Joe extended his hand. “Have a safe trip and don’t buy the boys anything too big. ”
I laughed. Like I could buy anything bigger than the stuff in that toy-store basement of theirs. “I will. Thanks again. ”
The moment I stepped out onto the front porch, I opened the envelope. Inside were lots of drawings from Jacob and Tyler, a picture of me and my brothers, and then a copy of the picture of my parents. I remembered this picture. I’d taken it after Mom and Dad handed over the key to the first resident of the Habitat neighborhood. The memory made me smile. Carrie and Joe weren’t the devil. They were people who loved my brothers and had hearts big enough to possibly love me, too.
I pulled out my cell phone and texted Carrie: thanks.
Seconds later she texted back: welcome. b safe.
Across the street, Echo sat on the hood of her gray Honda Civic. Her red curls shone in the street light and her spaghetti-strapped tank top dipped just low enough that my mind already wondered how I could get her to deviate from the plan of driving at least six hours tonight before setting up the tent.
Her siren smile lit up my world. “Noah. ”
“Echo. You look …” I let my eyes wander up and down as I approached the car. “Appetizing. ”
Her laughter tickled my soul. “I think we’ve had this conversation before. ”
I settled between her legs and cradled her face with my hands. “And I think at the end of that night something like this also happened. ”
Her lips feathered against mine and she giggled. “You ready for a new normal?” she whispered.
I kissed her lips one more time and plucked the keys from her hand. “Yes, and I’m driving. ”