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“You okay, Tucker?”
“Sorry for bothering you, Dawson.”
“No problem. You’re in love, and it makes us do crazy things.”
“Yeah, I’m in love. But clearly, she’s not.”
22
~Scarlett~
“So, what did you think of the property?” I ask Chloe as we drive back to town. I pull into Charlie’s Diner and put the car in park.
“It’s so pretty. And it’s out of town, but not too far from town, you know?”
“That’s what I thought, too.” We climb out of the car and walk inside. Once we’re seated in a booth, I pull my iPad out of my handbag and bring it to life. “I have more things to show you.”
“Awesome.” We pause to place our orders—two burgers, fries, and chocolate shakes thank you very much—and then we lean over the table, looking at the screen of my iPad. “Are these house plans?”
“Yep. I have a couple that are my favorites, but I want your opinion.”
“Cool.” I walk her through each one like we’re walking through them in real life. “So, the laundry is downstairs?” she asks with a frown. “But the bedrooms are upstairs. That’s a pain in the butt. We have that now, and the laundry is heavy.”
“You have a really good point,” I reply, considering it and not admitting that I haven’t done my own laundry in a decade. But no one wants to carry heavy baskets of laundry up stairs. The waitress sets our shakes in front of us. “So, we need a laundry room on the same floor as the bedrooms.”
“That would be easiest,” she agrees. “Wow, your house is going to be awesome. I’m so excited you decided to move here.”
“Thanks. And can I tell you a secret?”
“Duh.” She grins and spoons some chocolate shake into her mouth.
“I’m hoping this won’t be just my house. My goal is for you and your dad to live there with me.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, but you can’t tell your dad because it’s a surprise.”
“I won’t tell him. Oh my God, this is so amazing. Can I decorate my room?”
“Of course, you can. And you can help me decorate the rest of the house, too.”
“So cool,” she says again just as her phone pings with a text. “That’s Dad. Where are you? You’ve been gone a long time. Geez, he’s been so grouchy lately.”
I frown and sip my shake. “Really?”
“Like, beyond grouchy,” she confirms and types out something to her dad. “And he’s mopey. Like I am when something makes me sad.”
Well, damn. I guess in my haste to form a plan to get him back, I didn’t consider that, in the meantime, Tucker would be heartbroken.
I’m a total bitch. That should have been the first thing on my mind.
“I’m sorry he’s been hard to live with. That’s my fault.”
Our meals are delivered, and Chloe digs into her fries. “Did you guys break up or something?”
“Yeah.” I sigh and fiddle with a fry, suddenly no longer hungry. “I’m a horrible person.”
“No, you’re not. You’re planning on building homes for your entire family, not to mention for a kid who isn’t even your kid. You’re just excited, and you have tunnel vision. That’s what Dad calls it when I do that.”
“Your dad’s pretty smart.”
“Yeah, he’s just been on my last nerve this week.”
She licks some ketchup off her finger.
“Chlo, whether or not I’m able to clean this mess up, and your dad and I get back together again, I want you to know that I love you very much. And I’ll always be your friend, no matter what.”
“I know.” God, is it this easy for kids? “We’re cool, Scar. But if you and Dad do get back together and get married, I could call you Mom. You know…maybe someday.”
I blink at the sudden onslaught of emotion caught in my chest.
“I mean, sure. If you want to.”
She smiles happily. “Awesome. You’ve been so good for Dad. He smiles so much more since you’ve been home, and he laughs a lot. He didn’t always do that. I think he was just stressed out because I’m a handful.”
I bark out a laugh and sip my shake. “I don’t think you’re a handful.”
“Oh, I am.” She nods wisely. “And he has a pretty important job. People here really respect him.”
“I know.”
And I was pushing to tear him away from all of this.
I’m a selfish person.
“But you make him happy. And you’re nice to me, not just because you have to be to impress my dad, but because you like me.”
“I like you very much.”
“I like you, too.” She smiles as her phone pings again. “Geez, Dad, calm down.”
“Maybe we should get you home.”
“Yeah, you’d think I’d been abducted by a serial killer. He’s so lame.”
I laugh again. She was just singing his praises, and now he’s lame. I guess that’s how it goes when you’re a kid.
I ask for a box for all of our uneaten food, pay the tab, and we set off for home. When I pull into the driveway, I see Dad on the porch.
