Worth the Wait (Picking up the Pieces #4) (15 page)

Trying to push down the feeling of just how badly I missed his warmth or how much his words penetrated my heart, I attempted a smile and cleared my throat. “It’s okay. What did you want to show me?”

At my question, his face lit up, making him look like a little boy and endearing me to him that much more.

Following him into the room we were standing in front of, he walked over to something covered in a sheet, and whipped it off. My breathing stalled and tears instantly filled my eyes as I took in the sight of the most beautiful toy chest I’d ever seen. It was made of solid wood with a hinged lid. The craftsmanship was like nothing I’d ever seen before. The wood was stained a beautiful cherry with hand carved toys, everything from trains to teddy bears. On the lid, in the most beautiful carved scrolling letters I’d ever seen, were my children’s names. If not for that detail, I would have taken the toy chest for an expensive antique. It was nothing less than stunning.

“Oh, Brett,” I cried before I covered my mouth with both hands, tears breaking free and running down my cheeks.

His brow furrowed with worry as he took in my tear-stained face. “Ah, Christ, beauty. Don’t cry.” He rushed to me and scooped me into a tight hug. “I won’t give it to them if it upsets you. It was a stupid idea. I shouldn’t have built it without talking to you first.”

I pulled back, stunned. “You made this?”

“Well, yeah.” He let me go and reached back to rub his neck, an adorable blush creeping up his neck. “I saw the small bins you were using when I watched the kids for you. I just figured you could really use something to keep their toys in so they weren’t spilling out all over the place. I didn’t think—”

“Brett,” I interrupted, placing my palms on his cheeks so he’d look at me. “I love it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. This is, by far, the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given my kids.” I let him go and walked over to the chest, running my finger along the intricate carvings. “It’s so beautiful. I can’t believe you made this. It’s almost too much.”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels. It was charming how embarrassed he appeared at my compliments of his work.

“I just wanted them to have something special. You think I should have gone with a Toy’s R Us gift card instead? What if they don’t like it?”

At the look on Brett’s face, I wanted nothing more than to erase all the concern that marred his expression, but just as I opened my mouth to speak, Cameron and Callie came rushing into the room.

“Mommy! Mommy! Brett got us a bouncy castle!”

“
What
?” My head shot back in Brett’s direction, my eyes the size of salad plates. “Now,
that’s
too much.”

He shrugged casually and shot me a wink that made my stomach flutter. “What can I say, I love spoiling them.

Gah!
Could he just stop being so wonderful for one damn moment so I could get my head straight!

“What’s dat?” Callie asked, running over to the toy chest with Cameron right on her heels.

“Wow,” they gasped as they ran their little hands over all the different toys carved into the wood.

“Do you like it?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“Dis is so cool!” Cameron shouted.

I walked over and pointed to their names on the lid. “Look here. This says Cameron and this says Callie.” I traced each letter for them. “Brett built this for you all by himself so you can keep your toys in it.”

They jumped up off the floor and ran straight for Brett, wrapping their arms around his legs as they told him thank you over and over. He squatted down to their level and hugged them both tightly. My heart squeezed violently when Callie took his face in her itty-bitty hands and planted a kiss on his lips.

“Love you.”

“Me too, me too!” Cameron cried, not to be outdone. And with that, the twin tornados were back out the door and, no doubt, heading straight for the bounce castle as Brett stayed hunched down, looking like his world had just been rocked. I knew the feeling.

“I think it’s safe to say they love their present,” I whispered, my voice coming out scratchy as I tried to get a hold of myself. I’d never in my life seen my kids take to another person the way they’d taken to Brett. It moved me in a way I couldn’t describe.

Before Brett could stand to his full height, I took the opportunity to step past him and start out of the room. I needed to try and get my head straight and I couldn’t do that when I was near him. But his next words stopped me cold.

“I love them, too, you know.”

The only movement I could make was to look over my shoulder as my eyes stung with tears and my jaw dropped.

“I really do, Kenz. I love those two kids something fierce.”

He walked past me and down the hall while I remained frozen in place, attempting to process what he just said. As I played his words on repeat, I couldn’t deny the fact that I really did believe him.

I wasn’t much of an expert on parties, but this one seemed to be going off without a hitch as far as I was concerned. The girls had all the food and decorations set up. The guys and I had set out the tables and chairs, the guests—little demon spawns from the twins’ daycare class—were running around like a bunch of rabid hyenas hyped up on speed, and best of all, the bounce house was still in working order, no little devil child had popped it yet.

I’d say that was a success. Cameron and Callie were having the time of their lives so even if the skies opened up and flooded the shit out of everything, as long as those two kids were smiling, I was happy.

“I still don’t get it,” Trevor stated from where he was standing in a group next to me, Savannah, Jeremy, and Luke. “Why can’t
I
have a turn on the bouncy castle?”

“Because you’re a grown man!” My eyes rolled skyward, thoroughly fed up with having to explain it to him for the third time. He was worse than the damn five-year-olds.

The son of a bitch actually had the nerve to pout. “That’s not a very good excuse.”

“Oh, my God!” Savannah exclaimed. “I’m not having this conversation
again
.”

“What’s happening?” Lizzy asked as she walked up to us.

“Your husband’s throwin’ a damn hissy is what,” Savannah answered.

