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My stitches were gaping at parts and overlapping at others. “You’ll have to keep teaching me.”
“Maybe Miss Miranda can help. She taught me.”
I set my needle and snail aside. “I think you might be more talented in this area. It’s my fingers. They’re too big for these tiny needles.”
“Your fingers are too big? That’s your excuse?” Natalie teased from the kitchen, where she was keeping an eye on the chicken cooking on the stove.
“Have you seen this needle?” I held it up so she could see it.
“You always make excuses when things aren’t perfect?”
“I guess it’s a habit with having two brothers. We do tend to do that. We rib each other.”
“I’d love to have brothers,” Delaney said.
“You can have Tyler and Sam. I’ll gladly give them to you because they’re a pain in my—”
“Don’t finish that sentence!” Natalie yelled in her mom voice from the kitchen.
“Butt,” I finally whispered in a conspiratorial tone, and Delaney giggled.
When she recovered, she said, “Mommy doesn’t like when I say potty words.”
“‘Butt’ isn’t a potty word, is it?” I twisted around to see the disapproval on Natalie’s face.
Natalie shook her head, but her lips twitched. “If you let a kid say something like that, it’s all they’ll say in the most embarrassing situations, so no, I don’t allow it.”
Ensuring that Delaney’s attention was on the TV, I stepped behind Natalie and kissed her shoulder. “I have a feeling that’s going to be an issue with Delaney hanging out with me and my family.”
Natalie shrugged, her expression vulnerable. “It’s good for her to have more people around her, supporting her.”
She’d moved to a town she hadn’t lived in for years, not knowing most people. She was lonely. Trying to lighten her mood, I teased, “So, it’s okay if I say ‘butt’?”
She smacked me, but I used her open stance to pull her into my body. “You didn’t say no.”
“I think I made myself clear.”
Keeping an eye on Delaney, I kissed down her neck. Natalie’s eyelids fluttered closed as she tilted her neck to give me access.
“When will dinner be ready? I’m starving,” Delaney whined.
Natalie jumped back from me, and the moment was broken. I knew what we had was fragile, but it would be nice when Delaney knew about it. I didn’t want to hide what was going on between us forever. But I could be patient. I understood that Natalie was trying to protect her.
She already had one man walk out of her life and didn’t need a second to do the same. The thought of walking away from these two was a crushing weight on my chest. I couldn’t draw a breath without feeling the heaviness.
Natalie stepped around me to move the pan with the chicken to the back burner. “Can you throw the salad together?”
She’d already chopped lettuce, so I added it to a large serving bowl along with shredded carrots and cherry tomatoes. I grabbed a couple of dressings out of the fridge and placed them on the small, round table.
Their space was small, and they had to share the common areas with guests. I couldn’t help but think Delaney deserved a yard for herself. Somewhere she could play and chase a dog.
As we sat down to eat, Delaney yammered on about the funny episode of a cartoon she’d just watched. I could envision Natalie and Delaney sitting at my table for dinner, getting up to let the dog out, and cuddling on the couch to watch TV afterward. It was so clear in my mind.
“Is something wrong with your food?” Natalie asked with a glance at my full plate.
I lifted my fork. “Not at all. I was just thinking about something.”
Delaney launched into a recitation of the clubs she participated in at school, and I listened with half an ear. All I could think about was what if I was all in with these two? What if I let it go wherever it would? What if we had a future?
