“That was a snack, remember?” Emily’s voice was gentle but firm. “A very good snack, but still a snack.”
Alice’s face fell but she didn’t argue. Just slumped dramatically in her chair like she’d been mortally wounded.
“I should probably get going.” Emily set the dish cloth on the counter. “Let you guys have your evening.”
“No!” Alice sat up straight. “You have to stay for dinner!”
“Yeah,” Audrey added. “You can’t leave yet.”
“I’ve already been here for hours, sweetie. Your dad probably wants some time with just you guys.”
“But we want you to stay.” Alice’s lip trembled slightly. “Please?”
Emily looked at me, her expression uncertain. Like she was waiting for me to give her an out, to thank her and send her on her way so we could get back to normal.
Normal. Like today had been anything close to normal.
“Stay.” The word came out a little rough. I cleared my throat. “I mean, if you want to. I was going to order pizza anyway. It’s the least I can do after everything you did today.”
“You don’t owe me anything.”
“Please.” I held her gaze across the kitchen and something passed between us. Something I wasn’t ready to name but could feel settling right under my heart. “Stay.”
She hesitated for another moment, then her shoulders dropped slightly and she smiled. “Okay. Sure. Pizza sounds good.”
EMILY
The pizza arrived twenty minutes later. Cam paid the delivery guy with hands that weren’t quite steady. He was holding it together for the girls, keeping his voice light and his movements controlled, but tension bunched in his shoulders and a muscle ticked in his jaw.
The girls didn’t notice. They were too busy arguing about whether they should eat in the kitchen or the living room, a debate that Alice was losing based on Audrey’s very logical point that they always ate at the table.
“Kitchen it is,” Cam set the pizza boxes down in the middle of the table. “Plates or paper towels?”
“Paper towels!” Alice bounced in her seat.
“Plates,” Audrey countered. “We’re not savages.”
That made me laugh, earning a half smile from Cam.
“She gets that from my mom.”
“It’s cute. And she’s right. I’ll grab the plates.”
I did just that, refusing to think about how easy all this seemed. How natural it felt to be here. Or how good Cam looked in his worn jeans and fitted tee.
Then when he set a slice of pepperoni pizza on my plate, his fingers brushed mine as he pulled back. Just for a second. Just long enough for my brain to short-circuit.
“Thanks,” I managed.
He nodded, not quite meeting my eyes, and turned back to serve the girls.
There was a lull in conversation while we got started on the pizza, until Alice said, “I saw a dog at the park today.”
Cam reached over to wipe some sauce from her mouth with a napkin. “Did you?”
“Yeah, it was just a little one and I wanted to pat it so bad.”
“So did I,” Audrey added.
