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He takes a slow breath, still regarding me with an odd expression on his face.
“Right.”
“I just want you to be happy, Fox.”
“That’s what I want for you, too. But I want you to enjoy this time of your life, not waste it waiting around—”
“Don’t even say it. I can enjoy my life without going off and dating other guys. I want you. Only you.”
He raises my hand to his lips, presses a soft kiss to my palm then closes my fingers over it. “I want you to hold on to that kiss,” he says in a low, husky voice. “Until I can give you a real one.”
I pull my hand from his and lay it against my chest, over my pounding heart.
“I’ll be waiting.”
Chapter 28
ALEX
After a shit ton of trial and error, I finally finished Cherry’s grave marker—a life-sized, carved wooden statue of her stained mahogany. I even made a wooden tennis ball to sit next to her.
It came out so good I’m tempted to start working with wood more. Maybe I need to get away from other people’s trash for a while.
“Holy crap, Dad. That’s incredible. It looks exactly like her. I had no idea you could make things like this.”
I turn to see Lily standing in the yard behind me, gaping at the statue.
I step back beside her to view my work. I spent the morning piling dark mulch and rocks around the base of the statue. “Thanks. I’m gonna ask Penny to plant some flowers around it. Pretty it up.”
She smiles. “It’s cool that you have a sweet side. I like it.”
“So, what are you up to? I feel like I haven’t talked to you in days.” Lately, she’s been quiet and holed up in her room, more often than her norm. I was hoping we’d spend more time together before she starts cosmetology school in a few months. Thankfully, she gave up the idea of mortuary makeup, saying it would be too narrow a niche for her to find full-time work. I agreed. Now she wants to focus on bridal and theatrical special effect makeup.
“I’m running to the mall to get some things. Me and Penny are going to camp out tonight,” she says while typing on her phone.
“Camp out where?” An image of the two of them eating popcorn and ice cream in a huge pillow fort in the middle of the living room pops up in my mind.
“By the lake. Neither one of us has ever been camping and we thought it’d be cool to cook hot dogs, roast marshmallows, and sleep in a tent under the stars.”
Definitely not a cute pillow fort.
I shake my head. “No.”
She looks up from her phone. “No what?”
“You two aren’t sleeping in a tent out on the edge of the woods.”
“Why not? It’s not like we’re hiking up the White Mountains. We’re literally going to be right on our property.”
“Yeah, and so are bears and coyotes.”
“Seriously? We’re not going to get eaten by bears. You worry too much.”
“It’s my job to worry about you.”
I get her customary eye roll. “Please don’t ruin this for us; we’re both excited about it. We’ve been talking about it for weeks.”
“You can still do it. But only if I stay out there with you. In my own tent, of course.”
Her eyes widen with horror. “Are you kidding? Dad, we’re not babies!”
“I didn’t say you were. You can just pretend I’m not there. I’ll stay in my tent. But I’ll feel better knowing I’m there in case something happens. You’ve seen the trail-cam footage. Bear and coyote come through here almost every night. The smell of the food might get them riled up.”
She cocks her head. “And then what? You’re going to tackle a bear? Wrestle a family of wild coyotes?”
“If I have to. I have a gun.”
“This is ridiculous. How am I supposed to tell Penny my father wants to babysit us?”
Her choice of words slices through me in ways she can’t even imagine.
“I don’t think she’ll mind.” Actually, I think she’ll love it. Either way, spending time with Penny isn’t my motive. I legit don’t want them out in the dark alone all night.
But being close to Penny is definitely going to be a bonus.
It’s been two weeks since the afternoon we went for ice cream. And while we haven’t really spent any time alone together since, we text during the day, talking about everything from the weather to poetry to movies to aliens. Every night before I go to bed, I send her an image of something she’d like —like a flower or sunset—with a sweet note. Every morning, she leaves an iced toasted marshmallow latte in the fridge for me before she goes to work.
Little things mean a lot to me. I’ve learned the hard way how precious they truly are.
