“Or to my own grave,” he mutters while she stutters something incoherent and rapidly changes course to go the other direction in the park.
The one saving grace so far?
We don’t appear to have been recognized by anyone on theFletcher and Goldie are the cutest couple in Copper Valley!bandwagon.
Likely because it’s on the chillier side tonight. We’re lucky the carousel was open. Hours are sporadic in the winter, especially on weekdays.
“I’m taking her back to her mom’s tonight,” I say. “There’s a chance he won’t hear.”
“Where’s Ms.This Will Make Him Mad And I’m Giddy About Itnow?”
“There are lines. We haven’t just crossed this line, we’ve trampled it into the ground, lit it on fire, and roasted moldy marshmallows over it. But it’s fine. It is. We’ll tell him she wanted to hang with Sweet Pea and you weren’t involved.”
“Fetcher want cotton candy?” Hallie shoves a fistful of crumbled, wet, blue candy into his face, catching him with his mouth open like he’s about to reply to me, which means she gets her hand all up in his mouth.
His eyes cross and then squint. “Mm,” he says.
“Fetcher get more!” she shrieks.
“Oh, look at the time!” I grab my bag and pull out a wet wipe, snagging her arm and starting to rub all of the blue off her hands and face. “We need to hop the bus if we’re going to make it to tea. Can you tell Fletcher thank you for letting Sweet Pea play?”
Wrong thing to say.
Wrong wrong wrong.
Hallie’s chin juts out and her eyes narrow and she gives me the three-year-old version of thewhat the fuck is wrong with you, lady?look. “Fetcher and Sweet Pea come to tea wif us.”
“Our reservation is only for two, and they don’t let dogs in.”
Logic is not my friend when it comes to almost-four-year-olds. Nor is any chance that she’ll forget she said she wanted him to come to tea.
I know this, and yet I continue to hold out hope.
WhyI hold out hope when she’s starting to get the same expression on her face that Silas wears every time he finds out I’m seeing a guy, I have no idea.
I’m that level of optimistic, I guess.
“But maybe we can make another reservation for them to join us another time?” I add quickly.
“Dey cometoday.”
“Don’t you want to have something to tell them about the next time we see them? It’s good to spend time away from our friends.”
“Dey comeTODAY.”
“It’s her birthday,” Fletcher says. “She makes the rules.”
I slide him awhat the fuck is wrong with you?look of my own.
The jerk stifles a grin. “Sweet Pea needs to find a good place for a quick potty.”
“I take her!” Hallie leaps off the bench and grabs the leash that Fletcher’s clipping the mini dachshund into for her trip to potty.
“You do not have to come to tea with us too,” I whisper to him while we follow the threenager as she tugs Sweet Pea toward a tree. “They probably won’t even let you in the door. They book upmonthsin advance, so there’s zero chance I can add youand a dogto the reservation.”
The more I talk, the more his eyes light up. “Do you know who I am?”
Theego. And yet I’m still stifling an amused smile because I don’t think he takes himself that seriously. I truly don’t. “Dothey?”
