“Yeah,” I breath into the phone, feeling my heart race as I walk toward my awaiting car. “I may have just stormed the castle, confessed my biggest fears and got kissed by the prince.”

  “Excuse me?” Emma genuinely sounds confused. “Are we talking literal or are you playing dress up with the girls again?”

  “The castle, or the doctor’s office, fears, would be him leaving and breaking our hearts and the kiss, yep, Jay is the prince and he kissed me.” I say it all in one breath, as I practically fall into the driver’s seat and rest my head back against it. “I’m convinced at this point that if he doesn’t have me committed, they should pull his medical license.”

  Emma laughs.

  “I’ve managed to fall apart in his presence more times than I can count. I bit his head off for giving my girls the greatest memory and then I show up at his office, during business hours, so I can snot all over his shirt. I’m sure he kissed me to shut me up. I mean he could have just told me to stop, though I’m not sure I could have. I’ve always had a problem shutting up around him. But this isn’t high school anymore, I am not a teenager with raging hormones, I’m a⁠—,”

  “Shut up,” Emma interrupts me and I press my lips together tightly. “Thank you,” I sense her smile. “First off, you are crazy but it’s why we love you so much and second the man kissed you because he is still in love with you.”

  I close my eyes tightly.

  “So with all that being said, where did you leave things?”

  “I may have told him I had to get to work, which isn’t a complete lie, but really it was more because I needed time to get my head straight.”

  “What’s to get straight? He’s hot, you are hot, be hot together.”

  “Why did I call you?” I smile feeling better already.

  “Because you needed someone to tell you to stop analyzing everything and live a little. It’s okay to feel excited. You are a momma and a great one at that, but you are also a woman with needs. Be a little naughty.”

  “And now I am going to end this call and go to work for a bit.”

  “You could ask him to join you.”

  “Yep, because him being there as a distraction would solve everything.” I end the call laughing at how a conversation with one of my best friends however ridiculous it may be, can clear my head.

  nineteen

  . . .

  Jayson

  “Evan is me all over again.” Eric grabs his beer and lifts it to his lips taking a long pull. “My mom always said one day I’d have my own kids and then she’d be able to look at me and laugh. She’d be able to say how does it feel Eric, having gray hair before your thirty fifth birthday. I thought she was crazy because I wasn’t a bad kid.”

  I chuckle and hurry to cover my mouth with the back of my hand.

  “He’s me times twelve,” he widens his eyes. “I never thought about clogging the bathroom sinks then turning on all the faucets and leaving the bathroom. Or putting chewing gum on the bottoms of all the door handles.”

  I try not to laugh, but it’s impossible.

  “Then today I get a call from Principal Walsh,” he hangs his head. “Lemon used to be so nice.”

  “She’s still nice,” he’s having difficulty with the fact she held the fate of his nine-year-old son in her hands.

  “Don’t teachers and principals and disciplinarians know when they give young kids detention and community service activities, they aren’t only punishing the kids but the parents too?”

  “Well, that might be the point.”

  “I didn’t tell him to cover Mr. Reed’s seat with a layer of shoe polish. I sure as hell didn’t supply the materials and come on, super glue on the eraser in old lady Harper’s boring ass music class.”

  Ms. Harper was boring. She’s got to be ninety by now. I’m surprised she is still teaching.

  “I sat across from Lemon, her scowling at me. I felt like I was ten all over again and being forced to scrub the dirty words off the bathroom stalls after I forget to hide the marker.”

  This time I do laugh, he asked for it though.

  “All I could do was sit there, curled into myself as Principal Lemon Walsh narrowed her eyes at me. It was like she was trying to break me.”

  “Did she?” I lose it, leaning back in the booth enjoying this too much.

  “Seriously, Jay,” he adds. “It was torture.”

  “You were a heathen so it seems right your spawn would also bare horns.”

  “I blame Kerry,” he says holding his hands out to his sides like it’s so obvious.

  “Of course you would,” Eric was trouble. He was the class clown, the dare devil, pushing the limits at every turn. My mother disliked him with a passion, but my mother is the most judgmental person I know. Gramps thought he was a riot, though he’d never tell him that to his face. He had to play the responsible adult, but there were so many times I’d hear him laughing while he and Grams discussed the most recent round of trouble Eric had found him in.

  “So what did Evan get as punishment?”

  “Three weeks detention, one with Mr. Reed, the other with Harper, then a third week with Lemon in her office where he will write letters of apology to not only the staff but the student’s education he interrupted with his acts of rebellious behavior.”

  My laughter only grows louder.

  “Dude, he's nine.”

  “Perfect time to set an example,” now I sound like my parents.

  “Who are you?” He asked wrinkling his forehead. “You wait until you have kids,” immediately I imagine Zoey and I with a houseful of little ones. “I’ll be the cool uncle terrorizing them and persuading them to do insane things so your forced to sit there and scratch your head. I’m telling you they come up with crazy ass stuff. Things I didn’t even think of when I was their age.”

  “You came up with some real off the wall shit.”

  “I know,” he lifts his beer taking a drink as he nods his head. “And I’m impressed, that should tell you something.”

