I have never really put much thought into having kids, but I could get used to hearing Hope giggle. Moving downstairs, I pull out my cellphone and press send on my mom’s number when I see she’s called a few times.
“Don’t you know how worried we’ve been?” she scolds after the first ring.
“You knew I was driving.” I know my dad isn’t really included in that ‘we’. It’s all my mom; she’s always worried.
“You have Bluetooth,” she mutters, sounding annoyed.
“Ellie and Hope were sleeping, and I’m not gonna answer the phone with the girls in the truck.”
“Oh, God, it’s really happening, isn’t it?” she whispers, making me frown.
“What’s happening?”
“Nothing,” she says quickly. “How’s Ellie feeling, and what’s Hope like?”
“Ellie’s tired, but I think she’s okay. Hope is cute. You’ll love her.”
“I wish it wasn’t so late,” she grumbles, making me smile.
“You can come over tomorrow. If I know Ellie at all, she’s gonna want to head over to the salon in the morning.”
“I can take her,” she says immediately as I pull two of the bags from the back and take them inside.
“Thanks, Mom,” I say sincerely.
“I’m happy to help.”
“Where’s Dad?”
“He’s right here. Hold on,” she says, and I’m sure she is sitting on my dad’s lap, or tucked into his side, where she always is.
“Hey, bud,” I hear his deep voice come over the line.
“Hey, Dad. You busy tomorrow?”
“Nothing’s on the schedule. What’s up?”
“I need to get Ellie some wheels. You got time to go with me?”
“Sure, I’ll bring your mom over in the morning, since I can tell she’s chomping at the bit to meet Hope, and we’ll head out from there.”
“Thanks,” I mumble, taking the two bags up the stairs and setting them in bedroom Ellie chose.
“Anytime. Get some rest and we’ll see you in the morning.”
“See you then,” I say, hanging up and heading back outside. My phone vibrates again, and I look at the screen and shake my head when I see Mellissa’s number pop up, with the emoji of a butcher knife that my sister Ashlyn put next to her name. Mellissa and I dated in high school, and hooked up over the summer one time. I thought maybe she had changed with age and college, but she was a bigger bitch now than she was back then. Pressing ignore on her call, I put my phone in my pocket and take the rest of the stuff into the house. Once I get everything upstairs, both girls are in Ellie’s room lying in bed.
“Thank you for bringing everything in,” Ellie says sleepily.
“No problem.” I shrug, watching as she gets out of bed, and that’s when I realize she’s only wearing a shirt that hangs down to the middle of her thighs. My eyes track her as she walks toward me. Taking in the creamy expanse of her legs and the way her hair looks down over her shoulders, I can picture her walking toward me naked, her hair brushing the tips of her breasts.
“Ax, I wuv your bafftub,” Hope says, bringing me out of my perusal of her mother.
Clearing my throat, I look around Ellie to Hope, who is now standing on the bed and bouncing.
“I’m glad, sweetheart,” I say, and she smiles then hops off the bed, luckily landing on her feet as I rush towards her, feeling my heart in my throat. Picking her up off the ground, I mutter, “Be careful.” Which only seems to make her laugh.
“No jumping on the bed, Angel,” Ellie says, and Hope grins then wiggles out of my hold, running out of the room, past her mom.
“She’s a handful,” Ellie mumbles, looking from the door to me again.
“She’s sweet.” Besides, I was already getting the feeling I was going to have my hands full with both her and her mother. “You look beat.”
“I am, but Hope wants to sleep in her bed, so I’m gonna go get it set up for her,” she says yawing turning towards the door.
“Already done,” I say to her back.
Stopping, she turns to look at me over her shoulder, and something works within her gaze, but her head dips before I’m able to decipher it.
“Thanks,” she mumbles, walking out of the room. Following her to Hope’s door, I stop behind her. “She’s already asleep,” she whispers, tilting her head back to look at me. Tipping my chin toward her, I place my hand on her shoulder then reach around her with my other hand to shut off the light. “You even found her a nightlight,” she whispers, almost like she’s in awe.
Roaming my hand down her arm, I rest it on her waist, giving her a squeeze. This time she doesn’t flinch, but shivers. “Go to bed, babe you need to rest.”
“Okay.” She swallows, and I notice a pinkness to her cheeks that wasn’t there before as she stops at her bedroom door.
“I’m right down the hall if you need me. Do you remember the code for the house?”
“Zero-four-zero-three,” she says, nodding.
“Good girl.” I smile, reaching up and running my finger down her cheek, watching her eyes slide half closed from my touch. “Mom and Dad will be here in the morning.”
“Oh.”
“Mom said she would take you to the salon if you want to go.”
“I do.” Her face brightens.
“I had a feeling you would want to.” I smile as she yawns again. “Get some sleep.”
“Goodnight, Jax,” she says quietly, walking into her room.
“Night, Ellie,” I murmur, watching her door close before heading down the hall to my room. The minute I’m inside, I kick off my boots and take off my jeans and tee then go into the bathroom. Something inside of me settles into place…something I didn’t even know I had been looking for all along.
I knew about the ‘Boom’; every man in my family knew about it from the time they were little. Most of us chalked it up to some old wives tale, but that doesn’t mean I hadn’t been hoping it would happen to me one day. I grew up watching the way the men in my family were with their wives, knew the strength of their relationships and the bonds they shared, how rare it actually was to have something run so deep, something that nothing could ever come between.
I know I now have that under my roof; I just need to convince Ellie of the same thing. I need to show her our future could be beautiful if she’d give it a chance. With that thought, I go to bed hoping that one day Ellie will be climbing into bed next to me while our kids sleep down the hall.
Chapter 2
Ellie
Opening my eyes, I close them again when I realize I haven’t been dreaming. I’m really at Jax’s house in Tennessee. Sitting up and putting my feet on the floor, I stretch before standing. I don’t want Hope to wake up Jax, and my daughter—though I love her more than anything in this world—is loud. I don’t think she has ever gotten the concept of her inside voice. Opening my door and looking down the hall towards Jax’s room, I see his door is open, but he’s not awake. At least, I don’t think so.