I reached out and put my hand on her shoulder as I backed out of the driveway. “Kitten, you’ve already seen my secrets. You have nothing to worry about.”

Taylor peeked over her fingertips at me, so I refocused on her.

“You sure?”

I felt my empathy rise up. She was nervous. I could tell from how she was clenching and unclenching her fist.

“Yeah, baby. I’ve got you. You don’t have to be afraid of anything. We can talk about it, not talk about it. Whatever you’re on board for, I’m here.” I downshifted and headed in the direction of the party store.

“Thanks. That means a lot.” She took out her phone and I glanced at her screen as we waited at a stop light. Dad was the main texts she was responding to. I didn’t try to read over her shoulder, though. She’d already shared more of her privacy than she was comfortable with.

She was pensive in between texts. When we got to the party store, she was out of her side of the car before I could help her, and that was fine. It was nice to have something to focus on together. Teddi had instructions on what to purchase and I put it on my card.

“Can we pop in there?” We were at my trunk, putting away the balloons and plates. Luckily, Teddi used balloons in a ton of her party prep for charities, so we had tons in the shed. The guys would fill the balloons when we got there. That would give us room to ride in the car.

Taylor was looking longingly at the craft store. I shrugged because we were probably cutting it tight on time after dealing with Axel, but I took an encouraging step anyway.

In the store, she found a giant five and a giant zero. “I bet I can use Teddi’s craft stuff to make something cool out of these.”

We stood in line. I put my arms on both shelves on either side of us while we waited in the long queue. Taylor leaned back against my chest. I turned my face toward her and kissed her cheek.

“It’ll be okay, baby. Just relax.”

She nodded, her hair moving up and down on my shirt.

After putting her items onto the checkout counter, I opened my wallet. “I’ve got these.”

Taylor shook her head no and whipped her credit card out of her pocket. “No, you don't. This is my gift to your dad. I have to pay for it.”

I tried to outmaneuver her and jab my card into the slot before she could, but she was quicker. The cashier snorted. “The two of you are too damn cute together. When are we getting you in here for wedding supplies?”

Taylor declined the bag and shook her head.