Tumble (Dogwood Lane 1)

“I get that.”

We stop outside Mia’s door. Dane takes my hands and turns me to face him. There’s a serenity in his eyes that I’ve never seen before, but it’s a look I never want him to lose.

“I want us to go forward together,” he says. “As a family. The three of us—that is, until you let me knock you up.”

I swat his shoulder. “Don’t say that out here,” I whisper. “I need to go in there, and my ovaries are now screaming, ‘Open for business,’ and that’s going to be distracting.”

He growls, pressing a kiss to my neck. “Go talk to her. Say what you need to say . . . but hurry the hell up, okay? I need you.”

I kiss him lightly, not giving him much of an opening to work with. He narrows his eyes.

I open the door. Dane pokes his head inside, checking on Mia, and smiles. “She’s all yours,” he whispers to me, retreating across the hall.

Taking a long, deep breath, I go inside.

A night-light shines next to her pink-and-white desk. She’s lying on her side, her little lips puckered like an angel’s. She’s so precious, and my heart aches thinking I hurt her feelings.

I kneel at the side of her bed and brush her hair off her forehead. “Hey, Mia. Can you wake up for a minute?”

“No,” she mumbles, tucking her hands under her pillow.

“Mia.” I shake her gently on the shoulder. “It’s Neely. Can you wake up and talk to me for a minute?”

I barely get the words out before her eyes shoot open. “Neely!” she exclaims, sitting up. “Are you really here?”

“I am.”

She throws her arms around my neck. I hold her close, feeling her little back shake as she cries. “I’m so glad you’re here,” she says.

“Oh, girl. I’m so glad to be here too.”

She pulls away, knocking the hair that’s stuck to her tears out of her face. Her eyes shine with a mixture of happiness and more tears, as if she can’t figure out which way to go with it.

“Dad found you,” she says.

“He did. He ran into me just as I was leaving.”

“Where were you going?”

I smile at her. “I was coming back here. Hoping you would accept my apology for leaving.”

She doesn’t answer me immediately. She just places her hands on her lap and looks at me.

“Mia, I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I don’t know what else to say to you.”

“Why did you have to go?”

I try to think of a way to put it so she’ll understand. “Do you know how Aerial told you not to put your hands too far apart on your back handspring, but you did it anyway because you think it’s easier?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s kind of the same thing.” I rock back on my heels so I can see her better. And so she can see me. “When you become an adult, you don’t just have all the answers. Sometimes things are still confusing, and you don’t know what to do or you think you know things better than others. And you do what kids do—you do it your way until you fall on your face. Does that make sense?”

“Kind of.” She yawns.

“I needed to go to New York to end that part of my life. I needed to realize I’d done everything I needed to do there and that everything I wanted in life was right here. In this house.”

A slow, sleepy grin stretches across her cheeks. She yawns again. “So you aren’t leaving again?”

I help her back under her blankets and kiss her forehead. “I’m not leaving again until you guys make me.”

“Good,” she says. “Because it really messed Dad up.”

I can’t stop the laugh that slips by my lips. “Oh, did it?”

“Yeah. He was being a baby. You should’ve seen it.” Her lashes flutter a few times before they land closed. “I knew you’d come back.”

“You did?”

“You told me you’d take me to Manicure Day. I knew you wouldn’t lie to me.” She yawns. “But I might need ice cream tomorrow to really make sure I’m okay. It cures everything, you know.”

I tuck the blankets around her, trying to manage my emotions. “Thank you for having faith in me, Mia.”

“You’re welcome,” she whispers as she falls back to sleep.

I stand in her room a long time, listening to her breathe. I’ve done nothing in my life to deserve having these two love me, but I’ll fight like hell to earn it going forward.

Leaving her room, shutting the door softly behind me, I head across the hall to Dane’s room. He’s shirtless, sitting on the bed in nothing but a pair of gym shorts.

“That took long enough,” he grumbles.

“I had to talk to her. I can’t help it.”

“You could’ve not left.”

“It’s a little late for that now, isn’t it?”

He rolls his eyes.

“I brought nothing with me besides my briefcase.” I smack my palm on my forehead. “I don’t even have a toothbrush in this state.”