No fear or awkwardness in them now.

She’s in mom mode and she means business.

“You’d better take care of my little girl, Slade. But I have to tell ya if she gets a tattoo without my say so you’re getting a black eye.”

Slade gives me a knowing look.

“I told ya so,” he whispers in my ear, leaning over so nobody else can hear.

“A tattoo’s for life, Abby. And like a lot of things it’s not something you just ‘get’,” he reminds me.

“Like getting pregnant, or getting married?” I ask him right back, my hand finding its way to my belly.

My ring finger is suddenly itchy as all hell.

That seems to have shut him up, and given him plenty of food for thought but I know it’ll be a while yet before he’ll ink me.

But I’ve got time to work on him.

Every day from now on if I play my cards right.

“I love you, Abby,” he murmurs, stealing a kiss when nobody’s watching.

I love you, Slade Peters.

All of you, to the moon and back.

EPILOGUE

THREE MONTHS LATER

Slade

“Are you sure you’re okay with it all? I mean really okay. You can tell me, Tasha. You’ve never really said anything about Abby and me so far.”

Tasha looks up from the last box of her packed things. Clearing out the last of it. She and Brad are officially moving in together, even though they’ve been inseparable since that night months back.

“Oh. I didn’t see you there, Tasha… I’ll just—”

Abby walks in and spins on her heel so as not to interrupt a father-daughter talk, but I make sure and grab a hold of her before she disappears.

“Now, Abby. This is about you too,” I explain, setting her down on the edge of Tasha’s old bed, deciding to put it all out in the open once and for all.

“Since we all got together with someone, you two have been avoiding each other like the plague, now cut it out,” I tell them both firmly.

“Tasha? Are you sure you wanna move in with Brad? And Abby, are you sure you wanna move in here for good? Because if you both do you need to start acting like grown-ups, you’re not kids anymore.”

Both sets of eyes look up at me, then at each other.

And both of them break out into a laugh at the same time.

Neither of them takes me seriously whenever I try to get serious.

Something about my height or the sound of my voice, I dunno.

But it’s true, they’ve both been skirting around each other for months. Never in the same room or house for more than two seconds.

Abby says she’s happy for Tasha and vice-versa.

So why are they so weird about everything?

“Dad, I’m living with Brad and you may as well know, since he’s a foreman at the factory now he’ll be putting an offer in on his dad’s place,” Tasha says, glancing over to Abby.

“And Rex will be living with your mom. Just so you know,” she adds, a teensy bit of something in her voice but Abby doesn’t seem fazed by any of it.

“I just wish you’d stop acting like you’re better than everyone because you’re with Brad,” Abby says, finally getting it off her chest.

I knew she still hated that guy. And I haven’t forgotten my original promise either, little punk.

“Well, I wish you’d stop trying to have a dad by stealing mine!” Tasha finally shouts tears streaming from her eye, I grab her before she can run off.

“Sweetie,” I say softly, hugging her until she calms down.

“I’m still your dad. Always will be,” I remind her.

“And I’ll always be your best friend,” Abby weighs in, sniffing back tears of her own as we all share a hug.

“If it wasn’t for me, Brad would never have come looking for you and you’d never have gotten together,” Abby teases her. But she’s kinda right.

“I’m sorry, Abs.” Tasha sighs. “ I just thought you could do way better than someone like my dad too,” she murmurs, avoiding my gaze.

It’s not until I see her body shaking with laughter that I get it.

“Very funny, Tasha. Now get the last of your things and hit the road. Abby and I are making plans for the spare room,” I tell her with mock seriousness.

“So we’re okay?” Abby asks her best friend.

“You know we are. And I guess hearing it out loud that dad will always be my dad helps. It’s just been a crazy few months,” Tasha replies.

Next, Tasha whispers something to Abby, and Abby gasps, then she whispers something back and both of them begin squealing like infants.

“What did I say about adults?” I try to shout over them, but the pair are already walking off.

I throw my hands up in the air, leaving them to it, going back to work on my bike.

I shake my head, all they needed was to get that off their chest.

Tags: Flora Ferrari Romance
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