22. Larkin

After overthinkingand second-guessing myself for hours, I fell asleep, monitor on my nightstand, blankets pulled tightly around me. But it wasn’t Jackson’s crying that woke me this morning. It was the sound of water running in the kitchen.

My eyes widened and I jumped out of bed, worried Emily had wandered to the kitchen, trying to cook or make one of her “potions” without me.

But when I rushed in, I found Knox in a spotless kitchen, Jackson on one hip, a dish being rinsed in his other hand.

In fact, every room I could see in this tiny house looked tidier than it had since I’d moved in. Leftover moving boxes were gone, blankets in the living room were carefully thrown over my couch or folded in a basket. Even the floor was clear of crumbs under my bare feet.

I stared in awe at Knox and then caught the time on my microwave. It was past nine, the latest I’d slept in months.

“Knox... what... is going on?”

Jackson reached for me, and I took him in my arms, still in shock. Knox handed me a mug full of coffee and said, “I know you said the last thing you needed was more messes to take care of. So I thought I would give you the first thing you needed. A fresh slate.”

My eyes felt hot, and I blinked quickly. “But I can’t—”

He stepped closer, brushing his calloused hand over my arm. “I don’t expect anything in return.”

“Then why are you doing this?” I asked. It didn’t make sense to me. Seth had taught me that no one did anything unless they wanted something in return.

He looked down, blue eyes on the linoleum kitchen floor, then met my gaze. “I know you’re not ready for what I said last night. But I’m not ready to let you go.”

That’s what he thought? That I simply wasn’t ready? The truth was, Seth and I had been over for a long time before the divorce, struggling before I ever knew of his infidelity. “It’s not about me,” I said. My voice was a whisper as I admitted, “If it was only me, I never could have held back last night.”

I was playing with fire, laying my heart on the line in front of him. But I couldn’t be the only person holding back here. If he knew my reasons, he could help me maintain the distance my heart was fighting to break down.

“The kids...” he said slowly.

I nodded, looking at Jackson. He was watching us both. “They’ve lost so much already. They can’t lose the one person who’s made them happiest since we’ve moved here.” I brushed my hand over Jackson’s brown locks and then kissed his forehead.

Jackson opened his mouth, giving me a sloppy kiss on my cheek, and I couldn’t help but smile as I held him tight. “I love you too, sweetie. More than anything.”

When I met Knox’s gaze, there was an understanding there, but something else too that I couldn’t quite recognize.

Knox said, “Sit down. I’ll make you breakfast.”

“But...”

“Just once. Let someone take care of you.”

My eyes watered as I nodded and went to the small table off the kitchen.

He’d come back. And he hadn’t given me what I thought I wanted. He’d given me exactly what I needed.

Emily woke up soon after, and we were all eating the breakfast Knox made—pancakes with bacon and eggs—when I heard a knock at the door. I was about to get up to answer it, but Knox said, “I’ll answer it. You finish your breakfast.”

I smiled as I watched him retreat to the door. He had no right to have such a good heart and look so damn good in jeans and a T-shirt. And I had no right to think about him that way when I was fighting to keep my distance. But Knox Madigan was impossible to ignore.

But then he pulled the door back, and I heard a familiar voice say, “Knox, what are you doing here?”

“Seth?” I asked.

Emily screamed, “DADDY!”