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“Had to start my love for the grape somewhere.”
Their gazes locked. Held. Turned to heat and smoke that curled through his blood. Jules blinked owl-like and nodded to the kitchen clock hanging above the counter.
“Bet Cassie Shaughnessy is going all out with her walker to get into the front pew, Syl.”
His aunt dropped her coffee cup as if it were coated in killer African bees and shot out of her seat. “I had no idea it was so late!”
Sylvia and the Widow Shaughnessy were engaged in what could best be described as a to-the-death battle for the soul of Father Phelan. The prime real estate of the front pew at St. Jude’s was Ground Zero.
Before his aunt left, she appraised him with a shake of her head. “You must do better, Taddeo. Someone will snap her up.”
“Yes, Aunt Sylvia,” he said, suitably admonished, and gave her a kiss on the cheek.
“Must. Do. Better,” Jules said, poking his chest for emphasis before walking his meddling aunt out.
Tad picked up the plate of banana-chocolate mush and helped himself. Not bad.
Evan’s face lit up at the prospect of someone new to play with and Tad’s heart lifted right with it. The kid had a great personality. Playful, smart, and always reaching for the stars with his chubby fists. Not unlike his beautiful, bangin’ mom.
“Tad!” Evan shouted. “Banana banana.”
“That’s right, buddy. Time to eat it all up.”
Not for the first time, Tad considered Evan’s father. It was the one area of his relationship with Jules that was out of bounds. She never talked about him, and the fact she had concealed his identity from Jack pissed off her brother royally. Frankly, anything that pissed off Jack was A-okay with him, but her secrecy had Tad curious. The asshole must have bailed when he found out about Evan. What a fucking dick.
Tad knew in his heart that, despite having enough baggage to fill multiple 747 cargo holds, he would never abandon a woman who gave birth to his child. He’d want to be part of his kid’s life: the baseball games, the algebra, the awkward sex talk, the works. In a way, he was glad this duty-shirker was out of the picture because Tad didn’t like to share. He’d heard Evan’s first cry. He’d seen his girl’s face when she met her son for the first time. He’d felt the love of instant connection with a brand new human being.
Those memories belonged to him and him alone. He wanted to create more just like them with this woman and her beautiful kid, who more often than not felt likehisbeautiful kid.
With Tad off in la-la land, Evan grabbed at the spoon and got his hands filled with mush for his trouble. Soaking a washcloth under the faucet, Tad took a moment to appreciate how Jules had made the kitchen her own. Culinary-themed engravings and woodcuts dotted the walls above counters bordered with colorful cookie jars and kitchen utensils. A few well-worn cookbooks claimed space in the corner by the stove. This place had a good aura. Lili and Jack had fallen in love here, followed by Shane and Cara while they played kissing neighbors with each other across the hall. Now Jules was here, forging ahead with her life and taking charge of her destiny. The vision of her blazing expression last night as she announced her plan to take what she needed and fight for what was hers grabbed him by the throat. No one had ever telegraphed her passion quite like Jules.
This woman was the real deal.
The last thing he expected to see arrested his gaze and sent his pulse into a dangerous spike. Slotted among a block of books on the counter behind Evan’s high chair, it looked surprisingly at home.
Vivi’s recipe book.
He had assumed Gina had it, but he realized that Frankie or Lili must have been keeping it safe all these years. Now it was in this place with the one person who could appreciate it and fulfill all the promise within those precious pages. His chest felt too full, his blood surged with the rightness of it. His mom was here, mentoring another budding chef.
He swallowed away the rock of emotion and wiped Evan’s sticky pudding hands. Looking up, he found Jules in the doorway with a pensive expression on her face that morphed into a smart ass grin.
“Your mom thinks she’s hilarious, Evs. Did you enjoy raking my hard-won reputation over the coals, you minx?”
“Immensely. Serves you right for waltzing in here in all your glory and giving her an eyeful.”
All his glory.Hell, that made a man feel good.
“She’s seen it all before,” he said. “She used to give me baths when I was a kid. Very thorough.”
Her grin turned impossibly wider, chasing away the last shreds of any remaining reservation. He felt that smile down to his toes. Stepping in close, she took over cleaning duties for Evan. Tad absorbed the scent of their happy little triumvirate into his bloodstream, something unique that the three of them created together.
This was happening.
“And there I was thinking the morning after might be awkward,” he said, testing.
“You don’t think your aunt showing up is awkward enough?”
“Nah, we made her matchmaking dream come to life. If only for a few magical seconds.” Their gazes tangled for a moment until Evan squealed because the adults weren’t focused on him.
