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Chapter 18

Eighteen

Damon

The next day, I barely heard any of the words in our meetings. At lunchtime, the main event was over, so I shook some hands and then took off. It was a four-hour drive back to Refuge Falls. When I got there about five in the afternoon, I went right to the station and to Isla.

I found her, Mrs. Friendly, and Fred in the dispatch room. When she saw me, she smiled. But I was in it for more than a smile.

She stood up. “Hey.”

I wrapped my arms around her and held her tightly, not caring that anyone else was there.

Fred let out a low sigh. “Young love.”

Isla laughed and then pulled back, her cheeks turning red. “Hey. I’m still at work.”

I met Mrs. Friendly’s gaze and couldn’t help but chuckle at her expression. She looked confused but happy for us.

I pulled away and then said, “What can I bring for dinner?”

She looked slightly embarrassed, but she said, “All I have is spaghetti. You could bring some sides.”

It dawned on me that she probably didn’t have money for much. She’d mentioned that she was painting to get money off some rent, and I knew she didn’t have extra. “Okay. I will meet you over at your home. What time?”

She shrugged and smiled brighter. Her cheeks were still aflame. “How about six thirty?”

I nodded and then left the room. I looked around the station but didn’t see anyone I needed to talk to, so I got back in my SUV and headed to my house. Once there, I quickly showered and changed and then picked up some nicer clothes for the boys. I imagined that they probably needed to be cleaned up a bit.

I headed to the grocery store and picked up some bread and salad. Then I decided to pick up a few basics in case she needed them to get her by until her first paycheck came in. Maybe it was too much, but I wanted to do this for her. Although I wasn’t sure how she would react.

When I got to my parents’ house, I was surprised to find the boys both showered and dressed in clean clothes. They were excited to see me, and we all hugged.

“How was your conference, Dad?” Trent asked.

“Yeah. How was your conference?” Jason asked.

I picked both up and swung them around. “Not as good as being here right now. Are you guys ready for dinner?” I had told them last night that we would be going to Isla’s house for dinner.

They both yelled, “Yes!”

I put them down and then faced my mom and dad, who looked happy.

My mother moved to the kitchen counter and held up a plate with foil over it. “I made you cookies to take.”

Her famous cookies were incredible. “You didn’t have to do that.” I took them.

She moved in and kissed my cheek, then hugged me for a second. “I wanted to.”

My father patted me on the shoulder. “I’m glad you two are picking up somewhere.” His tone seemed questioning. “You could tell your parents more if you wanted to.”

I couldn’t help but smile and feel coy. “I’m hoping I can tell you more after tonight. Thank you so much for watching the boys. Truly, you both know I couldn’t do these things without you.” I always felt totally humbled and grateful to them.

My mom waved a hand in dismissal. “We love to have sleepovers with our grandkids. It’s our privilege.”

My father ruffled the boys’ hair. “And then they get to help me around the garden.”

Trent looked up at me. “We helped Uncle Noah too a lot.”

Jason nodded. “A lot. He paid us each five dollars.” He tugged the five dollars out of his pocket to show me.

“He did? That was nice of him.”

Jason picked up the duffel bag that I had sent them with their clothes in it. “It wasn’t nice of him. We worked hard.”

We started moving toward the door, and I held it open for them. “I’m sure you did.” I gave my parents a wink.

“Call me tomorrow,” my mother said.

“You bet.” I walked out the door, and my parents followed us through it, watching us go from the porch.

My father called out, “Don’t forget we’re boating Saturday afternoon. You can invite Isla if you want.”

I thought about that. All my brothers and sister would be there. I called back, “Maybe.” But I already knew I would invite her. Of course I would.

We got into the SUV, and the boys asked me a million questions about Isla and what her house was like and what we would be eating. By the time we got there, I was ready to let them loose on the property for a little bit. First, I made them help me carry in some groceries.

“Why are we getting her groceries?” Jason asked.

I gave him a stern look. “Because we want to. She’s new in town, and she needs to stock up.”

Trent hefted a grocery bag in his little arms. “Because we’re nice to people, right, Dad?” he said, looking pointedly at Jason.

It made me smile, and I nodded. “Yes. Because we’re nice to people.”

We got to the front door, and I knocked. When she answered, I noticed that she had changed into a yellow sundress. She had lipstick on, and her blonde hair was styled around her face. I could smell spaghetti sauce wafting out from the kitchen.

Her eyes opened wide as she grinned at the boys and at me. “Oh my gosh. The Armstrong boys are here, and they’ve brought a lot of stuff for me. Come on in.” She patted their shoulders as they walked in.

Jason asked, “Is this where you live?”

She chuckled. “This is where I live.”

I offered her the plate of cookies and a bunch of groceries. “It smells great. My mom sent cookies.”

She took the cookies, leaned up, and kissed my cheek. Then she pulled back quickly and looked worried. “Can I do that?” she whispered, pointing to the kids.

I nodded and then leaned in and kissed her cheek. “Yes, you can.” Which was funny, because I had been careful about anyone I dated in the past. Not that I had dated a lot of people, but I’d never exposed my kids to them. But with her, I wasn’t worried.

We moved into the kitchen and put all the groceries on the table.

Jason moved to the sliding glass door window. “You have a big backyard.”

