Page 29 of Fall Love

I’ve been in a tailspin since Saturday night when I learned I’m going to be a father.

I’m going to be a dad.

It might sound crazy, but this is something I’ve longed for. Not in a my-whole-life kind of way, just more a past-decade kind of yearning. When I neared forty, I felt like falling in love and getting married wasn’t ever going to happen.

Then I met Lisa. Then I unmet Lisa. And all those hopes were shattered again.

It was one reason Neve had been so refreshing, so surprising. Even if I wasn’t a one-night stand kind of guy, she wanted me, and call my fragile ego delicate, but I wasn’t in a good state of mind during the past holidays.

My heart was a bit battered, so the desire in Neve’s eyes lit something inside me.

She’d quickly become more than a fleeting moment. Neve’s presence in my thoughts lingered long after I left Lovewell Landing. Work got in the way, as it always does, but Neve was still in the recesses of my mind, like a whisper, like something waiting. And I’ve been cursing myself since Saturday that I didn’t try to find her sooner.

“And you.” Neve breaks from her sister’s arms and points at me. “Why are you always being so nice to me? Are you trying to butter me up? Grease the axle so we’ll sell?”

“I . . . uhm.” I glance at Lumi, then back at Neve.

I’m not being overly nice to her. I don’t have a hidden agenda. I’m genuinely intrigued.

Hell, I haven’t stopped thinking about her since New Year’s Eve. And with this new development, I’m more invested than ever to get to know her.

She’s the mother of my child. Our child.

Did my world tilt on its axis when she told me? It sure did.

But it wasn’t like her pregnancy was hidden. Like she’d only just found out, and the reality of her condition hadn’t settled in. Neve was so obviously pregnant and beautiful with it. She glowed.

And I only wanted to bask in that light with her. With them.

Little Wrench. We definitely need a better name.

I hate how she spat out that I was the father, like it was an insult. Like she doesn’t know she’s giving me an incredible honor.

Then again, she couldn’t know that because we hardly know each other.

Sure, I know the way her lips feel against mine. And how she makes these sweet little sounds when I touch her in certain ways, in certain places. And that she smells like sea air and summertime.

“Tate Love.” I extend a hand toward her sister, feeling like we need to rewind this moment.

Lumi shakes my hand, then pauses, still gripping my hand. “Love? As in a Lovewell Love.”

Neve snorts, flinging her arms to her side and then slapping them against her thighs. She’s wearing fashionable overalls that apparently fit a pregnant woman with a white tee underneath and a flannel shirt over the collection. Her hair is clipped at the sides. Her short, wavy bob blows with the slight breeze.

“Of course. And he wears fucking khakis.”

She’s clearly offended by the type of pants, and I glance down at mine. I’m not wearing khakis. I’m wearing Brooks Brothers dress pants, and they are light tan.

Lumi’s brows angle upward in surprise. “But you aren’t from around here.”

It’s said matter-of-fact, like anyone local would know every Love and Wells family member.

“My dad is a doctor, and he left the area before I was born. He’s a brother to Elias Love and Charlamaine.”

I swipe a hand through my hair.

“Oh, God, not the swiping,” Neve groans.

“What swiping?” I glance at Lumi, clearly missing something.