AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nora froze, her eyes shifting from Evie to Lawson. “What?”
“Atticus dropped by. I’ll fill you in on the details later. For now, all that matters is that no one is going to take her away from us ever again.”
Nora stared at him for a long moment, wishing she could read his mind; wanting desperately to know what he knew. Instead, she saw only comfort in his brown eyes. For now, that would have to be enough.
“I thought she was takin’ me to see daddy,” Evie muttered, capturing Nora’s attention. Her bottom lip began to quiver as she confessed, “I tried to run away, but she hurt me. I’m sorry, mommy.”
“Oh, Evie—it’s not your fault,” cooed Nora, reaching up to wipe away her daughter’s tears. “I’m not mad. Mommy was scared. I missed you so much.”
“I missed you, too,” she sniffled.
“But you did good,” said Lawson, snuggling her closer. “You went with the police when they found you, and that was very brave.”
She nodded, sucking in a breath as she wiped at her eyes.
“We love you so much, you know that?” Nora murmured, speaking around the knot in her throat.
Evie nodded again, reaching for another bite of pancake as she replied, “I love you, too.”
It was Lawson who gently brushed away Nora’s tears before suggesting, “How about we finish our dinner and then snuggle up on the couch and watch a movie?”
“I want to do that,” said Evie. She then pointed at Nora’s plate. “Eat, mommy.”
Lawson chuckled and echoed, “Yeah, eat, mommy.”
“Okay, okay—I’m eating.”
She took a bite, and when the sweet bread hit her tongue, she hummed contentedly.
Eight Months Later…
“You ready for this?”
Nora heard the smile in her husband’s voice before she turned to see it with her own eyes. She was smiling, too. Worn out as she was after the last forty-eight hours, she was excited to be home—and she could hardly wait to introduce their daughter to their new son.
“Aunt Darlene told me she’s been askin’ when we’ll be home every hour on the hour since about five minutes after we left,” she replied, amused. “I hope she loves him as much as we do.”
Lawson reached over and squeezed her thigh. “She will.”
They pulled into their driveway not five minutes later, and Nora freed a heavy sigh of relief. They’d moved into their five-bedroom, four-bathroom house not three weeks before. Relocating while nine months pregnant on the tail end of summer had been hard—but they’d endured worse. Fortunately, they’d had plenty of help.
Mitzi, Billie, Jay, Hanna, and Kyra had all taken shifts. Much as she wanted to unpack and settle in her own way, Nora had to make do with the hands of others. Almost everything in the house had been unboxed, hung, stowed, and stored where she pointed. Lawson and his guys did all of the heavy lifting, and Jill—pregnant with her own number two—helped keep Evie entertained and out of the chaos. There were still a few finishing touches she wanted to put on their place, but as she and Lawsonapproached the house, Nora couldn’t deny she was grateful thatthiswas where she got to bring home her perfect baby boy.
Lawson had promised her a dream home. As beautiful as it was, and as much as she loved it, the structure itself and the things in it meant nothing without him and their children. The life they were making together was the real dream come true. She adored every moment of it—even the ugly, messy, imperfect parts. And all the difficult things they’d lived through, including the years they’d spent apart, were what made their little family so strong.
As the garage door lifted, Nora giggled as Evie was revealed. She was standing in the open doorway that led into the mudroom, jumping up and down as she waited for them.
“Mommy and daddy are home! Mommy and daddy are home!” she cried.
“I’ll go settle her down a bit. You’ll bring in Court?”
“Sounds like a plan,” Lawson replied, shifting the truck in park.
Nora barely had a chance to get the door open before Evie was right there. Her feet were bare, her hair was loose, and she was dressed for bed—though Nora doubted she’d be persuaded to go to sleep anytime soon.
“Where is he?”
“Daddy’s gonna bring him inside. But he’s sleepin’, Evie-B, so you’ve got to be quiet so you don’t scare him, okay?”
