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“I have a lot of work to do. I have orders coming out my ears. I’m going to stay home and work. That’s it.”
“Well, don’t work too much.”
She threw her hands in the air. Honestly, he was impossible. There was more beeping from outside.
“You better go. I will be fine. I promise.”
“I’ll call every day. If you need to go anywhere, text me before you leave, then when you get home.”
Lord. He was next level.
“I will be fine, Grumpy Badger. You’re going to give yourself wrinkles, worrying about me this much.” She peered at him closely. “Well, more wrinkles.”
“April,” he grumbled. “You know, it’s not too late for you to go and stay with Aunt Therese.”
“Um, I think it is.” No way was she doing that. “If I’d known you were going to be this worried, I could have stayed with Chardonnay.” Her cousin, Chardonnay, lived in Billings.
Trent grew pale. “Fuck, no. You’re not going to stay with her.”
“Why not?”
“Because that woman is trouble. You’re dynamite and she’s the match.”
“Daddy, don’t you think you’re exaggerating just a bit?” She held up her finger and thumb about an inch apart.
“Last time you were together, you ended up in jail.”
“That was a misunderstanding.” She waved her hand in the air dismissively.
Although, as his face grew red, she thought that perhaps she shouldn’t have been so blasé.
“I could have stayed with Effie.”
“No way. I don’t really know Effie’s men. You’re not staying there. You’ll stay here.”
“Okay, done.” She clapped her hands. “Daddy, you have to go.”
“Why do I feel like I just got manipulated?” he asked, sounding bewildered.
Poor Trent. It was hard for him to keep up.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She gave him her most innocent look.
He cupped her face between his hands. “Promise me, you’ll be a good girl.”
“I promise. What mischief could I possibly get up to?”
CHAPTER2
APRIL
“Right, Scruffy Dog. We have everything we need for a night in.” She settled down into bed and pulled the covers over her and her worn stuffed toy. She’d had Scruffy Dog since she was five. It was the last gift her dad had given her before he’d left them. She’d never seen him again and her mom told her years later that he’d died in a car accident about six months after leaving them.
After her dad left, her mom had grown bitter and mean. Scruffy Dog had become her friend, confidante, and savior in that household and she adored him.
“We have all the major food groups covered. A bottle of whipped cream. That’s dairy. Maraschino cherries. That’s fruit. Potato chips. Vegetables. Chocolate fish. Protein. Damn, we’re good.”
Scruffy Dog looked suitably impressed. As he should be.
