I LOOK OVER AT MEGAN as we drive toward her house. She called to check on Molly right before we left, letting Izzy know that she would be there to get her shortly after lunch. That gave us two hours to fill and I used every second of our time until we had to leave. After last night I’ve been worried that she would be having a hard time, but she’s shown no signs that the pain she held onto for so long is haunting her.
She’s lighter.
Her laughter coming easier and her lips have been curved up since I pulled her from the bed and into the shower.
I can tell she’s holding back a little, that fear of starting something new won’t go away overnight, but she’s ready.
And she’s finally mine.
“How do you think this is going to go?”
She turns her gaze from the window and gives me her eyes. I get a smile before turning my focus back to the road ahead of us.
“Molly?” she asks.
“Yeah, darlin’.”
That smile grows. I can’t see it fully, but even while my eyes are on the road I can hear it in her voice.
“She won’t even blink.”
I laugh, “Meaning?”
“Molly loves easy and hard. She is happy when I’m happy. She enjoys life with a full speed ahead attitude. My guess is that she’s going to be riding the high of me telling her you’re going to be around, a lot, for a long while to come.”
“She’s a great kid,” I voice honestly.
“Yeah,” she sighs.
I reach over and pull her hand over the console and hold it against my lap.
“I won’t make you regret this, giving us a chance. I promise you that I will do everything in my power to drive the three of us on this new path.”
Her hand squeezes mine.
“I know, Lee. For the first time in a really, really long time I’m excited to see what happens next.”
We continue the drive in silence as I hold her hand in my lap.
When I pull up to her house and I watch as she hesitates to leave my truck, I grin and climb out to walk over to her door. She gets down and I laugh to myself as she visibly has to force herself to leave me.
When we get to her door, I pull her into my arms. She doesn’t hesitate to wrap her arms tightly around my back.
“I’ll be back tonight, darlin’. If you think that Molly isn’t ready for that, you call and we will try tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
“You’re going to have to walk through that door, baby. If I had my way I wouldn’t let you go, but one step at a time.”
“Okay,” she says into my chest.
“Give me a kiss,” I demand.
Her head comes up, “Okay, Lee.”
When her lips touch mine, that smile never slips.
“See you tonight.”
She nods and I wait for her to unlock her door, getting another grin before she shuts the door. I stand there for a second before I walk back to my truck and pull out of her driveway.
I’ve been ready for this moment for what seems like a lifetime and now that I have it, I’m nervous as hell. Not for what I’m building with Megan, but with the unknown that Molly is. She’s been through so much in her short life that I don’t want to rush my presence in her life. I don’t want her to feel like I’m taking her father’s place either. In all the times that I’ve been around her while Dani was watching her, she didn’t even blink around the men that came around. Nate and Zac had often sat in on our tea parties and she ate that attention up.
But, there’s a big difference between playtime while she’s with Dani and a man being in her everyday life.
In all my plans to make Megan mine, I never doubted a single step. I never feared that it wouldn’t work and I was never nervous.
Funny that all it takes is one five-year-old girl to have me breaking out in a sweat.
My thoughts are interrupted when my phone’s ringer starts coming through the truck speakers. Looking at the display in my dash, I see Dani’s name come up.
“Hey,” I answer.
“She just called Mom to tell her she would be there in thirty minutes to get Molly. Mom called me to let me know that. Now I know she isn’t with you . . . so spill!”
“You get that I have a dick and gossip sessions don’t apply to me, right?”
“Shut the hell up and tell me!” she huffs.
I flick my blinker and head toward my house while I process my thoughts and for the first time, I don’t tell Dani everything. My promise to Megan and the relationship we’re building means more to me than anything else in my life. Even the best friend that knows every single thing about me.
“I’m having dinner with her and Molly tonight.”
“Uh,” she falters. “Is that it?”
“That’s all you’re going to get.”
“Seriously?” she gasps.
“Love you, Dani, but last night Megan finally, thank Christ, broke through the chains that have been holding her captive and those moments are for her and me alone.”
“Oh my God,” she wheezes. “That is so beautiful.”
I roll my eyes.
“If she lets you in, then good. I’ll be happy with the outcome either way because right now I know she’s moving on and we’re going to do that together. It’s good, Dani. Really good.”
“I’m so happy for you, Lee.”
“Thanks, babe.”
“How do you feel about tonight? Nervous? You are, aren’t you?”
“Dani, I’m out of my mind, could puke, nervous.”
She laughs and proceeds to spend the rest of my ride home talking my nerves down.