Groaning, Jamie was thrilled to see they were turning into his driveway.
Fortunately, Tessa said her goodbyes in the driveway and he made a mental note to ask his brother to maybe encourage her to share a little less.
Jenn came into the house and got Asher settled in his swing before turning to face him and Fallon.
“I want to thank you, Fallon, for having a little faith in me when no one else did,” she said solemnly. “You didn’t even know me and yet…” She paused. “I just want you to know how much I appreciate it. I’m sorry for all the grief and inconvenience I caused you and Jamie and I hope moving forward, that maybe we could be friends.”
He turned his head and saw Fallon was smiling. “I’d like that very much, Jenn.”
“I should go.” She looked over at Asher one more time before turning her attention to Jamie. “And I guess I’ll see you on Sunday, right?”
“Yeah. My folks will be back and I want to bring Asher over to meet them, so if the morning works for you?”
She nodded. “I’ll make sure it does. Thanks.” And with a small wave, she let herself out, leaving him alone—finally—with Fallon.
He waited until the door was firmly closed before he took an easy breath. “So…”
“So…”
His throat felt dry, and he was suddenly nervous. “I’m just gonna grab a bottle of water. Can I get you one?”
“That would be great. Thanks.”
Grabbing the waters, he took a moment to think about what he was going to say.
You’re not the only one with trust issues. I have them too and…I’m not sure where we go from here.
There was no quick response he could make, no simple explanation to put her mind at ease, and definitely no flirty words or promises he could use to win her over.
And it left him feeling somewhat terrified.
He’d risked everything by leaving his comfort zone and hoped she’d see that and it would be enough to make her want to come back to him.
Clearly, I was wrong…
When he walked back into the living room, Fallon was sitting on the sofa at the end closest to Asher. She had a serene smile on her face as she watched him swing back and forth, and he’d never seen her look more beautiful.
“Hey,” he said quietly, so as not to startle her. Handing her the water, he smiled and couldn’t decide if he should sit beside her or over in the chair.
Ultimately, he decided to be bold and take the spot beside her, but…not too close.
“I was telling Tessa how much he seems to change every day, but I don’t think she believed me.”
“I see it too,” he told her. “Sometimes it’s just something small—a reaction to something or an expression he makes—but it’s kind of fascinating to watch this little person experiencing the world like this.”
Turning her head, she smiled. “Exactly.”
Jamie held her gaze for a moment and knew he could easily keep staring at her, but they needed to get things settled between them. So, with no other option, he dove right in.
“I need you to tell me what I can do to prove you can trust me,” he began cautiously. “I thought I was doing the right thing by taking your suggestion about Jenn, so…I don’t know what I did wrong.”
And man, did he hate admitting that.
“It’s not that easy, Jamie,” she replied, and he could tell she was nervous. “We’ve known each other for so long and while most of that time we never got along, you were never so openly hostile. I didn’t appreciate being on the receiving end of that.”
All he could do was nod.
“This last month, you’ve opened my eyes to the kind of man you really are. I have to admit, there was a part of me that couldn’t wait to see you try to handle a baby.” She laughed softly. “I mean…you normally don’t have any problem winning most people over, but…”
“There was no way I could charm a baby,” he finished for her with his own small chuckle. “But if I could, Asher would be the most well-adjusted and loved baby in the world.”
“I think he already is.” Her gaze locked with his. “I’m serious. Watching you adjust to being a father was incredible to see. Every day you became more at ease and once you stopped fighting me on everything…”
“Yeah, I know that too. Like we’ve already established, I’m stubborn.” Reaching out, he took her hand in his. “I can’t totally change that, but I’d be willing to try. There isn’t anything I won’t do to prove that you can trust me. I just…I miss you so much and we were in a really good place until…we weren’t.”
“It’s just that…”
“There are no guarantees, Fallon,” he blurted out, feeling more than a little desperate. “And you need to realize that by running away that night, you aren’t completely blameless.”
“Excuse me?”
There’s my uppity girl…
Nodding, he went on. “Since when have you ever walked away from a disagreement with me? When have you ever let me have the last word?”
“Jamie…”
“I’m serious. That night, you just walked out. You didn’t give me any time to just cool off and you didn’t push back. You left.”
“I didn’t want to fight with you,” she countered. “And I certainly didn’t want to fight with you in front of Asher.”
“And while I respect that and love how you want to protect him, the fact is there may be times when we’re going to argue in front of him or we’re going to raise our voices! I’m not saying it’s something I want to do, but it can’t always be avoided. And it shouldn’t be avoided when something so important is on the line!”
She let out a long breath and nodded. “You were never that mean before and I just…it was all too much. I couldn’t handle it.”
“And now?”
“And now what?”
“I am so sorry for the things I said. I swear I never meant to hurt you. I was…I was completely overwhelmed and behaved horribly. But I promise you right here, right now, that it was all me and it will never happen again.”
“You can’t know that, Jamie…”
“And neither can you.” His voice was quiet and almost pleading. “I want another chance. Please let me prove to you that what we have is worth fighting for.” Caressing her hand, he gave her his most endearing smile—one that had gotten him out of tenser situations than this.
“Oh my God…” she groaned before laughing. “How is it possible that you can bat those big brown eyes at me and make me believe everything you’re saying?”
He grinned. “Told you, part of my charm.”
“Jamie…”
“This isn’t about charming you, Fallon,” he said with a little more intensity. “This is me telling you the truth. I’m in love with you and I want another chance. I don’t know how else to say it!”
“Here’s the thing, though—if things don’t work out between us, it’s not just you and me, Jamie. There’s Asher! And it’s not fair to him if something happens and I leave! Right now, he has no idea what’s going on, but what happens when he’s older?”