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She nodded. “Thank you. And I’m sorry I kept the game going and then got mad and ruined your date.”
I reached out my hand as a peace offering. “Friends?”
She hesitated, but eventually put her little hand in mine. “Sure.”
“Thank you.” I nodded and released my hold on the elevator doors.
This time, Elodie stopped them from closing. “Hey, Hollis?”
Our eyes met.
“You know what I’m not sorry about?”
“What’s that?”
“The photo you left on my phone. It’s come in handy.” She let go of the elevator doors and stepped back, flashing me the wickedest grin right before they closed. She wiggled her fingers. “’Night, Hollsy.”***The next morning, Hailey was up early again. Apparently, she and Elodie were spending the day doing a photography tour of graffiti around the city. She sat at the kitchen island, eating a bowl of cereal.
I set my empty coffee mug in the sink. “So I thought about what you asked me. I’ll take you to visit your dad if you want.”
Hailey grinned. “Elodie gave you permission, huh?”
The little shit. “Have you ever heard the saying Don’t bite the hand that feeds you?”
“I have. But Elodie feeds me most nights, remember?”
I grabbed my wallet and cell phone from the dining room table. “Don’t be a smartass, Hailey. You know what I mean.”
She jumped down off the stool she was sitting on and walked over to me. Pushing up on her tippy toes, she surprised the shit out of me by kissing my cheek.
“Thank you, Uncle Hollis.”
I nodded. “You’re welcome.”
She went back to her bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios. “So when can we go?”
“I’ll need to make flight arrangements. But visiting hours on the weekends are all day. So we’ll probably fly down on Friday night and come back Saturday after the visit.”
“Can Elodie come?”
“Elodie doesn’t work on weekends.”
“But if I ask her to come and she agrees, is it okay?”
It was a bad idea for me to be spending any time outside of what I had to with Elodie. Though, I had to admit, she had a special connection with Hailey and would know better than me how to handle things if she got upset.
I sighed. “If you want her to come and she’s able to, yes, we can take Elodie.”
“Dope.”
Yeah, I am. You can say that again.Chapter 19* * *HollisWe wound up booking a Saturday afternoon flight and planned to see my brother on Sunday morning before flying back that evening. I’d considered sending a car for Elodie, so she could meet us at the airport, but then decided the least I could do was pick her up since she was coming with us on her day off.
Hailey and I left the city early, in case we hit traffic anywhere. Plus, parking at LaGuardia with all the construction was going to be a bitch. We pulled up at Elodie’s house almost a full forty-five minutes earlier than planned.
Hailey started to get out of the car and noticed I hadn’t moved. “Aren’t you coming in?”
After the shit I pulled last time, I wasn’t risking it. “I have to answer a few emails, so I’ll wait here. You go ahead, and let her know we’re early. Tell her she doesn’t need to rush.”
“Okay.”
I watched Hailey skip up to the door and Elodie open it. They talked for a minute, and then the two of them looked over at the car. I waved and held up my phone. Even from the curb, I could see the smirk on Elodie’s face—no doubt she knew why I wasn’t coming inside. But whatever… Better safe than sorry.
About ten minutes went by. I was in the middle of answering a long email when a black BMW pulled to the curb in front of me. A man got out and started to walk toward Elodie’s door.
Who’s this douche?
He didn’t have anything in his hands like he was delivering something, and he was dressed pretty nice. He also walked up to the door without any hesitation about where he was going. I watched from the car like a hawk.
The man knocked, and Elodie opened the front door with a smile on her face. Seeing who was there, it immediately wilted. I reached for the car door handle, but managed to stop myself from opening it.
Elodie put her hands on her hips and said something. The guy then took a turn speaking, and whatever he said pissed her off. She started to wave her hands around, and I heard her voice rise, even though my windows were up.
Fuck this. I got out of the car and was at her front door in five long strides.
“Is there a problem here?”
The guy turned and looked me up and down. “Who are you?”
“Hollis LaCroix. And you are?”
“Elodie’s husband.”
Elodie’s lips twisted. “Ex-husband. And he was just leaving. You can ignore him, Hollis.”
Her ex thumbed his finger at me. “Who the hell is this guy?”
