Austin and Savvy laughed, and he slid a strong hand around Debbie’s waist. Warmth flooded her body as butterflies swarmed her stomach. After a full week in which there had been no hugging or kissing, not even hand holding, Debbie’s traitorous body welcomed the contact.
Austin had been under tremendous stress at work as deadlines approached, and he’d worked late every night this week, often arriving at her house exhausted and irritable. She’d tried not to put much stock in what felt like rejection and enjoyed every moment she had with the kids, but she’d concluded that despite the sparks present during their kisses, to Austin, they had only been a show for Cheyenne and Tucker’s benefit.
Cheyenne’s heels clacked on the concrete as she and Tucker approached. “Really, Austin, did we have to meet at a park? Why couldn’t we have met at Debbie’s house again?”
The arm Austin had around Debbie’s waist tensed. “Because the boys wanted to spend the day at the park. If you want to get to know them, you need to do it in their environment.” His tone held a challenge.
Debbie figured the boys would have been content spending the day at her house again, but she had a feeling Austin wanted to make Cheyenne and Tucker as uncomfortable as possible.
Judging by the scowl on his ex-wife’s face, he’d succeeded. She glared at him for a long moment before looking away. Her gaze drifted to the table with the food, and her nose wrinkled. “You were serious about eating pizza?”
“Of course I was.” Austin shook his head before turning to help the boys serve themselves.
Lunch was a stilted affair with Cheyenne taking the smallest slice of pizza possible that she hardly touched, because she was too busy complaining about the weather.
“What do you mean?” Austin said. “This is the nicest weather we’ve had all week.”
He was right. In fact, Tuesday night’s soccer game had been canceled due to rain and cold temperatures. But it didn’t surprise Debbie that Cheyenne was cold with one whole arm bare.
Tucker, being the gentleman he was, gave his wife his sports jacket to wear. He was still mildly overdressed in Khakis and a polo shirt but didn’t look as out of place as Cheyenne.
“But it’ll hide my cute outfit,” Cheyenne complained as she slipped the jacket on.
Debbie rolled her eyes as she recalled how she’d occasionally suffered discomfort for the sake of the outfit she’d wanted to show off. Now, seeing how ridiculous she must have appeared, she was grateful for the changes she’d made.
Cheyenne made little effort to talk to the kids, so Debbie and Austin took turns encouraging the boys to tell their mom about their teachers, friends, and favorite video games. She winced occasionally as their volume grew with their excitement. By the time they started arguing over who’d built the best house on Minecraft, she looked like she’d tuned them out altogether.
Neither Debbie nor Austin tried to pull Savannah into the conversation after last week’s fiasco. They figured they were fortunate she’d agreed to be here at all.
“Can we play soccer now?” Dallas asked after shoving the last half of his cookie in his mouth.
Austin shook his head. “Give the rest of us slow pokes a few more minutes to finish eating, bud.”
“I brought some gifts for the kids.” Cheyenne motioned for Tucker to go to the car. “They should open them before they run off and play.”
When he returned a few minutes later with three large gift bags, Austin tensed beside Debbie.
The boys fairly bounced with anticipation when Cheyenne handed Savannah her gift first.
Savvy’s hands shook a little as she accepted it. Her shoulders hunched as she peered inside, as though expecting a snake to strike her, before pulling out a bulky red and silver case.
Debbie recognized the logo of an expensive makeup brand on the side.
Before Savvy even had the chance to open the case and discover for herself what was inside, Cheyenne leaned across the table. “This is one of the best brands of makeup out there, and the nice thing is it’s an all-in-one kit. It’s got everything you need to make yourself look beautiful.”
“She’s already beautiful,” Debbie insisted, wrapping an arm around Savannah who sat beside her. “She doesn’t need makeup for that.” Debbie loved that Savannah was comfortable with who she was and didn’t feel the need to wear a lot of makeup to try to fit in. She wished she had learned that lesson sooner.
Cheyenne waved a hand. “I know, but I thought she might like to start wearing a little more makeup. You know, so she can really get the guys’ attention. And I thought maybe next week, we could go to a salon in the Tri-Cities area and get extensions put in your hair.”
A low growling sound erupted from Austin on Debbie’s other side.
She put a hand on his arm and pasted on a smile. She turned toward Cheyenne. “Savvy and I already have an appointment to get manis and pedis before Prom.” She picked up a lock of Savannah’s hair. “Extensions would only weigh down the body in her gorgeous hair.”
Debbie had nearly cheered when Austin agreed to let her take Savannah to get her hair done before prom. Of course, he’d insisted Savvy work it off.
“I suppose you’re right. You’ll have to let me know when you plan to get your manis and pedis. I’ll see if I can join you.” Cheyenne wrinkled her nose and smiled at Savannah like they were best friends. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Savvy’s forced smile said it’d be anything but fun.
