rented out by the week, but since it was unoccupied, the owner let them have it for the night.
They ate takeout Chinese, then Cal lit a fire in the metal ring on the beach, and they sat on a blanket to watch the sunset, his arm wrapped around her.
The clouds and sky were lit with streaks of pink and yellow as pelicans flew by in formation.
“This is perfection,” Lyssa said, feeling happier than she could ever remember feeling before.
“Yes, it is,” he agreed, his lips against her hair.
And the moment was exactly what she’d been waiting for to give him her heart. “I love you, Cal.”
“You do?”
“Of course I do.”
“But I was such an ass, and I hurt you with all my foolish attempts to run away from my feelings for you.”
She stroked her fingers along his jaw. “Yes, I was hurt. But I forgive you. I understand more now, that you were afraid of making the same mistake as your father. Afraid of taking advantage of me or ruining my life. But you never had to worry about any of that.”
“I know that now. And I loved you from day one even if I couldn’t admit it. I love how smart you are, how capable, how kind and caring, how dedicated, how determined. How very loving you are with your family. I love what a wonderful mother you’re going to be.” He tipped her chin to kiss her softly. “And I love how beautiful and sexy you are.”
She cupped his cheek. “I love everything about you. How wise you are. How clever. I love the way you work for the foundation for free. I love how much you already love our baby. I love that you know something about everything and that you read all those books about pregnancy. I love that you’re willing to try anything I ask you to. I love how great you are with Noah and Jorge and how good you were with those old ladies at the haunted hotel. I love how much you care about people. And I love how you make me feel.” She put her hand to her chest. “In my heart as well as everywhere else.”