  We finish dinner, and another beer before we decide to call it a night. Eric has to go home and face the music with Kerry. She knows who is truly to blame for Evan and his need to be a prankster. Eric does too, but he finds it easier to play innocent.

  We step outside and the humid air hits me. River End is our go to place, it has all the good food to go with a cold beer and its right on the water. You can get there by boat, or car. Wishing I’d gone for option one, because a ride along the river would feel nice right about now.

  “Dr. Lincoln,” I turn around to find Zoey’s parents standing behind me, about to entire the restaurant.

  “Luann,” I hold out my hand and take hers offering a gentle shake. Turning my attention to her father feeling his eyes boring into me before I even acknowledged him. “Thomas,” I offer holding out my hand and waiting for his. The way he watches me, like he’s picking me apart piece by piece dissecting every molecule, I’ll admit its eerie.

  When he places his hand in mine and offers a firm shake, he continues to watch me.

  “It’s good to see you both again.” At the birthday party for the twins, Thomas watched me much like he is now. When I was younger, he did the same, and I find myself wondering how a man like Carson could have snuck by without Zoey’s dad breaking him down. Even now after all he put his daughter through, I’d imagine him with blocks tied to his ankles and him being tossed in the river. Thomas Harding is a difficult man, those piercing eyes; it’s hard to determine just what he is thinking. When you try, at least when I try, my mind goes to some scary places.

  “My granddaughters seem to be quite fond of you.” Luann smiles at me. She is much easier to read. Either she likes you or she doesn’t but rarely does she dislike anyone, she’s always reminded me of Zoey.

  “I’m pretty fond of them too,” I tell her and can’t help but smile when I picture Riley and Regan.

  I notice Luann look at her husband just before she elbows him in the side and for the first time, he glances away from me and looks at his wife, smiling at her. “Why don’t you give me and Jayson a few minutes?” My stomach tenses, as Eric bids us a goodbye, and walks off before I can stop him.

  Traitor.

  “I’m sure Jayson has things to do, he doesn’t want to stand around talking to us all evening.” I have to give it to her, she tries.

  “I’ll only be a minute. I’ll meet you in the car.” He assures his wife with a kiss to her cheek before hurrying her along.

  We both watch as she walks away, continuing to look back over her shoulder like she’s afraid to get too far away.

  “The three of them do not need another fly by night guy.” Thomas says this into the darkness while continuing to watch his wife walk toward their car. I stare at his side profile and for the first time I see the concern in his expression. “They don’t need to get wrapped up with someone who doesn’t put them first. What they do need is a man who is dedicated to making them happy. Someone that spends every single day doing all he can to make them each smile and laugh.”

  I feel for the guy. To be a father and watch your daughter go through heartache would be torture.

  He finally looks away from the direction Luann walked off to and his stare locks on mine once again. “Can you do that Jayson? Can you be that man?”

  I nod, feeling my throat grow tight. “Because if you can’t then I’m asking you man to man, walk away before they get hurt more than they’ve already been. I’m not sure I can watch her go through all the heartache and pain again and I think we both know with you it will be so much harder on her than with him.”

  “Walking away is not an option,” I tell him. “I don’t think I’ve ever stopped loving your daughter sir. We may have been young, but no one has ever made me feel the things she does. My heart is still hers, and I know now it always will be. Now after meeting those girls I can safely say there is nothing, not a person, place or thing that could make me walk away.”

  I meant it, Riley and Regan are not mine, but I feel an attachment to them that cannot be explained.

  “They make me feel alive. They make me want to build a life here, they give me hope and when I see my future, I see the three of them, right here with me in Magnolia Grove. I’ll tell you what I told Zoey, I am not Carson. I’m not going anywhere and I hope like hell she gives me the chance to show her what life could be like with me. I don’t just want Zoey; I want all three of them.”

  twenty

  . . .

  Zoey

  Thank God for Gigi and her slumber parties with the girls. It’s adorable actually, all in their matching pajamas and slippers. They bake, do crafts, and camp out on a huge air mattress in the middle of her family room where they watch movie after movie until they pass out.

  It’s a beautiful tradition, one that the memories I know will last the girls a lifetime.

  It also gives me a little me time. Mostly I end up spending it at my shop, feeling creative as I dig into my backlog of never-ending projects. I’m one of those people who watches Pinterest to get ideas so I can turn around, put my own twist on them and sell them in my shop.

  So many items within Zoey’s Treasures started with me scrolling through one site or the other, even a picture in a magazine. With a glass of wine, and a tray of cheese and crackers I buckle down and work until my eyes grow heavy.

  During the time I was with Carson I barely worked on the things I love. He’d complain and honestly made me feel like my talents were only a waste of time and money. But since the girls were born and I moved back to Magnolia Grove, those talents have provided for Riley and Regan. I do alright for myself, and it’s what I love to do.

  My phone chimes from the table at my side and I half expect to have yet another goofy photo sent by Gigi. She’s recently discovered Snapchat and my phone gets flooded when the girls are with her.

