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He itched to wrap his arms around her, but the conflicting emotions he saw on her face made him hesitate. He’d hurt her badly when he’d let her walk away, and she wasn’t going to forgive him easily.
“What d’you want?”
He hesitated, then decided he couldn’t afford any more fumbles. “I want my family back.”
“Your family?” She hadn’t lost her street smarts, and she bristled with suspicion. “What do you mean?”
“You and Button and Nealy.”
She gave him her familiar bullheaded look. “We’re not your family.”
“Who says?” He took a step closer, only to watch her withdraw. “You’re still mad at me, aren’t you?”
She shrugged, then, true to her nature, looked him right in the eye. “Why are you here?”
He thought that one over. How much could he tell her and still be fair to Nealy?
To hell with fairness. “I’m here because I found out I couldn’t stand not having all of you in my life.”
She leaned against the corner of the desk, her posture awkward and unsure. “So?”
“So, I’m back.”
“Big deal.”
The hurt she was trying so hard to hide cut into his heart. “It is for me. I’ve been pretty lonely. Plus I’ve been kicking myself for taking so long to figure out what’s important to me.”
She looked down at her thumbnail, brought it to her mouth, then seemed to realize what she was doing and pulled it away. “Yeah, I guess you missed Button a lot.”
Her insecurities were still so close to the surface they made him ache. “How’s the little rug rat doing these days?”
“Pretty good. She says lots more words now. She calls Squid Skid.” She shot him a glare filled with reproach. “But she never says Da anymore. Not ever.”
“I miss her a lot.” He paused, then moved closer again. “But I miss you even more.”
“You do?”
He nodded. “I love Button, but she’s still a baby. You know how that is. I can’t really talk to her about anything interesting or play basketball with her. And don’t look so surprised. You and I have understood each other from the beginning.” He paused. “Did you ever hear of a soul mate?”
She nodded warily
“I think the two of us might be soul mates.”
“You do?”
“Don’t you?”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think you—”
“You’re such a jerk.” He smiled at her. “When are you going to figure out what a great kid you are?”
She stared at him and then her face crumpled. “I didn’t think you ever wanted to see us again.”
He no longer cared whether she wanted to be hugged or not. He grabbed her and pulled her tight against his chest. “I’m a lot bigger jerk than you. I missed you, Luce. I missed you so much.”
One hand crept tentatively around his waist. He rubbed her back and blinked. How could he ever have walked away from these females? “I love you, Lucy.” It should have been hard to say, but it wasn’t. In fact, it was so easy that he said it again. “I love you so much.”
She buried her face in his shirt. Although her words were muffled, he didn’t have any trouble hearing them. “Loveyousomuchtoo.”
