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“Well, love, she needed to return home.”
Kiera’s eyes widened. “But I want her here. With us.”
“Me too, love. Me too.” Before he broke down and begged Kiera to want Madeline as her mum, taking away at least one barrier, he looked to Macey again. “Where’s Ray?”
“He just left for Traverse and the prison. Jensen and his people are still questioning the …” she looked to Kiera, “man from this morning, and Jensen asked him to come.”
Something tingled at the back of Nolan’s mind, something he didn’t like. Had Jensen found more information from the attacker or his ‘boss’ that was concerning?
Before he could excuse himself to call Ray and find out, Kiera tugged at his hand. “Pops?”
“Yes, sweetie?” He glanced down. Had Kiera gotten taller? She was as tall as some petite women now. He didn’t like her growing up too fast.
“Macey and I had a good talk today.” She glanced back at Macey, who nodded encouragingly. “I wanted to tell Chad’s mum all about it tonight, but now she’s gone. Can we get her back?”
“I hope so.” He had to clear his throat. “Madeline and I are going to keep dating, but she needs to take things slow.” Did his daughter understand what that meant? Kiera had better not be ready to date for a long while. If only Madeline was here to tease him about that thought and remind him he’d taught Kiera well and she’d be safe and smart when she did date.
“That stinks. I want her here.” Kiera looked petulant, which was very unlike her.
“I’m going to ask her on a date for Saturday. Maybe after our date, she will come visit you and we can swim together.”
“Saturday? That’s three days away.” Kiera folded her arms across her chest. “Can you tell her for me now that I love her and I want her to be my mum?”
Nolan’s eyes widened, and he heard Jennifer and Tristan both exclaim, “Kiera?”
Macey smiled. She knew what was happening.
“I thought you didn’t want a new mum,” Nolan said.
“I’m sorry, Pops.” Kiera’s blue eyes brightened. “I’m not trying to replace Mum and I won’t forget her, but is it wrong that I love Chad’s mum with my whole heart and I want to be with her?”
He felt a stirring in his chest. “No, love. That’s exactly how I feel.”
Now to convince Madeline of that.
“Macey and I talked for a long time, and it’s hard to wrap your mind around, but Mum would want us to be happy. She loved us with her whole heart. Chad’s mum makes you and me and Macey and all of us happy. Do you think Chad’s mum would marry us if you asked?”
He had asked, and it hadn’t gone over well, but his heart thumped faster. Madeline thought Kiera would be another obstacle between them, but she wasn’t. Somehow Madeline had only gotten part of the story.
Why had he let her walk away without a goodbye kiss? Without plans? He knew it was the opposite of her ‘take things slow’ approach, but he felt it building within him—he needed to chase after her, make certain she knew how deeply he loved her, how committed he was to figuring out their relationship and their path and their roles, that Kiera and his children loved her and wanted both of them to be happy.
“I don’t know, love,” he said to Kiera. “It might take some time.”
Kiera gave a heavy sigh, but then she pushed at him. “She said she wanted to date. Go date. Go take her to dinner and kiss her and all that stuff. Tell her we can take it slow, but we all love her and want her with us.” She gestured to Tristan, Jennifer, and Macey.
Nolan looked over at his oldest son and two of his daughters-in-law. “All of you?”
“Yes,” Jennifer confirmed. “At Kiera’s insistence, we’ve called everyone else. They all love Madeline and want you to propose.”
Nolan’s heart rate kept increasing.
“And we’ve all seen how happy you’ve been with her here,” Tristan added. “Especially me. She makes our meetings interesting and fun. I don’t know about you, but I missed her today. Could we bring her on as an advisor to the king until you convince her to marry you?”
Nolan let out a short laugh, but then he almost jumped in the air in celebration. “That is a fabulous idea, T. I’m going to go see what she thinks.”
“And tell her you love her, and we love her,” Kiera prompted.
“I will do that.”