  Waking it I’m surprised to find a text message from Jay instead. My heart immediately starts to race, remembering the last time I saw him. I left his office, feeling like a fool once again but smiling because he’d kissed me.

  I was thrust into my teenage years all over again when the sweet older guy kissed me outside the gym after a basketball game. That’s where it all started. Those kisses, they were always my favorite. They still seem to affect me the same.

  Jay: Brought you dinner.

  I swivel around in my chair, almost like I expect him to be standing there behind me. The shop is locked up, and I’m alone.

  Jay: I was hoping you’d let me in so we can share.

  Standing I hurry to smooth my hair and run my hand over my face. Swiping beneath my eyes, wondering if my mascara has run. My pulse quickens with excitement as I walk toward the door that leads to the front of the store.

  There he stands, holding up two bags, smiling at me through the solid glass door.

  Never once in all the times I was with Carson did he ever make me feel the way Jay does.

  I’d be lying to myself if I thought for a second that anyone has.

  When I reach the door, I turn the lock and push open the door.

  “Sandwiches from the deli,” he holds up one bag. “Desert from the bakery.” He offers by gently tipping the other from side to side.

  “Turtle cheesecake?”

  His smile widens, and the dimple in his right cheek grows more noticeable. “As if I’d show up here without your favorite.”

  He remembers and I don’t know why I ever thought he wouldn’t. If there was one thing he was good at, it was spoiling me. I guess he still is.

  When he steps inside, he leans in pressing a kiss to my cheek as he passes.

  “How did you know I’d be here?” I ask him as I follow behind.

  “Ran into Emma and Mattie at the store,” placing the bags on the counter he looks back over his shoulder. “She told me you’d be here eating cheese and crackers, drinking wine and playing the radio loudly.” He looks around as if in search of something. “She was right about two out of three.”

  “I had the radio on until Gigi called because the girls wanted to show me the cookies they baked.”

  He nods, “Chocolate chip?”

  “Riley made hers with M&Ms, Regan used Reese’s.” I correct. “Never met a kid the loves peanut butter the way Regan does. She eats it right out of the container with a spoon. Puts in on everything, celery, bread, hot dogs.”

  “Hot dogs?” Jay asks wrinkling up his nose.

  “Yup.” It grosses me out but she swears its good. I’ll take her word for it, because, well, yuck.

  “So what are you working on tonight?” Jay walks over to the large table in the middle of the room and looks down at the items scattered over the top.

  “Just a few door designs.” Suddenly I feel self-conscious as he looks over each design. “These are great,” he drags his finger over the edge of one of them. “Are they all handprinted?”

  “I use vinyl guides.” I point to the walk where I have so many different baskets. “I have a pattern for each one, but I change up the colors and the bows. I hate the idea of someone having the exact one as someone else, even though they all say welcome. This one is cow themed.” I point to the one toward the end with the cow pattern ribbon laying by its side. “It says Hey Y’all instead of Welcome and I do it in turquoise to add a little splash of color. This one is leopard, but do the words in red.”

  “I think Grams has one on her door similar to these.”

  “Hers say come on in, everyone is welcome.” I smile remembering when doc came in and bought it for her. “Your grandfather bought it for her about a year ago and I’ve never seen her take it down.”

  Jay looks back at the designs on the table and nods his head, saying nothing, as if lost in thought.

  “There was one at the office too,” I add trying to bring him out of his thoughts. “One side said the doctor is in, and when you flipped it over it said out instead.”

  “You made that?”

  “Yeah,” I offer him a smile. “Riley got the chicken pox and then Regan did, doc was so good with them both. They wanted to get him a thank you gift so we made the reversible one for him and they delivered it after they both got better.”

  “It’s hanging in the front window of his personal office,” Jay says. “My office now, but Georgia said it’s always been on in.”

  “Because he was always available,” we say in unison.

  Doc Lincoln would take care of his patience no matter what time of day or night. He’d climb out of bed at two in the morning and stay with them for twenty-four straight hours if he had to.

  “Do you mind if I stay?” He turns completely around to face me, leaning back against the table behind him. “Unless you prefer to work alone.”

  “Company would be nice.” In reality it was only because it was him who was asking to stay. Most of the time I do prefer to work alone. Truth is, Jay didn’t make me feel like what I do here in nonsense, he genuinely seems interested.

  twenty-one

  . . .

  Jayson

  “It’s four bedrooms,” Verna says as she pushes out the front door and we step inside. “Two full baths, with a half bath just off the kitchen.” I follow her through the home as she continues to go over all its features. “There was an addition made onto the house about a year ago, giving you a nice seating area and the large walk-in pantry.”

  One call to Grams and the next thing I know I’m lined up with Verna her lifelong friend. The woman loves every little detail about Magnolia Grove and thinks everyone should live here. She’s never been married but has been with Miles, her entire adult life. He owns a small bait shop on the water, where he sells lures he makes by hand.

  The large home with the wrap around porch on the water is the first house she’s shown me that feels like it could be made into a home. If I’m being honest, I’ve imagined Zoey and the twins in every single place I’ve seen and for the first time I can actually picture them running through the hallways, laughing, and squealing.