Page 46 of You Know You Wanna

“I’m still in the Smokies, but I wanted to talk to you about Laurene.”

“I heard you were in North Carolina. What on earth are you doing there? You haven’t been in a single tabloid all month. What happened? Did you lose your status as the most eligible bachelor in the city?”

Her voice was teasing and playful, but I still gritted my teeth. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t been in the city for a few weeks now. So listen, about the boarding school⁠—”

“I don’t want to talk about that, silly. I’m checking in on you, not Laurene. I’m sure she’s fine, our Lulu. She always is. What are you still doing in North Carolina, of all places?”

“It’s a business trip,” I said curtly. “Laurene is going camping with some other kids while I do my job, but again⁠—”

“Camping? With all the bugs and wild animals?” She scoffed. I practically heard her nose wrinkling from all the way across the world. “She’s probably going to need a rabies shot when she returns from a filthy camping trip. Stop trying to change the subject, though. We were talking about you. You should let me know when you intend on leaving the city for such an extended length of time. If they can’t get photographs of you, they’ll be trying to get them of me. You should know that.”

Searing pain shot to my temples and pounded there. Of course, this fucking phone call is about the tabloids and press attention.

Jacqueline lived for that stuff and she’d never taken well to other people—including myself—getting more attention than her publicly. Our divorce had been everywhere, much to her delight. Even if had meant our dirty laundry being aired for the world to see.

Once it had been finalized, I’d been named a very eligible bachelor, and as a result, I now appeared in the tabloids far too often—much to her chagrin. I’d never given a damn about any of it. Personally, I found it invasive and annoying, but if I had somehow become news that I hadn’t been in the city and that news had now trickled over to her, it was no surprise that I’d suddenly gotten another call “just to check in.”

I exhaled harshly through my nostrils. “She’s been looking forward to it, actually. We went to get her some gear this morning and I doubt we need to be concerned about rabies. What I am concerned about, however, is that she doesn’t want to go to this boarding school and⁠—”

“Oh, would you stop saying that?” She let out a dismissive giggle. “The school is fine, darling. It’s one of the top schools in London, for heaven’s sake. She’ll love it once she gets there. You just need to stop indulging her.”

“I’m just listening to her, not indul⁠—”

“I have to go, Remi,” she said, not so apologetically. “I’ll talk to you soon, okay? Kisses to Lulu!”

She hung up and I ran my fingers through my hair, noting that she hadn’t asked to speak to her daughter once. Yet, she insisted on upending her entire life and moving her to the other side of the world. I was starting to understand Laurene’s frustration with this. Hell, I was starting to feel it myself.

Either way, I turned to head back to Birdie’s cabin, but she wasn’t there, the windows now closed and the door locked. “Fuck. I missed her.”

Muttering under my breath, I walked back to the resort in time to see Laurene climbing off the elevator. She wore a bright smile, and her brand-new backpack hung over her shoulder. She spotted me and ran over, tossing her arms around me in a huge hug.

It was very unlike her to act this way, but my arms closed around her anyway and I hugged her back, breathing her in and even letting my eyes fall shut for a moment as I did. My heart skipped as I held her, feeling strangely emotional about her leaving, even for such a short amount of time.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this, honey?” I asked softly as I released her. “If you’re not, it’s not too late to cancel.”

“Are you kidding? I’m so ready.” She beamed up at me. “The bus should be here soon. I’ll see you in a few days, okay?”

Giving me another squeeze, she let go and then waved before she bounced toward two other preteen girls, joining their ranks in waiting for the bus. I watched her for a moment, her eyes so bright and alive with excitement and her little fingers curled around the straps of her backpack.

I suddenly felt like this was some kind of a rite of passage for her, and I was damn proud that she was going on this trip when she’d never attempted anything like it before. As my chest swelled, Declan slid in beside me.

“She’s really going camping, huh? I was wondering if she’d actually go when the time came. God knows, I wouldn’t have left a suite to go sleep in the woods.” He shuddered as we watched a little blue charter bus pull up.

The girls squealed and linked arms before they surged toward it, and the doors creaked in the quiet air as they opened. Birdie appeared in them, stepping off to greet her happy campers with a wide smile on her face and her long hair pulled up into a tight bun on top of her head.

She wasn’t wearing any makeup and she had on ugly, sturdy hiking boots, but she was somehow even more gorgeous to me now than she’d ever been before. A natural beauty who didn’t give a damn about high heels or glamour.

I hadn’t known many women like her, but I suddenly wondered how different my life would’ve turned out if my father hadn’t lost everything. Not because I would have grown up with more money than I could ever count, but because that would’ve meant I could have kept spending time outdoors myself.

Maybe I would’ve met another girl just like Birdie and married her instead, but I dismissed that train of thought when I realized that would’ve meant that I would have never had Laurene. So no. Things worked out exactly the way they were supposed to.

Birdie embraced each of the girls, then waved them onto the bus before she climbed back on, looking around like she was making sure there weren’t any last-minute additions to their group hurrying toward them.

As her gaze swept the area, it landed on mine and our eyes locked for a moment. My heart did a strange squeezing thing I couldn’t say I liked much, but she quickly looked away, her expression shattering before she shook her head and disappeared into the bus.

The doors closed behind her, the engine sputtered to life, and they were off. The little blue bus bounced a bit as it made its way down the mountain to the main road. I frowned, replaying that look on her face over and over in my head until the bus was gone.

Had I done something wrong?