42. Noelle
Chapter forty-two
Noelle
I tucked my leg up under me, cupping the hot mug of cocoa in my hands. “Remember when we sent Pajama Boy to Ireland and had him kidnapped by Vikings?”
“In a spaceship!” Cal tipped his head back and laughed. “Our grasp of geography and history was severely laughable.”
“But they were memorable,” I defended. “We’re still laughing about them twenty-five years later.”
“Yeah.” Cal’s warm gaze settled on me. “We’ve got good memories. And more to come.”
There was so much between us. For all the hurt, I shared more memories with him than anyone else outside my family. I’d always needed his sunny personality and hopeful outlook on life to balance my pragmatic nature. How different life would have been if I didn’t have him.
“Who’s Pajama Boy?” Khia asked from the doorway, toothpaste foaming out of her mouth.
Cal had sent her to brush her teeth a few minutes ago before they started their bedtime routine.
Cal and I glanced at her. How long had she been standing there?
“Wait here.” Cal hopped up, jogging towards the stairs. “Actually go spit first, Lovebug.”
Khia raced back to the bathroom, her exuberant spitting clearly audible from where I was sitting. A minute later, she pattered over to the couch—toothpaste foam–free—and settled in beside me, blinking expectantly.
“Pajama Boy was a small toy we used to play with and send on adventures. Like fighting dragons and screaming about mice while he was brushing his teeth.”
“That’s silly!”
“Sure is,” Cal said, reentering the room. “See.” He held up a small plastic figurine bedecked in—you guessed it—blue pajamas.
“You kept him?” I whispered.
Khia stood on the couch to get a better look. “He’s really wearing pj’s!”
Cal scooped Khia up. “Sitting only, sweetie.” To me he added, “I couldn’t throw him away. It was like hanging onto a part of us.”
I swallowed hard and weakly raised my mug. “Long live Pajama Boy.” And us.
Once Cal sent Khia to find her pajamas, Pajama Boy in tow, he walked me to the door. “Do you have plans tomorrow night?”
I grabbed my coat, but he gently tugged it out of my hands and held it for me to slip on. “No, why? Do you need me to stay later to watch her?”
Cal chuckled. “No. I’m hoping you’ll say yes to the date you promised me.”
“Our second date?”
“Yup. And while we’re at it, would it be terribly forward of me to ask for a third, fourth, and fifth one?”
I chuckled at his good humour. “Since you asked so nicely.”
He leaned in, gently zipping the front of my coat. “I can be very polite when I need to be.”
“But still a rogue, huh?”
His gaze dipped to my lips for a heartbeat. “Only in the best ways.”
Those ocean-blue depths held me captive, and I couldn’t have stepped away if I wanted to. Which I didn’t.
“Daddy, I can’t find my Cinderella ones!” Khia hollered from the top of the stairs.
Cal stepped back with a sigh. “Tomorrow? Pick you up at five thirty?”
“It’s a date.” And a river of giddiness rushed through my veins as I limped across the lawn, leaning heavily on my cane. I was skipping in spirit, if not in reality.
I paused on the porch and faced the farmhouse. Cal was watching, making sure I made it safely, just like he always did. I lifted my hand in a wave.
It was too dark to see his smile, but I felt it, warming me all the way to my toes. He waved back, and my heart tumbled in my chest.