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I had no fucking idea.She had been forced to deal with it.This hadn’t been a choice.
“Yes.I think so.”
Mom’s smile returned.“Very good then,” she replied and started to untie her apron.“I’ll go let Porter know we are off to a mini vacation on a private island,” she told me with a small curl on her lips before walking off.Now that my mom and Porter were handled, I needed to figure out what the fuck I was going to do with Oakley.
Thirty-Two
Oakley
“What was the best thing that happened to you today?”Sarah asked, smiling at me from across the table as she picked up her garlic bread.
I finished chewing the lasagna in my mouth and swallowed before replying, “That one is easy.Getting to see you.”
She shook her head.“That’s too broad.You know the rules.It has to be more specific.”
I laughed since I was the one who had made the rules to this little game.“Okay, then making dinner with you.”
She seemed pleased with that, then swung her gaze to Wilder.“All right, it’s your turn, Dad.Best thing that happened to you today?”
Wilder put his beer down and appeared to be in deep thought.“Eating a piece of that coconut cake.”
“Dad!You were supposed to say something about me,” she scolded him.
He lifted his shoulders in a small shrug.“We can’t let your ego get too big.This house can only hold so much.”
She burst into a fit of giggles.I felt Wilder’s gaze on me, and I lifted my eyes to meet it.This entire evening had been strange.Wonderful but different.I was afraid to enjoy it too much, but then afraid not to soak it in while I had the chance.
“This is the best thing that happened to me today,” Sarah said.
“What?Eating?”Wilder teased her.
She shook her head at him and rolled her eyes.“No, silly.Eating dinner with both of you.I’ve never gotten to be with both of you at the same time.It’s perfect.”
Oh, Sarah, don’t say that.You’re going to slowly kill me.
Neither Wilder nor I had a comment for that.What did we say?I wanted to tell her I would stay and never leave.That we could do this all the time.But Wilder’s mixed signals made me think once I was safe, things would return to the way they had been.
“Can we watch a Christmas movie when we finish eating?”Sarah asked.
“I’ll clean up the kitchen while you and Oakley go get started on a movie.It’s been a long day, and Oakley will probably want to go to bed earlier than usual.”
Not necessarily, but I wasn’t going to argue with him.This was his house and his rules.
“But you’re staying for a lot of days.Right?”Sarah asked me, needing reassurance that she wasn’t missing anything if we went to bed early.
I nodded.“Yes, I believe so.”
“She’ll be here for a couple of weeks.You’ll have plenty of time to stay up too late and watch Christmas movies,” Wilder assured her.
A couple of weeks.How was I going to leave them after being here for that long?I wouldn’t think about it now.I had to stop fretting over the future.I’d survived losing Wilder once before.If it happened again, then, well, I would survive it too.Maybe.
Wilder stood up, carrying his empty plate to the sink.I finished with my last bite just as Sarah jumped up with her plate and followed him.
“Can we make popcorn?”she asked him hopefully.
“You just ate dinner,” he pointed out.
She shrugged.“But it’s a movie.You can’t watch a movie without popcorn.”