She smiled and said, “You can go out there if it’s okay with your dad. There’s an old barn, and there’s not much in there, but you can look at it if you want.”

Jason turned to me. “Can we, Dad?”

I was more than ready to let them go run for a bit. “Yes, but don’t get dirty yet. I’ll let you explore more after dinner. Right now, just about ten minutes, I think.” I turned to her for confirmation.

She nodded. “That will be about right.”

The boys ran out the door and shut it hard behind them.

Instantly, I turned to her and took her into my arms. For a second, I just held her. I sniffed her neck, breathing in the scent of lemon.

She giggled and then pulled back. “I missed you too.”

For a second, I hesitated; then I hugged her again.

“Are you sure you want to hug in front of them?”

I let her go and shrugged. “I think I’m the one who hugged you.” I frowned. “Have you felt like someone was here while you were gone today?”

She shook her head. “No. I hope I was being paranoid and someone just turned around in the driveway last night.”

“I hope so too.”

She hurried back into the kitchen to stir the sauce, and then she moved the noodles off the stove and carried them to the sink. “Would you mind helping me with this? I don’t have a strainer yet.”

I moved to the sink, casually taking the pot out of her hands and draining the water. “I should’ve thought about bringing you stuff like that. What do you need?”

She started sorting through the grocery bags, taking things out. “Damon, you shouldn’t have brought all this stuff for me. I’m just waiting for payday.”

I wished I had brought her more. I put the noodles down and then turned on the cold water. “Do you want me to rinse these?”

She nodded. “That would be great.” She continued to pull stuff out and put things away.

I noticed that the cupboard was bare, and her table was set with paper plates and cups and plastic forks and spoons. “You don’t have dishes?”

Her cheeks turned red. “I guess I didn’t really think through everything I would need when I invited you guys to dinner. I remembered that on my way home and went to the grocery store and bought some stuff. Sorry.”

I was humbled by her willingness to feed me and my kids’ dinner when she barely had anything. So many feelings bubbled up inside of me, and then I suddenly had the thought that maybe I should just marry her. We could build a house down the road from Noah. He’d told me that if I ever wanted to buy an acre of property for my own place, he would be willing to let me.

No. This was too soon. What was I thinking?

After she finished putting away all the groceries, cutting up the bread, and putting the salad out on little plates, I hollered at the boys to come back in.

They weren’t too messy.

Jason grinned and asked, “Where can I go wash up?”

Isla looked surprised and then pointed him down the hallway. “There’s a bathroom down there to the right.” She followed him down the hall, making sure he got there. Trent trailed along after them.

When they got back, we all sat at the table, and she clasped her hands together and asked, “Who wants to say the prayer?”

Both boys’ hands shot up.

Isla looked at me for direction.

I nodded to Jason. “Why don’t you go ahead, son?”

Trent pouted. “He always gets to.”

Jason smiled at him. “Just close your eyes.”

I cocked my eyebrow at Trent. He closed his eyes, and Jason said a simple prayer over the food.

When he finished, Isla’s eyes met mine, and she smiled. Warmth filled me. I was at home. This whole thing felt right.

She stood and said, “You want to come over and dish up your plates?”

The boys both stood, and she helped them dish up. Then she and I filled up our own plates.

We ate for a few minutes until I said, “This is so delicious. Thank you for having us.”

Jason nodded, speaking through a mouthful of spaghetti. “So good.”

Trent grinned at her. “Thank you. We don’t have a mom to cook for us anymore.”

I tensed, and I could see that Isla didn’t know quite what to say. She smiled. “I enjoy cooking, so I’m glad you came.”

I thought about all the things that would come out of my boys’ mouths about their mother sometimes. It wasn’t like we talked about her all that much. But sometimes they would say random things.

Jason took a drink of water. “Our mom went to California to try and be a movie star, but my dad thinks that’s just stupid.”

I knew my cheeks were on fire, but I didn’t want to correct him. It was true.

Isla nodded. “What do you think?”

Jason hesitated and then said, “I miss her.”

Trent said, “I was only two. My grandma says I don’t even remember her, but I do.”

Out of the mouth of babes. I was slightly embarrassed.

“I can understand if you miss her,” Isla said softly. “It’s okay to miss her.”

I was so grateful for her and realized that my kids probably needed some therapy. Who didn’t? I hadn’t really taken time to deal with it.

Isla brightened. “Do you guys want to hear about one of the calls we had today?”

I wasn’t sure if I should intercede and remind her that everything was confidential.

She smiled at them. “We had a lost cat and a lost dog.”

My mind quickly turned to Sonya. I cocked an eyebrow at Isla, and she nodded as if she could read my mind.

“We had to send two officers out,” she went on, “and one officer stepped in some paint that someone had left out, and it went all over him.”

I laughed hard, because I knew she was talking about my brother.

The boys laughed too. Jason asked, “Was it Uncle McCrae?”

She paused. “I’m not allowed to say.” But she couldn’t stop herself from giggling.

That made me and the boys laugh harder.

“The officer came in, and he was really grouchy. He had to go home and get some new clothes, but when he came back, he didn’t even have all the paint out of his hair.”

Another round of laughter went around the table. The weird thing was that it felt like we were already a family.

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