But he didn’t.
“Fine,” Slater said, still smirking. Then he looked at Lexi. “I’ll text you later and we’ll work it out.”
“Thanks, Slater. You’re the best.”
And as he went to walk away, he looked at Connor with a shit-eating grin and said, “I know.”
The prick.
“Do you like to read?”
Lexi looked up from her laptop and smiled at Annabeth. She was sitting on the couch, wrapped up in a blanket, while Jonah was sitting on the floor building with Legos.
“I do,” she replied. “What about you?”
She nodded. “Back when we lived in Boston, my grandma used to read with me every night. Daddy doesn’t. He says it’s boring.” Pausing, she sighed. “I don’t think it’s boring. I always get a lot of books from the library, but I can never finish reading them before they have to be back.” Another pause. “I wish my grandma was here.”
Twisting in her chair, Lexi studied her. “You must miss her.”
“I do, but I wouldn’t want to live with her and grandpa again. I like living with my dad the best.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to ask about her mom, but Kelsey had explained the situation to her. Rachel was living somewhere in Europe now and had no interest in being a mother. Honestly, Lexi couldn’t even begin to understand how someone could feel that way when they were already a parent. How could she just leave her daughter?
“Do you have any of your books with you? We could read it together if you’d like.”
Annabeth’s entire face lit up. “Really?”
In that moment, her heart broke a little. This poor child’s life has been a series of being bounced around in the last year, and it seemed like she was just trying to hold it together.
Lexi nodded. “Absolutely. Give me five minutes to text Slater and get us something to drink and maybe a snack, and then we’ll get cozy on the couch and read.”
“Okay!”
Tapping out a quick text to Slater, she let him know that she was taking a bit of a break for the kids, and he immediately texted back with a thumbs-up emoji. No sooner had she stood up to stretch than Annabeth was at her side, hugging her.
“Thank you, Lexi! You’re the best!”
Her arms immediately wrapped around her little body. “Aww…sweetie, thank you. I think you’re pretty great too.” She gave her a little extra squeeze before stepping back. “What are we thinking of for snacks? How about hot cocoa and cookies?”
“Ooh…yes, please! What kind of cookies do you have?”
“I snagged a bag of chocolate chip ones from your dad’s stash in the pantry, but…shh…promise you won’t tell?”
The little girl’s smile was one of pure joy. “I promise!”
“It’ll be our little secret. I’ll get the cocoa ready. Why don’t you put the cookies on a plate for me and put the plate on the coffee table?”
“Okay!”
“But keep an eye on Jonah please. Don’t let him have any until we’re all sitting down.”
“You mean like a…a babysitter?” she asked with wonder.
“Well…” Lexi could tell how important this was, so she nodded. “Yes, like a babysitter. But just until I’m sitting down with you, okay?”
Annabeth nodded enthusiastically and began carefully putting the cookies on the plate Lexi put out for her. When she was done, she asked, “Is this okay? Can I bring it to the coffee table?”
“It looks perfect. Go ahead, and I’ll be there in just a few minutes.” The cabin was small, and Lexi could see everything, so she wasn’t worried. She could hear Annabeth explaining to Jonah that he had to wait, and she thought it was the cutest thing she’d ever heard.
