Done (Harmony Haven #1)

Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

JESSE

“Daniel,” Easton called out as we entered the back gate of a home just on the outskirts of town.

The man, who I assumed was Daniel, looked up from the grill and waved a pair of tongs, welcoming us. “About time you showed back up!”

“I’ve been busy,” Easton laughed, then turned to wink at me. “My girl here keeps me busy.”

My cheeks turned red, not only because of his innuendo, but also at how easily he called me his girl. We still hadn’t made anything official but day by day, everything was getting harder to deny. Beneath the surface, I knew I had to make a hard decision. I knew I needed to remind Easton of what I had been telling him all along. But I never did.

If I was looking for some sign, it never came. All I had was the residual fear of losing the real reason I had moved to Harmony Haven. For a fresh start, not to be involved with another man.

Didn’t stop me from accepting the invite to Easton’s best friend’s house. Easton had texted me with the offer and instead of telling him it wasn’t a good idea, because our expiration date was nearing, I smiled and texted him back with an okay.

Not just any “okay,” though. It had a winking emoji and kissy lips. If “head over heels” was a text, it would have been that one. And I knew looking at his responding “heart” that I was nowhere near sending him the right message.

Nonetheless, I was there, in the backyard of Daniel and Carlee, shaking their hands and thanking them for the invite. Max was hiding behind my legs at first, but as we settled on the patio chairs and Easton handed me a water, Max’s attention was drawn to a curly blonde that ran from the house and toward a swing.

“Want to make friends?” I asked him quietly.

“Jenny is my friend,” Max spoke louder and Carlee’s attention turned from her husband and Easton talking about work, to Max and me.

“You know Jenny?” She asked Max, then looked up at me. “Does Max go to Harmony preschool?”

“He does! Just a few weeks now.”

“So does Jenny! They must have met there!”

Max nodded but didn’t make an attempt to go play with her. Instead, Carlee shouted for Jenny to come see Max and she started running toward us.

Before she could reach Carlee, Easton snaked a hand out and grabbed her, lifting her high over his head. He made sounds like he was King Kong and Jenny was his blonde sacrifice, which made her laughter soar.

“Uncle Easton,” she screamed, “put me down.”

“Fine,” Easton growled, then set her on her feet. “But don’t come runnin’ through these parts again or you’ll be eaten alive!”

Once again, Jenny laughed and screamed as she ran away. Easton had added an accent to his words and stood from his seat, but instantly relented when Jenny was safely behind Carlee.

“He’s silly,” Carlee waved at Easton, making Jenny laugh again.

“Yeah, he’s silly,” Jenny agreed.

My smile had started to hurt. It was hard not to have one plastered across my face when Easton was so irresistible around the kids. Seeing him with Max was wonderful, but seeing him with someone he had loved since she was born was another level of who he was capable of being.

“Max?” Easton growled with his monstrous accent. “You’re next.”

“No, no,” Max laughed, backing up and dancing his feet in excitement. “No Eas, don’t get me.”

“Then you better run!” Easton lunged, but it was with no effort and both kids ran toward the swing set laughing.

“We’re safe here, Uncle Easton. You can’t get us.”

Max and Jenny had climbed onto the platform at the top of the slide and stuck their faces between the slats of the boards. Max was happy. Carefree. He was no longer worried about being shy and had even spoken a few words loud enough that everyone could hear.

Easton seceded his attempt to get the kids and sat back down, giving me another small wink. Meanwhile, Max and Jenny began playing, forgetting that King Kong was lingering on the patio. It gave the adults time to talk, and I was able to get to know Carlee better.

With her third kid on the way, her belly was round and as much as I missed that feeling, I also felt bad for how hot she was. It made us laugh, though, as we commiserated about those late stages of pregnancy.

When the littlest woke up from her nap, I held her for Carlee, loving the feeling of a one year old in my lap again. That was until Easton took her and held her, playing with her and loving on her until she wanted to run around with the others. Then he let her go and I watched as his eyes lingered on her lovingly.

How Easton had made it to his thirties without becoming a dad was amazing to me. It seemed like he could just pick anyone in the whole world and they’d happily become his wife and give him children. Of course, I was just assuming that was what he wanted, and instead of finding that life, he had the unfortunate luck of finding me instead.

“You work this week?” Daniel asked Easton as we finished our hamburgers later that evening.

“Yeah and I have to get the house mowed. And Gramps needs me to do some work at their house. You still up for adoption? Maybe you can help?”

“Hell no,” Carlee chimed in. “The only lawn he’s mowing is mine. Trimming my bushes and my,” she waggled her eyebrows and pointed between her legs, “bush.”

She was somehow serious and making a joke so funny that I spit some of my water out of my mouth. My face was red, my sides were hurting, and tears of laughter started to leak out of my eyes.

Carlee eyed me and shook her head. “Don’t act like you could reach around this thing when you were this big.” She grabbed her belly then finished with, “Somebody has to get things situated down there, and he chose that job when he knocked me up again.”

“I meant an actual yard,” Easton groaned with a smile, pretending to plug his ears.

“And I meant my pussy,” Carlee snapped at him. “So what?”

Damn, I liked her. She was easy to get along with and didn’t try putting a show on for me. She seemed to be unapologetically herself, and not only did I love it, I envied it. To be so secure in her marriage, her livelihood, and the people she let into her home was a level of comfort I was afraid I’d never feel.

“La, La, La,” Easton hollered, still plugging his ears.

“Love you,” Carlee cooed, which was as close to an apology as Easton was going to get.

“Eas!” Max yelled from the yard, getting all of our attention. “Look!”

With my breath held tight, I watched as Max slid down the fireman’s pole on the side of the slide platform. When he got off, he waved to Easton and then to me, showing us that he was a fireman.

We clapped, and Easton pumped his fist, excited for Max’s venture down a new obstacle. Not that he wasn’t capable, but just like talking, Max didn’t do many new things. He kept to smaller things, not daring to be brave. But he knew Easton was brave. He knew firefighters were brave. And it was just one more positive effect that Easton had on Max.

We left that night with the expectation that we’d do it again, and that I’d be back. Max and Jenny would get to play again. Carlee would make Easton cringe again. I’d laugh and smile so much my cheeks hurt.

And I had even convinced myself that it was all true. Because why wouldn’t we do it again? On the outside, it seemed as though Easton and I were a done deal. We both played the parts so well.

But once I was alone again, the doubts crept back in. My mind started looking for the signs I may have missed, the ones that would tell me I needed to put my guard back up. I’d remember Clay coming to my house, the way Rory spoke to me at the station, and the way I had vowed to both myself and Max that my only focus would be on him.

Mom-guilt ate away at me and I would flip and flop around in bed. Especially the following few nights after the barbeque because Easton wasn’t there, and there were no distractions to help me forget that I was my own worst enemy.