“I’m not asking you to forgive me for pushing you away,” I said. “But I don’t know how to live without you anymore, Harper. I’m asking if you’ll let me spend the rest of my life making it up to you. One groveling act of regret at a time.”
Her face finally broke into the slightest smile.
My heart jumped at the sight. “Let me love you, and you can stay as guarded as you need to. But please, just let me fucking love you.”
Farrah gave her a hard nudge, and Gabby was clutching her hands over her heart, mouthing “aww.”
Someone in the dining room gave a half-hearted clap that nobody picked up. Gramps was apparently still messing with the computers, and Baby Got Back came on again. Harper came out from the kitchen and walked painfully slow toward me. She was a little sweaty and covered in bits of food from her apron to her face, but she smiled down to where I was kneeling.
“That was a disaster of an apology,” she said. “And please stop kneeling.”
I got up. “Maybe I should’ve picked a less ambitious grand apology, considering I don’t have much practice even with the small ones.”
She smirked. “You think?”
“I also planned to bake you a few dozen of those cookies. I had a line about how you could have one for every time I made you cry, but I accidentally burnt them.”
Harper laughed. “You’d need more than a few dozen cookies if that was the plan.”
I took her hands in mine. I stopped noticing anything else but her big eyes looking up at mine. They were open and honest, and for the first time in weeks, they weren’t cold. She may not be ready to let me all the way in, but she was cracking the door for me, and that was all I deserved at the moment.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Harper,” I said into her ear, struggling to be heard over the ridiculous song.
“Good,” she said with a smile. “Because I don’t think I could forgive myself for trusting you again if you weren’t. I’m still not sure I can, but… I missed you too, Grey. God, I missed you.”
I picked her up and hugged her tight. Molly whooped and made silly noises. When I glanced toward my family, I saw they were all smiles.
Holding Harper like this felt right. It felt so damn right I nearly carried her outside and refused to let her go until she demanded it. Part of me was worried she’d still run off again once all these eyes were off us. But I eventually let her go. “I was hoping to take you out tomorrow for dinner. Something far from casual. Highly romantic, actually.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Oh, so you think you get to just start dating me right away? Is that how this works in your mind?”
“Yes.”
She paused just long enough to make me sweat, then shrugged. “Okay. But you’re on a trial basis, Mister. Screw this up, and you’re out.”
“I’m not going to screw it up again,” I said. I wanted to kiss her, but I also wanted to give her time.
Harper surprised me by getting on her tiptoes and planting a soft kiss on my lips. She slowly opened her eyes as she leaned back. “If you do plan to screw up, at least make it as entertaining as this failed apology.”
49
EPILOGUE - HARPER
Two Months Later
I sat on the side of Molly’s bed, reading her the Halloweener. It wasn’t really close to Halloween, but she’d recently developed an obsession with short-legged animals.
She yawned wide, stretching her arms up until her round little belly poked out of her PJs. Her hair was still wet and combed back away from her forehead. “Miss Harper?”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Will you and daddy stay together forever? Or will you decide you are happier split up like daddy and mommy did?”
I cringed internally. I still wasn’t anywhere near mastering this whole quasi-parenting thing. I’d quickly learned how parents justify lying about things like dead pets going to live on farms and Santa Claus. It was just so hard to disappoint them, and I also felt an obligation to protect her innocence as much as I could. Reality could hit her when she was older, just like it hit all of us. But for now, why fill her head with worries?
“I have no plans of going anywhere. Your dad still owes me a few hundred apologies.”
Molly grinned. “I like seeing him act goofy to say sorry.”
I gave her nose a tap with my forefinger, smiling down at her. “Me too.”
“Can you tell me a story?”
I considered. I knew Greyson wanted them to get to sleep, but I could still hear him in Billy’s room talking about something. “Maybe I have time for one more. Which one do you want?” I got up to go to her bookshelf.