Bringing his truck to a stop and putting it in park, he lifts our joined hands to his mouth and kisses the back of my hand. “Don’t move,” he says and then steps out of the vehicle before hurrying around to my side and opening the door.
“M’lady,” he says with a bow as he opens the door wider for me to exit the truck.
I curtsy. “Oh, thank you, kind sir, how chivalrous of you.”
Kyler closes my door and leans into me, forcing my back against the door panel. “Well, you’ll see that I am very chivalrous, and I know how to make my woman happy.” He places his hands on my hips, and his thumb rubs the sliver of skin that shows as my shirt rides up a little. “If I remember correctly, I was very chivalrous with you last night,” he whispers in my ear in a hushed and breathy voice. My heart instantly picks up its rate, feeling as though it’s going to jump out of my chest.
“Oh, is that right,” I manage to get out as he leans down to kiss my neck.
I can feel his hot breath on my skin. “Yes, that’s right,” he says, kissing his way up my neck to my mouth.
His mouth claims mine before I can protest for kissing outside my parents’ house. I wrap my arms around his neck and get lost in his kiss—so lost that I don’t even notice the footsteps approaching us until we hear a light throat clearing and jerk away from each other only to come face-to-face with a smiling mom and Ms. Natalie. I can feel a blush cover my entire body.
“Busted,” Kyler says as he winks to me and turns around. “Hi, Mrs. Hanks, Mrs. Jacobs. You ladies are both looking lovely today.”
Leave it to Kyler to suck up to them after being caught sucking up to me. I bury my head in his back in embarrassment.
“Well, I guess we don’t have to ask how the drive was for you kids, now do we,” my mom says to us, and Ms. Natalie giggles. “Kyler, we had made up the guest bedroom for you, but if you would rather…”
I interrupt my mother before she can finish that sentence. “Moooooooommmmmm,” I shout, feeling like I’m back to being a mortified teenager.
Kyler chuckles, and I can feel his whole body vibrating against me. “Thank you, Mrs. Jacobs, the guest room is just fine.” I let out a breath in relief, but I can’t help but also feel disappointed that we have been sleeping in the same bed and this weekend we won’t be.
“I’ve told you all these years, please call me Kelly, or Ms. Kelly. Mrs. Jacobs is my mother-in-law.”
“Oh, and God forbid you are put in the same category as that woman.” Natalie smirks as my mother glares in her direction before turning back to us.
Kyler turns and places a kiss to my temple, then reaches around me to the back to grab our bags. “Well, we better get inside and start this celebration. It’s birthday number twenty-nine, right?”
Mom places her arms around Kyler’s shoulders as we all turn toward the house. “I knew I liked you.” We all laugh as we walk toward the front door. Here goes nothing—our secret is out.
Later in the afternoon before dinner, after we had settled our bags into our respective rooms, I find myself alone on the front porch, rocking in the swing. Running my hand up the chain it hangs off of, I am brought back to the many memories over the years with Emmett, from the first to our last. I look up when I hear the creak of the front porch to be greeted with a different Hanks, Ms. Natalie. I smile at her as she approaches me.
“Can I join you?” She smiles at me as I nod for her to sit, and I scoot over. She pats her hand on my thigh as if she is about to have a serious talk.
“What’s going on with you, sweetheart? You’ve been quiet ever since you were caught earlier. Cat got your tongue? Or maybe Kyler does.” She lets out a loud laugh. It’s been a long time since I heard that laugh, but it puts a smile on my face and a blush on my cheeks at her comment. I cover my face with my hands in embarrassment.
“Dani, it’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Your mom and I were just caught off guard a little because you’ve never mentioned it, so the last thing we expected to see pulling into the driveway was you all over each other. It reminds me of a few times back…” But she closes her mouth and looks off into the distance. My hand quickly finds hers as I see a tear stream down her cheek. I bite the inside of my cheek to prevent tears of my own from falling.
She takes a deep breath, links our fingers together, and places her other hand over top, pulling them into her lap. “It’s okay to miss him and feel sad at times. Each moment of happiness is always paired with sadness knowing it was something Emmett was missing…but just remember he is always with you and always in your heart. You just have to take one day at a time and one step at a time.”
I look up at her
and try to form the words I want to speak but end up spitting out, “But how did you just move on?”
She squeezes my hand a little tighter. “It’s not that I’ve moved on, sweetie, because losing a child isn’t something you move on from or get over. I ask myself how parents are supposed to go on after burying their child. I have to remind myself to breathe. People have told me that I’m so strong, but that’s only on the outside. On the inside, my heart is forever broken. But I’m strong because I don’t have a choice. There are some days that it will hit me at the most random times and I have to struggle to compose myself. I see people on the street and I hate them, I actually hate them without even knowing them because they have what I lost. I let my grief get the best of me the first year and a half. I know I’ll see my son again one day, but until then I need to live my life so that when I do finally see him I can fill him in on all the good, the bad, and the ugly. There is no timetable or calendar that says when you’re no longer allowed to grieve or feel sad, but wallowing in the pain and emptiness…” She pauses. “That’s not what he would want. Em only ever wanted you to be happy, and I’ve watched you with Kyler and I think he makes you happy… Does he?”
I smile, a true smile not a forced one, and nod. “Yeah, he does…at least I think he can. I’m still trying to figure this all out and take it slow, which is why I haven’t mentioned anything about us until today. I didn’t want to make such a big deal out of it just in case things didn’t work out. This is all so new to me.”
Unclasping our hands, Ms. Natalie wraps her arm around my shoulder and pulls me into her. “I’m so proud of you, Danielle, and you should be too. You fought your way to get here.” Ms. Natalie wraps her other arm around me into a strong embrace and kisses the top of my head. I close my eyes and remember the last time Emmett had done that. She leans her head against mine. “Plus you know Kyler is very good-looking—don’t think I hadn’t noticed. If Haylee wasn’t taken, I would definitely push her his way.”
Ms. Natalie lets out another one of her laughs, alleviating the somber mood that overtook the porch just moments ago. “Oh my God,” I laugh and push her away. She lightly pushes me back jokingly, and we both burst into laughter.
When I look up from wiping the tears of laughter from my face, I am greeted with Kyler’s smile as he stands in front of us on the porch. When Ms. Natalie notices, she pats my leg and pushes herself up to standing.
“Well, I’ll get back in the kitchen before the birthday girl slave driver comes looking for me. Come join us whenever you’re ready.”
I nod, and she smiles before walking away toward the front door, placing a gentle hand on Ky’s shoulder. I’m unsure what that was supposed to mean, whether it was an “it’s all okay” pat or a “hurt her, I’ll kill you” protective grip.