Page 59 of From the Embers
Eason chuckled. “Allergic and nope. I love cats.”
Asher’s eyes lit as he swung a damn near giddy gaze my way. “Please, Mom. Please. Can we have a cat? Madison and Luna said they would help me walk it and feed it so you don’t have to do anything.”
“Cats don’t go on walks. Plus, the girls aren’t even allowed outside without an adult. I’m not sure that should be your selling point. Let’s talk about who’s cleaning the litter box.”
“Please. Please. Please. I’ll take care of it. I promise. I swear, Mom.”
Laughing, I shook my head, his desperation and excitement explaining his Christmas morning-esque five a.m. appearance. “Ash, I haven’t even had coffee yet. Can we please save the cat talk until after breakfast?”
“No,” he whined. “Because at breakfast you’re going to make us talk about you and Eason getting married.”
I clamped my mouth shut.
But Eason let out a long, “Whoooooa!”
“Wait, if Eason’s my new dad, that means he can get us a cat.” He turned to Eason. “Please. Please. Please. Eason. Just one little kitten. I don’t even care what color it is. I just want a cute one.”
“Slow down, kid. One thing at a time. Your mom and I…” He lifted his gaze to mine in a silent request for permission and I nodded, trusting him implicitly.
Okay, fine—and a little curious as to how he was going to handle this too.
“Your mom and I are dating, Ash. We’re not getting married. At least not yet. And maybe never.” His lips curled into a warm smile as his eyes locked with mine. “But I have my hopes.”
My chest got warm as I stared back at him. After losing Rob, I never thought I’d even entertain the idea of getting married again. But I couldn’t deny that being with Eason gave me a few hopes of my own.
“For now though,” Eason continued, “she’s my girlfriend. This means we’re getting to know each other and spending time together. But, Ash, if and when your mom and I ever do decide to get married, and even if we don’t, I’m here for you in every way you could possibly need me. But I’m never going to replace your dad, okay? You already have a pretty amazing dad. Him being in heaven doesn’t change that.”
And that was the exact moment I fell all-the-way, head-over-heels, unapologetically in love with Eason Maxwell.
I hated Rob Winters. I had few positive memories I clung to, most of which revolved around the kids, but after seeing the selfish and disgusting things he and Jessica had done without thought or regard for us, I’d come to terms with the fact that I’d been married to a stranger.
And Eason—God, poor Eason. He still didn’t even know if his former best friend, who had been sleeping with his wife, had fathered his daughter or not. I couldn’t imagine he held anything other than disdain for Rob.
But there he was, his arm wrapped around Asher’s shoulders, preserving Rob’s place in his life all because it was the right thing to do for my little boy.
I looked away and swallowed hard, hoping to keep the emotion at bay.
“Does this mean you guys kiss now?” Asher asked.
“Yep,” Eason replied.
“And sleep without pants?”
“It would appear so. Though not all the time. We’re going to take this slow and make sure you guys are comfortable with it. Man to man, I should have come to talk to you about things first. And I apologize for that. It’d mean a lot to me if you gave me your permission to date your mom.”
Okay, seriously. How sweet could this man get? Maybe he was the real sugar in this relationship.
“I care about her a lot, Ash. I won’t do anything to hurt her.”
Okay, so Eason was damn near perfect. Cue. All. The tears. I continued to stare at the far wall so they couldn’t see my face.
Asher hummed for a minute. “If I say yes, does it mean I get a cat?”
“Nope. But it does mean you get chocolate chip pancakes while we discuss it over breakfast.”
“Yessssss!” he hissed.
Eason laughed, and still unable to look at them, I heard the telltale slapping of their high-five handshake and fist-bumping routine.
“All right, kiddo. Get out of here and give me a few minutes to get dressed and talk to your mom. I’ll be down to cook in a few. Do not wake up the girls. Yeah?”
“Okay.” With two bounces on the bed and a loud thud on the floor when he landed, he was off.
“Shut the door,” Eason called.
In the next second, I heard the click of the doorknob.
And in the second after that, Eason’s strong arms wrapped around me, dragging me to the center of the bed. He rolled to his back and jostled me like a rag doll into a position with my head on his shoulder and my leg draped over his hips, and only then did he let out a long exhale. “All right. Talk to me. How’d that go for you?”
