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I crossed my fingers under the table. A little superstition never hurt.
33
GREYSON
I pulled up to Katie’s with the kids in my car early Monday morning. Molly was still wearing her unicorn PJ’s and Billy looked like he just finished wrestling a bear. I probably should’ve made them take a bath last night, but we’d stayed later than we should’ve at the pig painting. I was also preoccupied as hell because I hadn’t had Harper since Friday, and I was practically thrumming with need for her.
“How much longer do we get to stay here?” Molly asked.
“Uh,” I looked up, trying to mentally count it out. “About a month.”
“How long is a month?” Molly asked.
“Four weeks.”
“How long is a week?”
“Seven days.”
“How long is–”
I held up my hand. “Molly.”
She smiled sweetly and shrugged. “I know how long a week is, silly. It’s this many days.” She held up all her fingers.
I raised an eyebrow. “Sure, kid. That’s about right.”
“Do we have to leave when the month is over?” Billy asked.
“What?”
He shrunk under my attention. “I was just wondering.”
“We kinda do, yeah. Your mom and Matt can’t stay here. I’ve got my job back home, too. They won’t hold it forever.”
“You could find a new job here though, couldn’t you?” Billy asked. “You could work for grandpa at the inn.”
“I don’t run inns, Billy. I fix them up and then move on. It’s what I’m good at.”
“You’re good at everything you try to do, Dad,” Molly said. “Remember that pony you drew me? You said you couldn’t draw, but it was so good.”
I grinned. “Drawing ponies and running businesses aren’t exactly the same thing.”
“Molly’s right,” Billy said. “If you can fix a hotel, you can run one. I know you could. And what about Miss Harper? We’re just going to leave and never see her again?”
Damn it. I was wondering when the kids would make me have this conversation. “Miss Harper is very nice, but she has a life here in Fairhope, just like we have one in D.C.”
“You know I heard Mom and Matt talking about how nice it is here,” Billy said.
I hesitated, hands still on the wheel while we sat parked in front of Katie’s rental. “What did they say exactly?”
“Matt was talking about how quiet it is. He said there’s a, uh… I forgot the word. But something at work he can take where he’d be able to live out here.”
“A remote position?”
“I think so,” Billy said.
“Matt is allowed to watch T.V. at work?” Molly asked, suddenly outraged.
“Not that kind of remote,” I said. “It means he wouldn’t need to live in D.C. to work for the company there. He’d just do meetings on his computer or his phone. What did your mom say when he said that?”
“She didn’t answer for a while,” Billy said. “I thought she didn’t hear him. But then she said, ‘Greyson would give her hell’, and I’m only swearing cause that’s what mom said.”
I worked my lips to the side. Fuck. Was Katie seriously tempted to stay here in Fairhope? I glanced at the clock on the car and opened the door. “Come on guys, we’re late.”
“But are we still going to leave in a month?” Billy asked.
“Yes,” I said.
“Even if mom stays?”
“Your mom is an adult and we’re separated. I don’t have a say in what she does anymore. That’s her choice.”
Molly looked like she was about to cry. I sighed. “What is it, booger?”
“I never got to paint pigs back home. I really like it here, Daddy. Can we please stay?”
Damn it. “Get your shoes on,” I said. “I need to get back to the inn. The restaurant is opening in two days and Miss Harper and I need to make sure we’re ready.”
Billy watched me with narrowed eyes. “Is she your girlfriend?”
“Shoes,” I said flatly.
Billy got his shoes on and held Molly’s hand while they walked up to the house. I waited by the car and watched until Katie and Matt let them in. I gave a quick wave but didn’t feel like talking to Katie right now. She waved back, then closed the door.
I got back behind the wheel with my mind racing. It hadn’t been easy before, but my options had at least been clear. Leaving D.C. was leaving my job and it would also be leaving easy access to my kids. I could fly them out every weekend, but that was too much for kids. They didn’t need to be shuttled around on airplanes that much, and I wouldn’t be able to run an inn if I was gone every weekend. That meant no matter what I felt about Harper, it was ultimately a choice between her and my kids. So it wouldn’t matter how strong my feelings for her became. At the end of my time here, we’d go our separate ways.
