Me?
No. No. No. He wouldn’t have done what he did if he loved me. People didn’t do that.
Dinner would be served in a few minutes, but my stomach ached with turmoil. How could I eat when I was having a full-on quarter-life crisis? One just didn’t digest normally with all their insides raging.
“Santa is here!” Gwen squealed. The girl spun in a circle four times before I righted her.
“Hey, don’t make yourself dizzy, baby girl. You want to go say hi to him before we eat?”
“Yes, please. Daddy, can we? Please?”
“Of course.” Hayden held out his hand, smiling the warm, fuzzy grin I loved. It was the softening of his features and the utter happiness on his face that had made me fall for him.
Becoming a father had changed him for the better. Some people found themselves with parenthood, and Hayden was one of them.
He guided Gwen up to Santa right next to the main entrance of the restaurant. Garrett winked at me when I caught his eye, and I smiled. He patted his knee, and Gwenjumped onto him, her mouth moving a mile a minute as she discussed everything she wanted. I’d heard the extensive list… before I stopped going over there.
She wanted a bubble machine. A water machine. Marshmallows. A sleepover. A pool party. The Grinch. And a Lego set. I wondered how Hayden managed to handle all of that. What even was a water machine? Smiling, I sat down. I counted the poinsettias in the center of the table instead of watching Gwen and Hayden. His laughter carried toward me, same with Gwen’s. Hearing them happy made me happy, even if it was at the cost of my pain.
I took a sip of my drink and said to heck with it. Hayden wanted me back. I could hold on to my hurt or hear what he had to say.
Who are you kidding? You’ll forgive him. Just like last time.
His phone buzzed on the table, an unknown number popping up. I silenced it. It went off again, this time with his mom’s name. It happened again, and without overthinking it, I answered. “This is Hayden’s phone.”
“Charlotte?” his mom’s warm voice said. “I’m so glad you answered, honey. He’s been a mess without you. Please forgive his temporary blip of idiothood.”
My eyes prickled, and I smiled. “I’m weighing my options.”
“Excellent. Make him sweat a bit. He deserves it.”
I snorted. I had always loved his mom. “I don’t know what’s going to happen. We haven’t really talked, but I saw you called twice, and I didn’t want you to worry. He’s with Santa so Gwen can sit on his lap.”
“That makes sense for the Calhouns to have a Santa at the rehearsal dinner.”
“My thoughts too.”
“Could you tell him to call me when he can? Nothing worrying, but we’re stuck in an airport and won’t get in until way later.”
“I’ll tell him as soon as he gets back.”
“Thanks, hon. Hopefully, I’ll see you soon.”
She hung up, and I meant to set his phone down. I really did. I wasn’t the spying kind or nosy in other people’s business. Yet… my contact name was left opened. And with it was my cell, both personal and work emails, and notes.
Lines and lines of notes about me.
Left-handed—give her outside of the booth
Cries at rom-coms
Ghirardelli hot chocolate is her favorite. Marshmallows.
Loses her mind when “Get Low” comes on
Favorite singer is Taylor Swift
Dream vacation: Italy
