“Of course, but,” Cleo paused, looking between my daughter and me, “I need to run out to my house for something first.”
Charlie instantly froze. “No, I don’t want you to go,” she said with a pout. “I want you to stay here with us.”
“I’ll be right back.” Cleo pushed to her feet, placing her hands on her hips. “If I make a list of ingredients, do you think you can help your daddy get them at the store?”
I felt similar to Charlie. I didn’t want Cleo to go either. What could she possibly need from the ranch that she couldn’t wait for until she went home? This was supposed to be our time together. Selfishly, I didn’t want to spend one more minute outside of her proximity.
“Is that okay, Grady?”
I blinked, focusing back on the two women in front of me. “Sure, yeah. I can get groceries.”
Cleo studied me for a moment before nodding her head. “Great. Do you mind if I borrow your dad’s truck to drive out there?”
“You can take mine,” I said, jerking my head toward the table in the entryway where my keys sat.
“Do you need her booster seat?”
“No, he’s got one in his. We’ll be fine.” I stepped out of the way as she walked past me, looking back at my daughter, who was sitting on her bed, clutching that damn rabbit to her chest.
I hoped to God this wasn’t Cleo trying to run. Maybe she just needed some space, maybe I rushed into things, but I hoped she would tell me that rather than leave. Pushing off the door jam, I followed her.
My fingers latched onto her wrist, and I gently spun her back to me. “You’re coming back, right? You’re not leaving?”
I wasn’t sure what I looked like or if she heard the worry in my voice I was trying to hide, but Cleo’s eyes softened. “I’m coming back. There’s just something I have tucked away I think Charlie will really love. I want to share it with her.”
“You promise?”
Cleo stepped forward and cupped my cheek. “I promise. I’ll text you the ingredients, okay? Maybe you can make some more of that mac-n-cheese you made for the cookout?”
I smirked. “You liked that, huh?”
“Maybe a little bit. I don’t need you getting a big head, or anything.”
Leaning in, I kissed her. It was so breathtakingly normal I almost forgot we hadn’t been doing this domestic shit our entire lives. “Hurry back to us.”
A soft blush crept across her cheeks. I loved the way it lit up her entire face. “I like the way that sounds.”
The only thing I could think of was the truth. “So do I.”
“Can we get popcorn, too, Daddy?”Charlie asked, leaning over to point at the box on the shelf.
“What do we need popcorn for?” I asked skeptically. “I thought you didn’t like it because it gets stuck in your teeth?”
“Yeah, but you do. So does Cleo. And you can’t have a movie night without popcorn and candy, Daddy. That’s silly.”
“So, the adults get popcorn while you get candy, huh?” Iasked, reading between the lines. My daughter was about as subtle as a freight train. She was already sneaking away toward the chocolate at the end of the aisle.
Charlie sighed. “I guess you can have some chocolate too, Daddy.”
“What about Cleo? Does she not get any?”
She held up two boxes. “I was obviously going to get her some.”
“Alright, alright,” I said, snatching them from her hand and tossing them in the basket. “Anything else we need?”
Charlie shook her head, and I started moving toward the register. When Cleo asked me to go to the store, I was worried it’d be too crowded. Since I got back to town, I’d been having everything delivered using Dad’s account. The last thing I needed was to be mobbed at the grocery store. People knew I was in town, sure, but I didn’t want to take my daughter out there and run the risk of some dick from high school making things weird.
Still, I tugged my baseball cap down further as we stepped up to the register. Charlie was helping me place our groceries on the conveyor belt when I looked up and saw my face on the front of a tabloid magazine.
