Page 124 of One Night with Number Nineteen

“Then Mom and I are going to Molly’s,” Ollie says. “Wanna come?”

My lips twitch as I set the toast on three plates. Then curve further when Sawyer passes me the jar of peanut butter and a knife.

“Thanks,” I murmur.

He just kisses me on the cheek. “Anytime, Pages.”

Yup. So totally in over my head with this one.

And somehow…I can’t bring myself to care or to pull back or to throw up a hundred steel walls.

Because I love him.

“What’s that smile on your face?” he murmurs, his lips brushing the spot behind my ear.

I turn my head, kiss him lightly. “Later,” I say. “For now, I need to get those suspenders, pick up a present for Ollie’s classmate’s birthday party, get this starving child Molly’s, and then get back here so I can finish up some work for my agent tonight.”

“That’s a lot, Pages.”

“Hashtag Mom Life?” I say, piling banana slices on the toast and handing a plate to him.

A plate he immediately carries over to the table before he helps Ollie get settled in a chair.

Then he comes back to me and⁠—

Maybe it’s the love, maybe it’s the way he lingers close to me as we eat our snack…

Maybe it’s that he’s been here time and again and again.

Either way, the request just slips out. “Is there any chance you could take Ollie⁠—”

“Yes,” he says instantly.

“I haven’t finished asking.”

“I know, but I’ll do just about anything for you and Ollie.” A touch of his knuckles to my cheek. “Anything.”

My heart spasms.

“Sawyer—”

“Can I have more toast, Mom?”

Another brush of his knuckles, this time drifting down my throat. Then he’s turning to Ollie. “How about we save your appetite for Molly’s?” He scoops up the empty plate, sets it in the sink. “Because you and I are on a suspender hunt.”

I pick up the flier they sent home from school. “I haven’t had a chance to check inventory, but the school said⁠—”

He snags the paper from my hands.

“We’ll figure it out, Pages. You just write.” A wink. “And if you’re good, I might even bring you home some Molly’s.”

I laugh.

And then the next moments are a flurry of activity as I do the dishes and Sawyer gets Ollie ready to go and they’re calling their goodbyes and I’m waving from the open front door.

I watch until Sawyer’s minivan disappears from sight.

Then close the door and flick the lock.