“Ah, damn, baby. What did you do now?”

Trevor threw his hands up in the air. “I just don’t see why I can’t get in the damn bouncy castle!”

“Ah, shit, babe. Do we really have to have this conversation again?”

“For the love of…” I started. “Can y’all please watch your language?” I griped. How hard was it for a group of adults to remember to watch what they said around little kids?

Luke looked over at me with a shit-eating grin on his face. “Looks like someone’s turning into a big boy.”

I opened my mouth to spell out what I thought when I felt a tug on my pant leg. Cam was standing next to me doing a funny little dance, hopping around from one foot to the other.

“What’s up, little man?”

Grabbing hold of my shirttail, he pulled me down until he could whisper in my ear. “I gots to go potty.”

I looked up and scanned the backyard for Kenzie but didn’t see her anywhere. “Where’s your momma, bub?”

“In the kitchen making dip. I really gots to go, Brett,” he answered, speeding up his little dance. “And there’s a line for the potty.”

“That’s okay, you can just go out by the trees.”

His eyes grew wide as his jaw opened slightly. “You mean tee-tee outside?”

Oh, this poor little guy. Being raised by a single mom, he’d lost out on all of the cool shit us boys got to do. “Yup, just one of the things that makes being a guy awesome. Come on, little man. Let’s go.”

I took him toward the back of the yard by one of the trees so he’d have a little more privacy.

“Here you go, dude. Have at it.” I turned around and crossed my arms over my chest and looked around the backyard at all the kids running amuck.

“Uh…Brett?”

I turned to look at Cam over my shoulder, his little back to me and the rest of the backyard.

“Yeah, bub?”

“I can’t go.”

“Huh?”

“I can’t potty. People are watching me.”

“No one’s watching you, little man,” I encouraged, but apparently he wasn’t buying it because he asked, “Can you do it with me?”

“Uh, not really sure if that’s kosher, dude.”

He peeked over his shoulder with his big ole’ hazel puppy-dog eyes. “Pleeeeeease?”

Letting out a sigh, I finally relented, “All right, all right. You stay there and I’ll go over here.” I stepped on the other side of the tree and prepared to take a leak in the backyard.

“Uh…what are you doing?”

I spun around, zipping up so fast I almost caught my junk in the fly. That would have been a disaster of epic proportions.

“Mommy! Brett’s teaching me to tee-tee outside cuz we’s cool guys!”

Kenzie glowered at me before turning back to Cameron. “Yeah, bub, let’s go ahead and shut this down. Zip up, bubs, you got a party to get back to.”

Cam quickly finished up his business and ran off toward the piñata, leaving me to deal with his mom’s wrath, all on my own.

“Seriously, Brett? During a
party
? Is it so hard to use a damn bathroom?”

I held my hands up in surrender. “In my defense it’s like a rite of passage for boys to pee outside. It was only a matter of time.”

“I swear to God, Brett, if I get a phone call from the daycare saying he dropped his pants to piss on the playground, I’m gonna kick your ass.”

“Look, beauty, this is the kind of stuff you’ll just have to deal with. It’s every penis-carrying member of society’s God given right to whiz outdoors. Don’t be jealous.”

She smiled brightly, and I could have sworn I hadn’t seen those jade eyes light up like that since I’d met her. It hit me right then and there that I’d do anything to put that smile on her face as often as possible. A woman that beautiful should always smile that happily.

“This is an amazing party, Brett. I can’t even begin to thank you and your friends enough for helping me pull this off.”

I couldn’t keep myself from touching her right in that moment. Reaching up, I brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “They’re your friends too, Kenz, and we’ll always be here to help you and those kids, any way you’re willing to allow us to.”

Her smile faded as she studied me, a frown marring her beautiful face. I missed her smile immensely the moment it disappeared.

“I’m not good for you, Brett. I need you to know that.”

The moment she said that, a massive knot coiled in my gut. How could she not see how wrong she was? The more time we spent together, the clearer it was becoming that she was perfect for me.

“Kenzie—”

“No, please,” she interrupted. “Hear me out.” Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath before concentrating on me once again.

“You’re an amazing guy, Brett. I know that, and I also know that the twins and I are lucky to have you in our lives. But
I’m
not good for
you
. If I let this go any further than friendship, things would eventually go bad and you’d end up resenting me. It’s happened before. I’m too damaged, and I’d hate myself if I let a wonderful man like you get pulled down all because of me. You deserve so much better than what I have to offer you.”

I could see the determination in her posture, the sincerity that shined through her eyes, and I knew that arguing with her at that moment would be a lost cause. She was too strong in her convictions to believe anything I would say. But I’d be damned if I was giving up on her.

“I’ll let you have this win right now, baby, because I can see how much you believe what you’re saying.”

“It’s the truth,” she insisted, but I just pushed on, taking a step closer to her so she could see the sincerity in my
eyes.

“But I know what you really are. I know how amazing of a person you are and how wonderful of a mother you are. And I’m not giving up on you. I don’t know what bullshit you’ve been dealt in your life, but I’m not like any of those people from your past who let you down. You
will
trust me one day, beauty, and until that day comes, I’ll be here waiting.”

Taking full advantage of her stunned silence, I leaned forward and planted a chaste kiss on her gorgeous lips.