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I turned the key. “Get your seatbelts on,” I said.
I heard the sounds of struggle and turned to see Molly in her car seat but trying to reach for the seatbelt. I sighed and half climbed back to strap her in. “Poor choice of words,” I muttered.
The car rolled away from where Katie was staying, and I was very much aware that I was doing something stupid. The problem was I felt too pissed to care. The kids deserved to get some time with their dad, and they deserved to get to see Harper.
We pulled up to the bakery and walked inside. The little bell dinged over our heads, and we found Harper along with her mom preparing what looked like a massive order, even though nobody else was in the shop.
Harper’s nose and eyes looked a little pink when I saw her, and I suddenly felt like shit. My plan to surprise her just a few minutes after her text had stretched into me not responding for over two hours. I’d been too caught up in being pissed to even think about that, but I could see what she must’ve thought. After last night, she probably wanted some sense that we’d taken a step forward and I’d basically broken into a backwards sprint.
“Oh,” she said. Her face brightened immediately when she saw me and the kids.
“Miss Harper!” Molly shrieked. She ran, flailing her arms and running with wide, silly strides until she smashed into Harper and hugged her tight. Harper smiled, kneeling down to hug her back. Billy inched closer, but wasn’t saying anything. She spotted him, then beckoned him into the hug with a curled finger. He obliged and hugged her back.
I watched it all with a smile. Dangerous. Every time I saw how good Harper was with my kids, it woke dozens of very dangerous thoughts.
“Sorry,” I said. “I saw your text and wanted to surprise you. But there were a few slight snags.”
“Mom didn’t want him to take us,” Molly said. “Daddy kidnapped us.”
Harper’s eyes shot up at me as I winced. “You didn’t actually, did you?”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “I borrowed them without permission.”
I saw Harper’s mom in the background, and it looked like she was biting back a few words. She worked her lips to the side, then disappeared in the back as if she didn’t want to butt in.
“Greyson, you can’t do that,” Harper said. “If she finds out, a judge could take custody from you completely.”
“I know, I know.” I sighed. “I got really pissed and I wasn’t thinking straight. But Billy said they were supposed to be in their rooms until dinner. She won’t even know they’re missing.” Seeing Harper had almost immediately washed away my blinding anger. Now I could see with unfortunately clear eyes just how massively stupid what I’d done was. I didn’t do this kind of thing. I wasn’t that guy, but ever since I’d met Harper, I found myself becoming him
“We have to take them back. Now,” Harper added.
“Damn it,” I muttered, but I nodded my head. She was right. Obviously she was.
Harper’s mom popped out from the back and smiled. “Just chiming in to say I completely agree. I’m good here, Harper. Go help him!”
Billy and Molly thought the chaotic way we rushed them to the car and drove off was great fun. They were grinning from ear to ear in the back as I sped up the road toward Katie’s place.
Harper was silent for the first minute or two. “I can’t believe you did that.”
“You make me crazy,” I said.
“Ooh,” Molly whispered from the back. “Romantic.”
Billy chuckled and I glared at both of them in the rearview. Harper was smirking as well.
“All of you, shut up.”
We pulled up to Katie’s house, but I parked far enough away that she hopefully wouldn’t hear the engine. Harper and I got the kids out as quietly as we could, repeatedly shushing them when they started to laugh. I led them by the hands up the hill toward her house and froze when we saw Matt walk by a window. He was staring at something on his iPad and eating a soft pretzel.
Fucking Matt.
He stopped, then lifted his head. Without a word, the four of us all dove to our bellies where we’d be partially hidden by a bush. After a few seconds, we started army crawling toward where the kids’ windows were.
We got to Billy’s room first and I knelt below the window, putting my finger over my lips and bulging my eyes at him. “Quiet” I mouthed.
He nodded and opened the window. I gave him a little boost and he slipped in with a soft thump as he fell down on the other side. A moment later, he stuck his good hand out and gave a thumbs up.
