Unbreak My Heart (Strawberry Inn Book #4)

Chapter 28

ELIZABETH

The ending credits from the movie we were watching rolled and Dalton both looked between us at the sleeping girls and shared a smile. After dinner, the two of them begged to watch this movie, but they fell asleep about halfway through. Eva was resting her head against my shoulder and Katie had her head on Dalton’s lap. They looked so content and peaceful. I didn’t want to move them but it was their bedtime and I really needed to use the bathroom.

“Do you think they’ll ask us to watch the movie again tomorrow?” Dalton chuckled.

“They’re going to be so mad they missed the ending after all the pleading they did to watch it in the first place.” I stretched my legs and a louder-than-expected yawn came out, “Wow, I guess they aren’t the only tired ones.”

“Stay…please.” Spending the night wasn’t unusual for us. On school nights we liked to make sure the girls were in their own beds, but ever since we told the girls that we were dating, spending a couple of nights together over the weekends had become normal. It was technically a school night, but I wasn’t going to be sending Eva back to school until next week. Dalton would more than likely follow my lead with Katie.

“Of course, we’ll stay, Dalton. I needed to be with my daughter last night, but the truth is I needed you as well. I’m sorry again for how I acted.”

He shook his head, “I don’t want to keep living in the past, Elizabeth.”

I’m not sure if he was only talking last night, but it felt like he was telling me so much more. My past was a struggling single mom with a closet full of parental drama and mess. His was a widower and a single parent in his own right. I didn’t want either of things to be true anymore. I knew I was the first person he’d opened his heart up to since Brandi and I would never take that for granted. He was also the first person to show me that not all men were trash and that raising Eva with another parent was so much easier.

Dalton carefully moved out from under Katie and then expertly maneuvered her into his arms. There weren’t going to be many more years of carrying our girls around, it was good to take advantage of it while we still could. After getting Katie into bed, he returned for Eva. Just as smoothly as before, he took Eva into the bedroom and laid her on the pullout trundle bed. I made sure both girls were tucked in and that they had their music player set for soft music. We tip-toed out of the bedroom and back into the living room.

“I’m going to have a beer, do you want something?” Dalton asked while moving into the kitchen.

“I’ll take some wine if you have any.”

“Lucky for you, I have a friend with connections to the best wine in the state.” 

I stood in front of the bookcase with family pictures that I had seen many times before. I had my pictures in a similar location, but they were only of Eva and me. Any picture I still owned that contained my mom, dad, or other family members was stored away  As it had before, my eyes landed on a picture of Dalton, Brandi, and Katie in the hospital right after she’d been born. “Have you heard from Cody or Blair?”

Seeing the picture reminded me that it had been some time since the last communication we had. Blair started a group chat about an hour after Emory and Cody had left in the ambulance. Last they added anything, she was still in labor and the baby was going to be born early. 

Dalton checked his phone on the kitchen island and shook his head, “Nothing since before dinner. Do you want me to text and ask?”

“I don’t want to bother them, I’m sure they’re going through a lot if they’re preparing for a premature baby. The hospital doesn’t have a NICU, does it?” I may have worked at the hospital, but the physical therapy center was its own wing and I rarely went into the actual hospital unless it was to meet a patient in their room. Most of the time they were transported to our location.

“They have some capabilities to take care of preemie babies, but if the baby needs too much care they’ll have to transport it to the city.”

“I feel so bad for her,” I frown. “I think I’m going to send a quick message, just so they know we’re thinking about Emory.” Dalton and I sat down on the couch together and I pulled out my own phone sending a quick text to the group message. 

“Liz…” Dalton’s low, sultry voice sent a shiver down my spine. My name coming from his lips was always welcome, but something about him calling me Liz felt so intimate. “I want to talk about us.”

A slight moment of panic ran through my body but disappeared once my eyes met his, and I saw nothing but love in them. “I want to talk about us too because there is something I’ve been dying to tell you for a few weeks now.”

“Oh yeah, what’s that?” He moved some loose tendrils off my face and caressed my jawline with his thumb.

“I love you, Dalton. I’m taking a bit of a leap of faith here. I don’t know where you are. I don’t want to pressure you and if you don’t feel the same way that I do, I can handle it, so don’t feel like you need to lie. I just, I love you so much that it hurts and is exhilarating and I just…”

Rather than finishing my rambling, Dalton shuts me up with a kiss. Once the shock of the interruption wears off, I kiss back with as much gusto as he was giving me. “I love you too, Elizabeth. That’s exactly what I wanted to talk to you about and even more.”

He tries to go back to kissing, but I hold back from him this time, “Even more? What could be even more than saying that we love each other?”

“There is so much more, babe,” he grinned. “This whole living in two different places isn’t doing it for me.”

“You…you want to move in together?”

“I do. What do you think?”

“I don’t know. In a way, I feel like it is too soon, but then again we’re not a young couple just learning to be out on our own.”

“Exactly. My dream has always been to find a home, a house not an apartment, for Katie. I know you want the same for Eva.”

“But Dalton,” I turn around to his photos, “This was where you built all those memories with Brandi. I don’t want you to lose those. They’re still a part of who you are.”

“God, you’re so amazing. You’re right, these walls hold some of the best memories in my life, but the worst moment in my life also happened here. This was never the place we wanted to raise Katie though. It is about time I move forward with my life in more ways than one. Plus,” he put his hand on his heart, “Those memories are in here too. So are the new memories that we will make with you and Eva.”

“I love you, Dalton, so much. Let’s do it let’s start looking for a home!”

We begin to kiss again, but the moment is broken up by the sound of our phones going off. Dalton grabbed his, which was closer, and swiped up the message. Appearing on the screen was a tiny baby boy swaddled in a white blanket with blue elephants and a caption that read: Callum Glenn Bishop.