That I want her to accept Chance.
But I’m frozen.
She waves me off, but with a happy little smile. “Fine. Keep your new relationship or hookup or whatever it is to yourself.” I groan as Daniel chuckles at his wife’s antics. “It’s your secret.”
The word secret is a knife to the heart, even though I know she doesn’t mean it in any more than a playful way.
I close my eyes briefly and take a deep breath. When I open them, I promise myself I’m going to tell her, but fate has another plan.
There’s a knock on my door, forcing my eyes open and my mouth shut. I don’t know who it could be, but I excuse myself from the table and go to the front door to find out. I nearly go weak at the knees when I see it’s Chance.
I open the door, and he’s standing there in jeans, a heavy coat, and gloves on his hands as he holds up a pastry box. “Is this okay? I grabbed some pastries from the bakery in town.”
Yeah, I’m back to grinning like a fool. “Yes,” I say easily and let him in.
“Are you sure, Noah?” he asks quietly, looking far too unsure. “I can go. I just . . .”
I shake my head and let him in, closing the door behind him. “I want you here.” I keep my voice fairly low, but I hope it’s firm and convincing. “I’m sorry I haven’t told them yet, but I want you here.”
He takes my hand and quickly squeezes it before releasing me. “I want to be here. But I’m fine playing the friend/assistant coach role in front of everyone else for now.”
I know he means it, but it still makes me feel like an asshole. Instead of dwelling on how damn unfair it is, I take his coat, hang it up, and then lead him into the kitchen. “LeAnn. Daniel. Chance brought us breakfast.”
LeAnn lights up at that. “Oh, food.”
Chance chuckles and places the box down in front of my daughter.
“Let me get you some coffee.” I say, walking over to the cabinet and grabbing a mug. He walks over to me, his eyes intense, but I’m not sure anyone else would notice it but me.
“Thank you,” he says as I fill the mug and hand it to him.
“So, Chance . . .” LeAnn starts, grabbing one of the danishes from the box. “Do you know anything about this mystery date my father had last night?”
Chance’s eyes go wide as he looks at me, and I shake my head, making my way back to the table. “LeAnn, don’t start.”
She waves me off as Chance sits down between LeAnn and me at the table. “Yeah, I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”
My daughter pouts. “Oh, come on. We’re all adults here. We can totally talk about this.” Her eyes meet Chance’s. “All I care is that my dad is happy.” She looks at me and takes my hand. “I want you happy.”
“I am happy,” I say and squeeze her hand. God, does she know? She can’t. There’s no way she can, but it sure feels like she’s sending me a silent message.
“And whistling,” she adds, mischief swimming in her eyes.
“Whistling?” Chance asks with delightful amusement that makes me grumble.
“I was not whistling.”
“He definitely was,” my daughter says to Chance, which makes him laugh. “He’s been so pleasant lately. It’s weird, but I like it.”
Chance chuckles again, taking a sip of his coffee. “No way. Are you sure?”
LeAnn nods her head excitedly, picking at her danish. “Yup. Pretty sure my dad is smitten.”
Chance is beaming, his eyes move to mine. “Oh yeah? Are you smitten, Coach?”
I roll my eyes and grumble some more, but I realize, in this moment, this really can all work out someday.
At least with LeAnn.
I don’t see the town being nearly as wonderful as my daughter, but who knows? People can surprise you.
I’ve definitely learned that over the years.
I think it should be a conversation between LeAnn and me first, so I won’t tell her right now like I’m bursting to do, but soon.
Very soon, I’m going to finally tell my daughter that I’m in love with the most amazing man I never saw coming.
And as she jokes around with Chance and they both tease me, I’m pretty damn sure it will be just fine with her.
TWENTY-SEVEN
CHANCE
It’s the fall festival in town. It’s a huge deal, just like homecoming. The whole town is here at the local pumpkin patch. There are a ton of pumpkins, hayrides, and vendors selling homemade foods and crafts. There’s also a corn maze and a pumpkin-decorating contest.
I’m not gonna lie, this is kind of my heaven.
I fucking love fall and all things fall-related. But I came here alone. I left Noah’s house in my own truck to drive here, and he left a few moments after me, arriving a little bit after I did.
I’d love to hold his hand and walk through the corn maze together. Grab a few pumpkins after riding on the trailer full of hay pulled by the tractor. But it can’t happen. Not today.
The entire town is here, including most of the school board members, the principal of the school, and the entire team.
When I showed up at Noah’s house last Saturday, bringing pastries, I nearly talked myself out of going in. I stood there for so damn long, contemplating how bad of an idea it was. But when I saw Noah’s face—saw how it lit up when he saw it was me—all my fears vanished.
God, I love that damn man.
And I know he loves me too.
So we can get through this. We can pick out pumpkins separately, but still together. Halloween is this week, and I can’t wait. We have the entire night planned, full of scary movies and snacks.
I’m greeted by several players as I walk around, and it hits me just how much this town has grown on me. Let’s face it, it could have been ugly when I moved here. They know I’m a Bear. They could have been hateful.
But as soon as Noah started trusting me, so did they. They follow his lead. And that’s something about natural leaders like Noah that I don’t think he even understands. His strength and confidence assures everyone around him.
Maybe someday, it will all be okay.
I’m starting to think that the town will eventually follow his lead. That all will be fine if we come out as a couple because I want that. And I know he’s starting to want that too.
I laugh as I watch some of the team ragging on their coach playing a beanbag toss game. He missed the first toss but nailed the next five. The kids are having a blast, that’s for sure.
Jackson steps up and flexes his bicep, telling everyone to watch how it’s done, but then he only gets two out of five. Noah chuckles and pats him on the back. “Yeah. I think I know what we’re working on at practice Monday.”
The kid groans, but he’s smiling big.
I try to play it cool when I’m around Noah, but I think it’s next to impossible not to look at him with the awe I feel. Although that’s how most of the town looks at him too, so I’m not particularly worried.
I duck out first after buying a few big pumpkins, a lot of little pumpkins, and an apple pie and drive out to Noah’s house.
I sit on the porch and wait, petting a couple of the kittens that come up to the porch. They’re pretty cute.