"That's exactly what I'm saying," he said with an insightful patience and understanding that couldn't be taught in any classroom. "There's another cool thing about the real kind of love."
"What's that?"
"It's okay to share the hurts and help each other." He leaned closer. "So if you want to talk to me about your daddy, I'm here to listen."
"Since you understand 'cause your daddy was a bad guy, too?"
"Exactly."
Silence echoed from the two of them while dogs yipped in the kennel, surely as loud as Paige's heart full of budding hope and resurrected dreams.
Kirstie shuffled Honey onto the next lower step. "You know what, Bo?"
"What, Cupcake?"
"I think you love people the way me and my mom do, the real way."
"Why's that?"
'"Cause I bet you don't like to talk about your daddy, but you did it anyway to make me feel better."
Standing in the shadows, Paige watched her daughter throw her arms around Bo's neck while his big hand patted her tiny back with such gentle care. She gave up the fight to hold in tears and let them flow.
Kirstie planted a kiss on his cheek, then rocked back on her heels. "I love you, too. The real kind of way."
A bundle of youthful energy, Kirstie launched to her feet and down the steps to chase after Honey, turning not just one, but two cartwheels, Bo stayed on the step keeping watch over her the whole way, his hands clasped between his knees, broad shoulders braced to take on the troubles of the world for others. Even when it hurt him.
She allowed herself more of those whimsical dreams where she envisioned him getting out of the Air Force, moving here, flying for the vet practice or even teaching.
Tears kept right on trucking down her cheeks and she didn't bother wiping them away.
For the first time in a long time she didn't question her feelings. She knew. She'd done the very thing she'd sworn never to let happen again.
She'd fallen in love.
Bo heard Paige shuffle behind him. Not that it surprised him, since he'd seen her shadow stretch across about two-thirds of the way through his tough-as-hell conversation with Kirstie. Scrubbing a hand over his face, he considered just walking away without acknowledging her presence. He wasn't sure how much more of the Haugen women his heart could take today. Kirstie's revelations had left him raw.
Which meant Paige must be damned near bleeding out. Guess he was stuck on this porch for a while longer.
He glanced over his shoulder as she swung open the screen door. "You heard?"
"Every word." She sat on the top step beside him, while the sun sank in a swirl of orange and yellows.
"I think she's going to be okay." The kid certainly acted happy enough chasing Honey around the fat tree trunk. Since Paige hadn't interrupted the discussion, he'd figured she wanted him to continue, but he could be wrong. "Are you upset with me? I know she's not my kid, and some of the stuff I said might not have been age appropriate."
She cupped his face in her hands and kissed him with a long, unmoving intensity that wiped away at least some doubts. "You reached my daughter in a way no one has been able to for a year. I'm so grateful to you right now I can hardly contain it."
"I don't want your gratitude." He slid his fingers through her hair and cupped the back of her head so she wouldn't be able to dodge meeting his gaze. "I want us to keep seeing each other."
She blinked fast, and he tried to read her reaction. A little encouragement would be nice here. Instead he found only blind panic.
"Why?"
Her question stumped him. He'd expected a flat-out yes or no. "Uh, because you're hot and I like you?"
"Or because you want to take care of me since I'm a single mother who was married to a criminal—like your mother."
Damn. Paige went straight for the jugular, but he could see where she might draw that conclusion. Paige always did see through his BS, which also left him with no secrets.