Luca (Chicago Blaze 2)

Honestly, I want to go to bed. I’m fucking jet lagged and horny, and there’s no help for the latter. At least not until tonight. But the kids won’t be ready for bed for a few hours, so I have to rally.

“You guys want to go out for dinner?”

“Can we go to the place with the big pretzels?” Cora looks at Abby expectantly.

“We went to the pub downtown with the big patio the other night,” Abby explains to me. “They have the most amazing soft pretzels and cheese dip.”

“Sounds good to me. We can pick Jack up on the way.”

“You’re coming, too, right Abby?” Emerson goes over to her and takes her hand.

Abby gives her a tender look. “I’d love to, but I need to get back to New York.”

“No!” Me, Emerson and Cora all protest at the same time and Abby smiles.

“My board is meeting in the morning and I really need to be there. We’re acquiring some property in Texas and I’m really out of the loop on all the details.”

“Come on,” I say. “You have your own plane, can’t you fly back later tonight?”

“You have a plane?” Cora’s eyes widen and her mouth drops open.

“Sort of.”

“Can we go on your plane?” Emerson pleads. “Please, Abby!”

“We can plan something,” Abby says, looking at me. “Do you guys want to go somewhere together?”

“Yes!” the girls are answering on repeat, both jumping up and down.

“We’d love to,” I say. “As long as it’s soon since I’m in my off-season.”

Abby turns toward the laundry room. “Okay, let’s plan something. I’ve just got one more load of laundry to fold and then I’m getting an Uber to the airport. I’ll have the rental place come pick up the car I rented tomorrow.”

I follow her, putting my hands on her shoulders to steer her in the other direction.

“You aren’t folding any more laundry. You’ve done more than enough.”

“But I don’t—”

I cover her lips with my fingertips. “Nope.”

She sighs and gives me a look. “Okay, fine.”

“And we’ll take you to the airport, babe.”

“No, it’s okay.”

“I insist.”

“I insist, too,” Cora says.

Abby smiles and there’s a flicker of concern in her eyes. “I really appreciate it, you guys. I couldn’t have asked for better kids to spend the past few days with. I had the best time. But I’m catching an Uber to the airport. You guys go enjoy your dinner.”

I see it now. There’s something about us taking her to the airport that would be hard for Abby. I wish I could immediately tell the difference between her stubborn independence and her need for space as she lets us into her life.

“Okay,” I say, pulling her close for a hug.

I hold her tight, wishing she could stay. She brings something to this home we’ve never had before. Something maternal that’s also stable and warm. When Danielle lived here, we all knew she was slowly dying. Abby has breathed a new kind of life into me, and I don’t want to let it go. She’s my ally. More than that, actually. She’s becoming my best friend.

Cora and Emerson hug Abby, too, and Emerson tries to hide the two tears that slide down her cheeks. I’m surprised how upset Cora is about Abby leaving; I figured she’d be a tough nut for Abby to crack.

But that’s what I get for underestimating her.

When her ride comes and we all say our final goodbyes, Emerson asks me to pick her up for the first time in a while. When I do, her soft, wiggly presence reminds me just how much I missed her.

“Ready to get some dinner?” I ask the girls.

Cora nods glumly and asks, “When will Abby be back?”

“Soon,” I say, hoping like hell it’s true.

It’s possible this whole thing freaked Abby out. It was a lot, way faster than we would’ve done things without my dad’s health scare.

But my gut tells me I’m right. Abby enjoyed her time here, but she’s behind on work and needs some space to process her feelings.

I probably need to process mine, too. I wasn’t expecting to fall for Abby so hard and fast once we decided to make a go of it. Seeing her in my kitchen and watching her hug my girls didn’t freak me out at all.

I’m ready to do it all over again, and hopefully soon.Chapter Twenty-FourAbbyI suck in a hard breath as I sit up, jolted awake by a nightmare. It was the one on the highway, but I saw brown curls inside the flaming wreckage this time.

My screams on the side of the road this time were for Chloe and Emerson both. I was clawing at the ground not only to save the girl in the burning car, but to figure out which one of them it was.

After a deep, calming breath, I swing my legs over the side of my queen-sized bed, deciding 3:10 a.m. is a good time to start my day.