Chapter 19

Nineteen

Isla

The rest of the meal was wonderful with Damon and his two gorgeous kids for company. Having them gathered around my dinner table was the best feeling in the world.

We were just finishing eating the chocolate chip cookies his mother had sent when Jason asked, “Could we explore your barn?”

I shrugged and looked at their father. “If it’s okay with your dad.”

Damon cocked an eyebrow and started. “Let’s go look in this barn. Then we’ll come back and do dishes.”

I grinned at him. “After we throw everything away, there’s not much to do. Let’s just go look.”

The kids got up from the table and ran out into the backyard.

I laughed. “They are so excited.”

Damon walked with me outside and shut the door behind me. “That’s because they are rascals, and they find ways to get into trouble. We’ll just make sure the barn is an okay stomping ground for them.”

He took my hand, and my heart skipped a beat. “Are you sure you’re okay with taking my hand like this in front of your kids?”

A lopsided grin crossed his face. “I’m okay. Which surprises me, because for a long time I have sheltered my kids from anyone I’ve dated. Not that I have dated that many people. Though I have never met anyone I wanted them to get to know.”

My heart felt all warm and gooey. “Are you sure you want them to get to know me? I’m not exactly a person that has an unspotted reputation in town.”

He stopped walking and squeezed my hand a little bit. “None of that.”

I wanted to push it because I didn’t want his kids to get hurt. “Look, I know it’s not my fault, but if they start telling people about me, you know someone is going to let them know my whole story. I don’t want to cause trauma for them.”

He frowned at that. “What about the trauma to you?”

I wasn’t prepared for that question. “You know what I mean. They are children, and they don’t need their dad, who is the police chief, to be dating someone whose father went to prison.”

“That’s for me to worry about.” His frown deepened.

My heart raced, and I reminded myself that the kids were waiting for us.

“I was going to talk to you really quickly about my thoughts on your worries the other night,” he said, changing the subject. “Could my brothers and I install some cameras? They would be hooked up to some apps on our phones.”

I was concerned about that. “Who would be able to look?”

He shrugged. “Anyone you want.”

“Could anyone get access to this? From a different server or anything?”

He shook his head. “Noah is a pro on this stuff, and he would be able to make it just for people that we want.”

I shrugged. “Can I think about it?”

“You bet.”

As if on cue, Jason called out, “Can we go inside the barn?”

“Yep.” Damon began walking with me toward the barn; our hands were still linked together. I was grateful for the brave front he was putting on, so we didn’t worry the kids.

When we got inside the barn, the boys had already gone to the other end of the building and opened the back door. There was a main overhead light that lit up the barn well, shining down on a lot of covered things.

“Wendy said that a lot of this was junk and that I could go through it,” I told Damon. “I’ve been using the paintings for the walls in my home. Well, I painted over them.”

Damon turned to me, looking surprised. “You painted those paintings on the walls? That one of Refuge Falls, the actual falls?”

Satisfaction wove through me as I looked away. “It’s no big deal.”

Damon put his arm around me, pulling me against him. “You were always good with painting and drawing. But you’ve gotten better. Wow. You could sell those.”

His praise felt really good, but I tried to shrug it off and waved the boys over. “I think there’s some old bicycles over here. I don’t know if we could get them running.” I remembered seeing four or five bicycles for kids. After a bit of searching, I pulled back a sheet and revealed the bikes.

Jason said, “Wow. These are cool. Dad, can you get them running?”

Trent picked one up. “This is cool.”

Damon helped them inspect the bicycles and found some WD-40. He expertly put the chains on, and then he noticed the wheels needed pumping up.

I looked around, pulling the sheets back. “See if you can see a bicycle pump anywhere.”

The boys immediately started looking.

Damon and I looked too, pushing back the sheets covering all the stuff that was out there. After about five minutes, Damon said, “Here’s one.” He knelt and pulled it from the pile.

The boys pulled the bikes over, and he pumped the wheels up. Some of the tires were broken. Damon had to remove other tires from other bikes.

Finally, after an hour, the boys were riding around on bikes.

Damon and I stood in the backyard, and he put his arm around my shoulders. “That was a good idea to get the bikes running.”

Joy filled me, and I couldn’t express how amazing it felt to be standing here like a family. “I’m just glad it worked out.” I took his hand in mine. “This is really nice.”

He looked down and smiled, and then he focused on my lips. “I’m not going to kiss you in front of them yet. But soon.”

Attraction sizzled through me, and I had to smile. “I already thought we were taking things too fast anyway. You should have time to think things over when you get involved with someone like me.” Even though I knew it sounded like I was playing the victim, I meant it.

“Hush now.” He gave me a little squeeze. “Let’s let them ride around, and we’ll go put your kitchen together.”

We walked hand in hand back to the house.

He called out to the boys. “Stay around here. We are going to be cleaning up the kitchen.”

The boys both signaled they heard him.

“I was going to ask you something,” Damon said as we stepped inside.

“What’s that?”

“Dad asked if you would want to go boating tomorrow with the family. I mean, it is the Fourth of July weekend.”

I was stunned, and then memories of all of the Fourth of July weekends flooded me. “That would be nice. What time?”

Damon shrugged. “I’ll text you later and give you details. I could pick you up?” He snapped his fingers. “Or you could come go to the parade with us first, and then we’ll go out boating.”

Emotion filled me. I nodded. “I would love that.”

I could get used to this. I could get used to all of it.