Page 53 of Back To Our Beginning

“Free labor.” Her eyes were twinkling.

“Why don’t you take a break, then we can get back to it,” I suggested.

She wiped her brow with her wrist. Then took off her gardening gloves. “Sounds good.” She got off her mat and stood up. When she turned around, I noted the Wonder Woman t-shirt that said, Busy Saving the World. I thought it was pretty damned appropriate.

“You gonna keep staring, or are you going to open the door?”

“Depends. What do you have to eat inside?”

“What about the words free labor did you not understand?” she teased.

“All of it.” I opened the sliding glass door and motioned for her to enter in front of me.

She beelined for the kitchen and opened a cookie jar in the shape of a koala bear. The smell of oatmeal wafted out. My favorite. Unless she’d made them with raisins. Then we had a problem.

She must have been able to read my mind, because she immediately pursed her lips. “Of course I made them with chocolate chips and pecans.”

Thank God.

She grabbed two plates. She put three cookies on one and she put eight on the other. The perfect amount. She pulled down two glasses and set them on the counter, then went to the fridge. She looked over her shoulder at me.

“Thanks for the root beer.”

“You’re welcome.”

“But milk to go with the cookies, right?”

“Damn straight,” I replied.

She took out the milk and proceeded to pour two full glasses and put them in front of our plates. She sat beside me at her kitchen island. I knew I should say something, but the lure of fresh-baked cookies won. After three, I could finally get my head around talking.

“Thanks for inviting me over.”

“Well, I didn’t bake your favorite cookies for them to go stale.”

I shook my head at her sass. “I wanted to talk to you about something,” I said.

“Shoot.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. Opened my mouth. Then stopped. Shit, what was I thinking? Was I really going to ask if she would be okay, pulling up stakes? When we hadn’t even established we were in a relationship?

God, I was stupid.

I turned around in my seat and spun her bar chair around. This way I could get a good look at her whole face, not just her profile.

Maddie frowned. “What’s going on?”

I looked straight into her eyes. “I’m trying to think of the right words.”

“Just say what’s in your heart.”

“It might seem like it’s been only nine days, but really it’s been all my life. You know? How does it feel to you?”

She bit her lower lip, then lowered her head.

“Baby?”

She looked up. “Same,” she said softly.