“Oh, she is so cute,” she cooed. She giggled too as the pink piglet with tawny, light brown hair around her eyes and down her back nosed her. “Can I hold her?”
“Sure,” Connor said. Missy scooped her into her arms, and when Ted finally looked away, he caught the look on Nate’s face.
“What?”
“What? What do you mean what?” Nate kept lifting boxes of granola and protein bars out of the grocery sacks.
“I mean, you’re looking at me like I’m doing something wrong.” Ted took out a couple of bricks of cream cheese and a pound of butter from a bag and turned to put them in the fridge. “I just want her back.”
“Even with the girl?”
“Yes,” Ted said without hesitation. He turned and looked at Missy and the piglet. “She doesn’t change anything for me.”
“I’m just…” Nate exhaled heavily and finally looked at Ted. Concern sat in his eyes, and Ted appreciated it. He really did. “It feels fast, Teddy. That’s all. You’ve been here, what? Five weeks?”
“Six,” Ted said, as he still counted down the days until he’d be truly free. “And I know. I’m not going to ask her to marry me today, Nate. I’m going to ask her for a second chance. That’s a lot different.”
“What if she says no?”
Ted didn’t even want to consider such a possibility. “Then I put my head down and get through the next two months.” He also didn’t know how to do that. The past week had been torture. The dance was painful and exhausting. “Then I’ll go live in that big house your brother left you and figure out my next steps.” He looked steadily back at Nate, who blinked at the mention of his brother’s house.
“I need to go clean out that house,” he murmured. “I just don’t want to.” He too looked to the children on the floor, playing with the piglet. They were so carefree, and Ted envied them.
“I’ll go with you,” Ted said.
“I’m worried about what it’ll do to Connor,” Nate said, returning to the groceries.
“Don’t take him,” Ted said. “You and I will go, and we’ll figure it out.” He put his hand on his best friend’s arm for a beat. Nate stilled and looked at Ted, and he saw the pain there. Fresh and raw, it made Ted’s heart expand for his friend. “Isn’t that we said we’d do? Once we got out, we’d help each other figure everything out.”
Extreme gratitude filled Ted, and his throat narrowed. “You did that for me by getting me here. Let me help you with this.”
Nate swallowed, his jaw so tight. His eyes shone, and he nodded a couple of times. They finished unpacking the groceries before Nate said, “Not next weekend. It’s Connor’s birthday. The weekend after that?”
“Works for me,” Ted said.
“I’ll talk to Ginger. We’re going to need a few days.” He sighed as he folded up the reusable grocery bags. “Someone will have to watch Connor, and I don’t know if she can let us both go at the same time.”
“Just let me know,” Ted said. “I’ll have to talk to Martin.”
Nate nodded, stuffed the bags in the drawer where they kept them, and said, “Come on, Connor. We have chores on the ranch this morning.”
The little boy got up and let Nate help him into a pair of cowboy boots while Missy put down the piglet and looked at Ted.
“All right,” he said, blowing out his breath. “I called your…” He had no idea how to reference Fran. “Fran. Missy, what should I call her? Your mom? Your other mom? Fran?”
Missy climbed up onto a barstool, her dark hair falling over her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. Momma calls her my other mom. Fran calls Momma my mom.” She shrugged as if this wasn’t an odd situation at all.
Ted didn’t want it to be odd for them either. “Okay,” he said. “I called your other mom, and she gave me the recipe you two used when you made these cookies before.” He put his phone down and slid it toward her. “So it’s right there. I’m not great in the kitchen, so you’re gonna have to come help me.”
Missy picked up his phone and smiled. “All right.” She got up and rounded the island. “Do you have an apron?”
“Uh.” Ted literally ate from boxes and bags and bottles.
“It’s okay,” Missy said. “Fran told me things would be different here.” She opened the fridge. “We need butter and eggs.” She continued to chit and chat as she put together the dough, and all Ted had to do was listen and ask questions and marvel at the maturity of this child.
She reminded him so much of Emma, and Ted couldn’t wait to walk down the road and knock on that cabin door.
What if she says no?
Nate’s words became his own thought process.
Ted resisted the thoughts. Emma just had to say yes. He didn’t want a long-term commitment. He just wanted a second chance with her.
He’d gotten one in life, thanks to Nate, Dallas, Slate, and Luke. And Ginger. And the four dogs waiting for him and Missy the moment they stepped out the front door.
Ted carried the flowers and the baby piglet in the little purse she’d come in. Missy had the plate of cookies in her hands. Ted had practiced his apology, and he’d taken two minutes to brush his teeth and oil his beard while Missy put the freshly baked cookies on a plate.
“Give me strength,” he murmured as he followed Emma’s daughter down the steps.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Emma had returned from the stables an hour ago, the scent of chocolate floating on the air as she’d passed the Annex. The desire to go inside and see what Ted and Missy were doing had been nearly impossible to resist.
She’d even climbed the steps to the deck before realizing what she was doing.
She’d scurried quickly back down to the yard and continued to her new home. She’d been working every waking minute for the past six days to get it habitable for her and her daughter. Fran and Matt had stayed yesterday for hours, helping get Missy’s bed set up with her comfortable and familiar blankets, stuffed animals, and trinkets. She had Polaroid pictures of her and her friends. Her and her other parents. Just her.
Emma had cried for hours last night after Missy had gone to sleep. What was she doing, pulling this child from the only life and the only parents she’d ever known?
Fran had called about one-thirty in the morning, claiming she couldn’t sleep because she knew Emma would be having a hard time. That had only made Emma cry harder. Fran had assured her and reassured her that she and Matt were okay.
“We’ve always known she was only ours on loan,” Fran had said. “Please, Emma, don’t let this hurt you for too long.”
Emma didn’t know how to make it stop hurting. She’d wanted Missy to have the best life possible, and she’d had it with Fran and Matt. She had friends, and a big window in her room that let in lots of light, and violin lessons. Fran had taught her how to cook and Matt had taught her how to ride a bike. They’d loved her and raised her as their own, and Emma couldn’t just let that all go.
She didn’t know how.