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When her eyes filled with tears, a knot the size of a cannon ball lodged itself into his own throat. “Promise?” she whispered.
He nodded, not trusting his voice in the slightest.
“So, you’re my daddy now?”
She blinked, sending two large tears down her cheeks, and he cleared his throat in an effort to regain his voice. Only one woman had ever made him cry. Not for the first or the last time, he knew exactly why Nora-Jean called Evelyn her mini-me.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied gruffly.
She tried to smile, but her tears won, causing her face to crumble as she fought to regain her composure.
“Why you cryin’, pretty girl?” asked Lawson, grazing the back of his fingers down her wet cheeks.
“I’m so happy,” she whimpered. “Don’t tell mommy, ‘cause I don’t want her to be sad, but I always wanted a daddy.”
“Oh, baby girl,” he muttered, pressing his lips against her forehead. He sealed his eyes closed tight, fighting his own tears as he mumbled, “You got one now.”
It took him a second to get himself together. When he did, he was quick to get behind the wheel. After that exchange, he was even more anxious to get his move underway. It was time for him to come home—once and for all.
It didn’t take more than a couple hours for Lawson and Judge to empty out his apartment. Most of his stuff had already been packed, and he didn’t have much. His bed they dismantled, and he took it and his couch back to his parents’ house, to be stored in his father’s shed. The boxes he’d filled were taken to Nora’s. The clothes he planned on putting away as soon as she told him where she wanted them. Everything else he kept—a few pots and pans, a couple dishes—he’d let her decide if she wanted them around. If she didn’t, he’d get rid of it.
The one thing he intended to keep was his big screen TV.
He was in the process of hooking up the seventy-inch television when Nora finally returned home, late in the afternoon.
“Wow,” she laughed as soon as she stepped inside. “A man definitely lives here now.”
He glanced at her from over his shoulder, a crooked smile pulling at the side of his mouth as he winked at her. “We can put your old one back in the room, if you want. Or we can get rid of it.”
“I’m not attached to it. And you know how I feel about televisions in the bedroom.”
“Right. I’ll take it to Goodwill tomorrow.” Returning to his task, he asked, “How was brunch?”
“Good. Needed,” she replied, discarding her purse and shedding her jacket. She joined him in the living room, sitting on the couch as she watched him. “Where’s Evie?”
“Shit,” he breathed as he stood and turned to face Nora. “I forgot her at my parents’.”
Nora’s eyes got wide. “Youforgotmy daughter?”
Unable to keep a straight face, Lawson laughed as he made his way toward her. “She’s in her room, takin’ a nap.”
“That’s not funny.” In spite of her words, a smile played at her lips as he took the seat next to her.
“Oh, yeah? Why you laughin’?” he teased, tickling her side.
She grabbed his hands and tried her best to keep her laughter buried. She failed. Then when his lips found hers, it wasn’t long before they both forgot what was funny in the first place. He hadn’t meant to linger, but he couldn’t deny her when she parted her lips in invitation. As he dipped his tongue inside her mouth, she let go of his hands in order to drape her arms around his shoulders. He was on the verge of pulling her into his lap when they were interrupted.
“Mommy’s home,” Evelyn chirped.
Lawson and Nora broke apart immediately as they looked her way. She was unfazed by their affection and was quick to close the distance between them and crawl onto Nora’s lap.
“Hi, mini-me. Did you have a good nap?” Nora asked, smoothing a few loose strands of hair out of Evelyn’s face.
Evelyn nodded and then pointed across the room. “Look at the big TV daddy got. He said we could watch a movie on it after dinner.”
He’d heard her call him by his new name at least a dozen times that day. She never forgot, andLawsonhadn’t slipped from her lips once since their roadside chat. Nevertheless, it still brought a proud smile to his face, as if it were the first time.
“Daddy?” Nora murmured, her astonishment evident in her tone.
