Page 28 of The Challenge

Chloe and I looked at each other.

Effie’s eyes were like saucers. “Like what?”

I smiled at the memory. “Like I knew one of Chloe’s fears was interacting with strangers. So one time, I challenged her to go up to strangers in a store and start a random conversation about birds.”

“That’s silly.” Effie turned to Chloe. “Did you do it?”

“I sure did.” She grinned. “And your dad taught himself how to play the guitar in one week. He kept talking about how he wished he knew how to play. So I figured challenging him to start learning it was one way to get him to bite the bullet. Otherwise, he might never have tried.”

I nodded. “That one actually ended up benefiting me because I never stopped.”

“Over time, we developed some rules. Once you got one of the neon pink sticky notes,” Chloe explained, “you had one week to fulfill the challenge.”

“What was the prize?” Effie asked.

“There actually weren’t any prizes,” I told her.

“It was a pride thing,” Chloe explained.

Effie scrunched her nose. “What do you mean?”

I chuckled. Effie was smart, but she didn’t understand the meaning of pride yet.

“Like, we did it just to say we could and feel good about it. That was the prize.” Chloe turned to me. “Those little challenges made me a stronger person during a very impressionable time in my life. For the most part, they taught me that if I put my mind to something, I could accomplish it, no matter how hard it seemed at first. That’s something I carry with me even now.”

“Tell me what else you made him do…” Effie said.

Just as Chloe was about to open her mouth, I interrupted. This conversation was getting dangerously close to touching a nerve, so I needed to put a stop to it. “You’d better go get cleaned up, Effie. We got home late, and you haven’t done your homework.”

“Okay.” She pouted as she reluctantly left the table.

She could’ve talked to Chloe all night. Chloe had that effect on people.

Once I knew my daughter was out of earshot, I turned to Chloe. “I’m sorry for cutting short the conversation about Naomi earlier. I don’t want to get into it in front of Effie.”

“Understandable. I’m sorry if I caused trouble for you with Naomi.”

I shook my head. “It’s my fault for not telling her you were staying here.”

Chloe tilted her head. “How did the conversation end?”

Looking down at my hand, I pressed my fingertips together. “She told me as long as you’re living here, she and I are done.”

Her mouth hung open. “I can’t believe that.”

“Honestly, I think it’s for the best. I didn’t really have the energy for a relationship right now. I’ve tried and failed before, too. Every girlfriend I’ve had since the divorce wanted to be the priority in my life, and for obvious reasons, that’s not gonna happen right now—probably not for another decade. So while Naomi running into you might’ve been the catalyst, ending things with her was inevitable.”

“A partner shouldn’t add to the burden of your life. They should ease it.”

Somehow, I couldn’t imagine that ever happening for me. “Wise words.” I raised a brow. “You memorizing your fortune cookies again?” I winked.

Chloe balled up her napkin and threw it at me. “I used to save all of my fortune cookie messages—just in case someday I could look back and realize one of them was prophetic.”

I nodded. She’d kept them in a little jar in her bedroom. “Did they give you any important clues yet?”

“Well, they certainly didn’t warn me I’d be moving in with my frenemy.” She smirked.

I flashed her a look. “I’m your frenemy now?”