“That’s all I need, Gia. If I have you and my daughters, I’ll be a happy man.”
She blows out a long breath, her shoulders deflating as she exhales. Then she throws back her drink, making me laugh. “Let’s move on to other, less emotional, topics, yeah?”
I nod. “Anything you want.”
Our food arrives a few minutes later, and the rest of our dinner is spent laughing and teasing each other over everything. She tells me about her wild college days with her best friend, and I share the ridiculous things I got up to with Grayson and Knox on the rodeo circuit. She demands that I show her proof of me riding broncs, and I reluctantly find some old videos. She steals my phone and taps around for a bit until she hands it back exactly as it was.
“What did you do?”
“Sent those videos to myself. Just a bit of spank-bank material for the nights we can’t spend together.”
I drop my head back in laughter while my cheeks heat.
“Holt?” Kathy’s voice stops me dead in my tracks.
“Hey, Kathy.” I stand, nodding at Leonard, who’s stoically standing behind her. “Leonard. How are you?”
Kathy glances at Gia, her face pinching. Before I can introduce them, Kathy looks away as if Gia is inconsequential. “We’re fine. Where are the girls?”
“With Nix. He wanted to take them out to see the new Disney movie.”
Her lips turn down at that. “I wish you had called us. Wecould have had a movie night at our house instead of their little ears being subjected to all that noise.”
Gia’s expression communicates her incredulous thoughts about Kathy’s statement. It’s a lesson in control that I’m able to hold back my laughter.
“Well, maybe they can come over next weekend,” I offer.
“Hmm. I suppose I could rearrange the appointments I have.”
“That’s okay, don’t worry about it if you’re busy.”
“Oh, well, I’ll see what I can do about my schedule.”
“You let me know. Have a good dinner.”
Leonard nods, shuffling his wife to their table across the room. I’m grateful he didn’t let her continue talking with us. I could tell as he escorted her away that she had more to say.
I look back at Gia. “Did you know you’re not very good at keeping a straight face?”
She grimaces. “Sorry. I used to keep that shit locked down, but being here has made me forget I should. I’m finding it a whole lot harder to hide my emotions recently.”
“I’m not complaining. I quite like being able to read how you feel. Takes the guesswork out of it for me.”
“I’m assuming those were Hannah’s parents.”
I nod. “Kathy has always been opinionated. One time, Hannah bought this pair of pants. They were ridiculous, but she loved them. Kathy had no qualms about sharing her thoughts. Most of the time, she’d do it in a silly or kind way. Since Hannah died, Kathy’s opinions have become more judgmental and mean-spirited. It’s made asking her for help a whole lot less appealing.”
“Do they spend a lot of time with the girls? Seemed like she was more annoyed that you didn’t ask her than about not getting to see them.”
“Lately, the only time they see the girls is if I ask first. It’s become rare for Kathy to reach out to me.Lauren’s picked up on Kathy’s rude comments, and she doesn’t hold back her opinion on anything. I’m betting both the girls have called her out on something she’s said, and she thinks she’s punishing them in some way now.”
“I’m kind of proud of the girls for standing up for you.”
“Me too. I’ll have to talk with Kathy about it eventually. It’s just always the last thing on my to-do list.”
“I don’t blame you. I’d also do whatever it took to kick that can down the road.”
Chuckling, I change topics. “You ready for dessert?”
