Page 166 of Run
“Good.” Fonz releases Ethan and reaches over to ruffle the hair on my head.
“Do you mind?” I swat him away, then try to smooth my hair before pulling at the faded Luke Combs concert T-shirt of Ethan’s I’m wearing, which has a very obvious puke spot on the chest.
“Miss Vida’s bringing food,” Fonz announces. “She should be here any minute, I just saw them leaving their house as we drove by.”
Oh, yeah … Ethan and I bought my childhood house from Lena. And then we had it bulldozed. We had the entire thing completely demolished, and even had the foundation torn up and replaced. We hired an architect to design a house for us with a different layout on a different section of the land, with a paved driveway, plenty of landscaping, and a garden out back for Bonnie to enjoy on her visits.
Knox Mitchell Homebuilding oversaw the entire construction process, and it came out better than I dreamed it would.
It took Ethan a bit of convincing before he agreed to move to the plot of land I grew up on. He couldn’t understand why I would want to return to that place. But after I explained to him that all the memories I made with him and Fonz were here, and how I wanted our kids to grow up in the country, running through the wheat grass and catching crayfish, he started to come around.
Fonz leans back against the wall near Ethan, who takes the opportunity to discreetly pry. “So, uh, you and Matt think any more about contacting the adoption agency?”
“We’re not sure we’re ready. Matt’s still working late nights at the bar, and during the season I’m gone for extended hours. Maybe in another year or two.”
“Well, whenever you’re ready, we’ll give you guys a recommendation,” Ethan says.
The two continue their conversation as Sophie asks from my other side, “Have Lizzie and Knox met Ivy?”
“Yeah, they stopped by the other day when it was quieter here.”
She gives a sad smile. “How were they?”
“Good.” I shrug. “I mean, they know they could always adopt, as well, but that doesn’t make it any less painful that they would also like to have a child of their own but keep having losses.”
“Man, that sucks.”
“It does. And it’s not lost on me how hard it must be for them to help us celebrate when they’ve been disappointed so many times.”
Since Ivy currently has a dozen babysitters in the room, I take the opportunity to head outside and pull the laundry off the line. While plucking articles of clothing and tossing them into the basket, I stop and tip my head up toward the sun, eyes closed, and relish the feel of its warmth on my skin, as well as the gentle breeze that blows through my hair.
“What’s that for?” I’m startled by Ethan’s voice, and jump when I feel his hands on my hips and his lips press against mine.
“What’s what for?” I ask, and his lips move with mine.
“The smile.”
I reach my hand up to my mouth and trace my lips.Huh, I am smiling … like a loon. “I guess I’m just so incredibly, disgustingly, unimaginably happy.”
Ethan brushes hair off my forehead. “I really hope I have something to do with it.”
“You have everything to do with it.” I giggle, and Ethan lets out a heavy breath.
“You know what that does to me, right?” He pulls my hip into him, against the athletic shorts he’s wearing, and I feel his hard length.
“Ethan.” I kiss his cheek and snake my arms around his neck. “We are exhausted.”
“Totally.” He kisses my neck.
“We haven’t slept in like, seventeen days or some shit.” I lick the corner of his mouth.
“Not a wink.” He nips my jaw.
“So, how can you possibly have energy for … that?”
“I got a second wind.”
I let out a little moan as his fingers slide up my back, under the shirt I’m wearing, dancing across my bare skin, and he sucks my lower lip into his mouth.
