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“Hmm. We could go drive the go-karts at Uncle Twain’s.”
“Can we?!”
“Sure.” I nod. “But first. We have something very important to do.”
“What?”
I sit on the edge of his bed. “We have to go shopping.”
“No!” He rolls his head on his pillow. “I don’t like shopping. Mom does that. It’s boring.”
“We’re going shopping for Mom.”
“What’re we getting her?”
“You’ll see.” I ruffle his hair and lean over to kiss his forehead. “Goodnight, Ryle.”
“Night, Daddy.”
25
Julie
Truman offered to drive Ryle home so I wouldn’t have to stop and pick him up on the way from the airport. At first, I wanted to argue. I miss my little boy so much. All I want to do is pick him up and squeeze him. Drop a few thousand kisses all over his face. But now that I’m back in Basset and almost home, I’m glad I agreed.
Dani and I had a great time in Florida. Despite the heartburn and her bouts of morning sickness, she’s not showing yet, and she’s past that initial stage of having no energy. So we walked the beach and did some shopping, all the while talking and making plans. She and Eric are planning to turn their spare bedroom into a nursery, so we talked paint colors and stars on the ceiling or not. We tried to guess the sex of the baby, and we imagined her child in the future—at Ryle’s age and older. We talked about Ryle, too. Dani loves that he played tee-ball this year. Even she’s noticed how vocal he’s become, and she’s as relieved and happy about that as I am.
But now that I’m home, I feel like I need a vacation from my vacation. Seems like I say that anytime I go anywhere. I’ll unpack and start laundry and maybe dinner, I decide as I glance at my watch. Ryle will be hungry.
Truman’s car is parked in front of my house. Perfect. I’ll get to see my boy and smother him with kisses and then get to work.
As happy as I am to see Ryle, though, he’s not the reason for the hope burning a hole in my chest right now. I’m going to see Truman.
We’ve said it twice now. Friday and Saturday night on the phone.
Even more special to me? He said it first.
He loves me.
Between that, and Harper being the force that meddled us together, and Dani giving me her blessing and her hope, I feel like my feet don’t hit the ground when I get out of the car to go inside. I float to the door, leaving my suitcase in the car. I’ll get it later. Right now, I just want those arms around me.
Ryle’s.
And Truman’s.
The door opens as I reach for the handle. Ryle throws himself at me.
“Mom!”
“Ryle!” I scoop him up, ignoring the fact that he’s getting heavy and too big for me to hold him. It makes me sad that he’s growing up so fast, but for the first time ever, it crosses my mind that Truman and I could have another child.
“I missed you!” Ryle kisses my cheek, so I give him a noisy smooch on top of his head as I put him down.
“I missed you more!”
“Dad fixed you supper.”
With Ryle’s arms twined around my legs, I look over at Truman, who’s standing by the stove. He’s wearing an apron over his khaki shorts. I’ve never seen him in an apron; it’s not a bad look.
