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Lily nods enthusiastically and says, “Yes. And my brudder.”
“Well let’s find them,” I say with a huge smile.
Gage lifts her under the arms and eases her onto his shoulders. When her hands grip the side of his head, he winces but doesn’t say anything. There are few steps for us to take until we’re back near the park. As we walk past a few people and round the corner of a large building, we spot a woman crying while clutching a boy to her side. Two uniformed officers are standing with her.
“Mommy!” Lily shouts, drawing the attention of the group. The woman rushes to us and Gage lifts his passenger up and sets her feet on the ground.
“Lily. Oh baby. Are you okay?”
“Yep. Gage put me in duh air. Like flying.”
Stepping close to me, Gage laces our fingers together. I can see the concern in the mother’s face as she scans her daughter, touching each inch of her arms while peppering her with kisses.
“Thank you for helping her.”
“Mommy, Gage is a peaceman. He doesn’t have his form cause him on cation.”
The woman smiles lovingly at her daughter and then stands to face us. “I can’t thank you enough, Officer. I turned my back for less than ten seconds. Lily is my adventurous child. I should have known better than to take my eyes off her.”
“I’m glad we could help.” Gage drops my hand and kneels down to Lily’s height again. “Lily, next time make sure your mommy knows where you’re going, okay? You don’t want her to get lost again.”
“Kay. Tanks, Gage.”
Taking my hand again, he ruffles the top of Lily’s head and then leads me to the walking path toward the food trucks. When we’re close enough to smell the dough of the fried balls of joy, I tug Gage to a stop.
Maybe it was seeing him being so sweet to Lily or his ability to see what I need when I’m unable to articulate my feelings. Regardless of the why, I don’t want donuts and I don’t want to be around all these people anymore. I want time with only Gage.
“I changed my mind. I don’t need donuts.”
His brows furrow in confusion. “Did you want something else?”
“Let’s just go home.”
He knows my nervous tell and I know his “I want to ask a million questions” tell. It’s the look on his face now. A slight tilt of his head and a clenched jaw. He may actually be biting his tongue to give me a mini interrogation. I talked about nothing but these damn donuts the entire drive here. Now that they’re within reach, they don’t hold as much appeal as the man before me.
Chapter 39
Gage
Sophia has been quiet the entire drive home. At one point I thought she may be asleep but then I hear her singing along to the music. When Van Morrison starts singing about his brown-eyed girl, I reach across the seat and take her hand. Her lips lift to a smile as she sings along.
Driving home from anywhere always seems to drag. Except this time. Maybe it’s because Sophia called Starlight Ridge home or because we shared a moment helping Lily. No matter the reason, time flies by and, as we exit the highway, Sophia sits up in her seat and pulls my hand onto her leg.
I slept with her in my arms only two nights ago and although we spent today holding hands and kissing, I wasn’t sure if she felt something for me or if this was all one-sided. Something about this simple gesture of moving our hands gives me hope. Not that I’m expecting anything to happen between us beyond the kissing we’ve done.
It’s a clear night and while we may not see the fireworks from Serenity, there are a few other small towns over the mountain that have shows too. Hopefully, sitting out by the fire pit will give us a view of at least something. Unless...
“What are you doing?” she asks as I pull to the side of the road.
“Am I taking you to The Bluebird? I didn’t want to assume...”
Unbuckling her seatbelt, she slides across the bench seat and runs her hand over my short hair before leaning in to kiss me. This isn’t a sweet peck. It’s a passionate kiss that has me contracting my abs, trying to keep myself from getting hard. When her lips move from mine to my ear I almost lose all self-control. As if that wasn’t enough, she ups the ante and says, “Take me to the cabin, Gage.”
Now the drive home is never-ending as I drive the three miles to the cabin. I put the truck in park and am stunned when Sophia slides back to the passenger side and jumps from the truck. She’s walking backward. looking at me with a smile that touches something deep inside me. I carefully placed brick barriers around the deepest and darkest parts of me, but with that one look, a few are falling in chunks.
Stepping out of the truck, I take one step and stop when a boom blasts above. We both look to the sky as it lights up in bright colors and crackles into sparkles. The awe on her face is something to behold. It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. No matter what happens between us when we leave Starlight Ridge, this woman has changed me.
Crossing the space between us, I scoop her up in my arms. Her laughter chips at another brick as she wraps her legs around my waist. Before I move us to the porch, I stop and say, “Fireworks or...”
