His phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out to read a text from her.
Can Debbie and I go shopping now?
Another one came through as he read the first.
Please!!!
He looked at his daughter. She was miserable. He could see it in her frown and the tilt of her eyebrows. Her shoulders drooped so low he had to bite back the urge to correct her on her posture.
He swiped a response.
Soon.
“Savvy, will you please help the boys load their plates in the dishwasher?” He said, giving her an excuse to leave the table.
She bolted from her chair so fast Austin almost burst out laughing.
After a lengthy silence that quickly grew uncomfortable, Debbie dropped her napkin on the table. “It’s great that you two were able to visit, but Savannah and I are going shopping for a prom dress this afternoon.”
“A prom dress?” Cheyenne perked up.
Debbie grimaced, regret flashing across her face.
“I’d love to go shopping with you. In fact, I saw a gorgeous dress this morning in a cute boutique in Kennewick that would be perfect for Savvy.”
Savannah stepped back out onto the patio at that moment. Her brow furrowed as her gaze darted from Cheyenne to Debbie to Austin.
“I thought you wanted to spend some time with the boys,” Austin said. “You know, to get to know them.” The last thing he wanted was for Cheyenne and Tucker to stick around, but he also didn’t want her ruining what should be a fun experience for Savvy.
Cheyenne looked at Dallas and Cody who had gone right back to driving their remote control trucks. A look of distaste crossed her face, leaving a slight frown.
“I’ll have plenty of opportunities to get to know them later. But Savvy is so grown up already.”
“Yes, but Debbie and Savannah have been planning this girls’ outing for a while now.” He tried again. “It’s a good chance for them to bond.”
Cheyenne affected a pout. “What about my chance to bond with my own daughter? I haven’t seen her in years.”
“And whose fault is that?” The words were out of Austin’s mouth before he couldn’t stop them.
Tucker grabbed Cheyenne’s arm, but she shrugged away from him.
“I’m sorry I’m not the kind of mother you think I should be, Austin, but I really want to do this one thing with my daughter.”
As far as Austin was concerned, she wasn’t any kind of mother at all.
“I’m afraid we won’t have room for you,” Debbie said in a sweet voice that was as fake as Cheyenne’s ridiculously long eyelashes. “We planned to drive my Porsche, because Austin promised to take my SUV in to get the oil changed.”
She just bought the SUV; it didn’t need maintenance already. Austin looked at Debbie whose eye twitched in the semblance of a wink.
“That’s right the Cadillac is overdue for an oil change.”
“So, why don’t you change it yourself?” Cheyenne gave him a doubtful look. “You used to always do that to save money.”
“Yes, but we never owned a car that cost a hundred grand either.”
“Well, Tucker and I can drive. There’s room in our Mercedes,” she threw out the make of their luxury car as though she thought it would impress someone, “for Debbie and Savvy to ride with us.”
“Actually, I promised Savvy she could drive the Porsche.”
