Chasing I Do (The Eastons #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

that came with kids.
    “I think Sam’s dance card was full,” Jillian chuckled from the rocking chair on the front porch. She wore ballet flats, khaki capris, and a white top with a bright yellow gauzy scarf twisted into some complicated knot around her neck. Her short chestnut hair was layered and effortlessly sexy. Anyone else might run the risk of looking like a soccer mom, but only someone with Jillian’s grace could pull off holly-homemaker with class.
    “I think it’s because the carriage is about ready to turn into a pumpkin.” Darcy made her way toward the lawn to pick up her daughter. “Are you going to turn into a mouse?”
    “Not a mouse, a dog!”
    “Well, then I’d better get you to bed before you start barking at me,” she said, sending Kylie into an eruption of giggles that filled the night—and Darcy’s chest.
    It was crazy how one giggle, one little smile could make all of the problems that had seemed so insurmountable moments ago vanish.
    Kylie wasn’t just her daughter. She was her everything.
    They may be a small family, but their love was mighty. Darcy carried enough for two parents—enough to last a lifetime. The day she’d discovered she was pregnant, she’d made a promise, to herself and to her baby, that they would live a life built on happiness, honesty, and never-ending love.
    Three things Darcy never had much of growing up.
    She had sacrificed a lot to hold true to that promise, but when she heard her daughter’s joyous laughter float up into the night sky, she knew it was worth every hardship.
    Sometimes, it seemed as if both of their lives had begun the day Kylie was born. Darcy, who had been on her own for most of her life, found herself alone once again after Kyle’s death. But then Kylie came along, and suddenly emotions and this tangible connection that Darcy had struggled for years to find came bubbling to the surface with such force they infused every corner of her life.
    A life, she thought, taking in the small guest cottage they called home, that she was proud of.
    “Let’s get washed up for bed,” Darcy said.
    “But they’re playing the chicken dance. I do the chicken good. Look.” Kylie tucked her arms in, like wings, and flapped for her life.
    “You do, but it’s way past bedtime.” Darcy set her daughter on her feet and led them to the porch. “Say goodnight to Auntie Jillian.”
    “But they haven’t cut the cake.” Kylie’s lower lip quivered in a way that made saying no hard. “And it’s my favorite kind.”
    “And what kind would that be?” Darcy asked, her eyes on Jillian in question, because she’d been so busy doing damage control, she wasn’t even sure what kind of cake the bride had ordered.
    “The iced kind,” Jillian said, and Kylie’s head bobbled in agreement.
    “Then I will bring you a slice for tomorrow.” Before her daughter could come up with yet another reason to prolong bedtime, Darcy added, “If you are a good girl and go to bed for me.”
    Quivering stopped and Kylie gave Jillian a big smack to the lips. “Night, Auntie.”
    “Night, sugar,” Jillian said. “Make sure Sam is getting ready too.”
    “Sammy,” Kylie called, dragging out his name from two to nine syllables. “It’s bed time.”
    Darcy waited until she heard heels clacking hard enough against the wood floors to leave marks, then let out a breath. “Thanks for staying the night. You’re a lifesaver.”
    “My pleasure. Sam needed a playdate that didn’t involve videogames, plastic guns, or tackle.”
    “Tackle football?”
    “No, just tackle.” Jillian shrugged. “Boys, they’re a different breed.”
    Didn’t she know it.
    Darcy took a seat in the rocking chair next to her friend, and watched the people across the lake dance and hug and mingle, as if nothing could come between them. As if the only emotion in that moment was hopeful joy.
    It was why Darcy loved weddings so much. They were the day when everything was perfect, and everyone was