Not this new version of her.
“We done here?” I ask him.
“Yeah, this is the last box.” He lifts it into his arms and walks out the door.
Before I can stop myself, I jog to the kitchen. I saw her go in there about an hour ago and I’ve been watching for her to come back out. I stand in the doorway and watch as she dips out cookie dough onto a baking sheet. “We’re heading out,” I say, taking a step into the room.
“Oh, um, thanks.” She looks down at the scoop in her hands then back up at me and grins. “I felt like baking.”
“I can see that. I’ll be back at seven, maybe a little before.”
“Great. Sure, that’s great,” she says, and I see her nerves shining through. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one.
“I’ll be here.” My voice holds conviction. She doesn’t realize that the last time I promised her I would be somewhere, I flaked out on her. Not this time. Never again in fact.
“I’ll be ready.” A slight blush coats her cheeks, and I have to force my feet to stay rooted to where I’m standing when all I really want to do is kiss the hell out of her. It’s been too long since I’ve had my lips on hers. I know that’s my own fault. But in a way, I wonder what would have happened if I had shown up that night. Would she still have been in that accident? Would her mom still have fed me some bullshit line about her moving on? Would I have so easily accepted that as our fate? I’d like to think not, but we can’t change the past.
“See you soon.” My voice is husky as I force myself to turn and leave her standing looking sexy as hell in her kitchen.
“What’s up, Kent?” Ridge asks. He and I are in his truck, while Seth, Mark, and Tyler are in the other company truck.
“She has a kid.”
“Yours?”
“The timeline fits.”
“What does she say about it?”
“It’s fucked up, man. She was in an accident and has amnesia or some shit. It’s almost too fucking crazy to be real, but I know her, and she can’t fake this. We were too close for too long.”
“Why didn’t you ever talk about her?”
“I was an idiot,” I mumble, turning to look out the window. There is no other reason or excuse other than I was a complete idiot. I didn’t realize what I had until she was gone. No, that’s not true. I knew what I had, but I was too chicken shit to admit my feelings. I fucked up, plain and simple.
“There’s more to this story.”
I nod. “Yeah, but I’m processing. Hell, I’m not even sure I know the half of it. I’m picking her up at seven and taking her back to my place so we can talk.”
“Anything I can do?” he asks.
“No. I have to deal with this shit, and we have to work it out on our own. I don’t know where to even start.” My phone vibrates in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see a message from my mom asking me if I want to come over for dinner.Me: Sorry, have plans. This weekend?Mom: Sure. Dad says hi.Me: Tell him hi. Love you.I close out of her message, not waiting for her reply, and see the one right below it. The one I sent myself from Delaney’s phone. “Actually,” I say to Ridge as we pull into the shop parking lot. “Take a look.” I open the message and hold the phone up for him.
He stares at it for a long time, before his eyes move away from the phone to focus on me. “Congratulations, brother. She looks just like you.”
“The eyes. She has Delaney’s eyes.”
“You’re going to still test to make sure, right?” he asks.
“Yeah, I mean, we have to at this point. She can’t remember our time together, but I do.” I remember every damn second. “I need to prove it to both of us, and if she is mine, which I think she is, the timeline just fits, I want to get to know her.”
“We’ve got your back. Whatever you need.”
“Thanks. I haven’t told the guys. Can we just… keep this between us at least until after tonight? She and I need to talk about this. We barely touched the surface earlier, and my brain is a jumbled mess. There is so much that’s happened. It doesn’t seem real.”
“Sure thing,” he answers just as Seth knocks on his window, making a goofy face and laughing as he jogs to his truck to start it. “How does Mara put up with him?” Ridge asks, laughing.
“She’s a saint.” With that, I head to my own truck to rush home and get ready.* * *