After I fill the cup only a fourth of the way full, I bring it back to the table and take a seat in the chair opposite the girls. It dawns on me at this moment I’m grateful the chairs are all wood and don’t have cushions on them that can get stained by these types of messes.
“You know what I was thinking would be fun? What if we painted a rock with a wedding dress and one with a tuxedo on it for your Auntie Laney and Uncle Fletcher for their wedding?” Vienna suggests.
“You mean the wedding you suddenly got invited to?” The words leave my lips before I can even think twice.
Vienna arches a brow at me. “You heard about that, huh?”
“Yeah. Just wondering when you were going to tell me. I mean, we are neighbors, after all.”
Vienna dips her brush into the red paint, not meeting my eyes when she replies. “I didn’t realize that being neighbors meant telling you about my plans. I mean, your sister is the one who invited me, which I did not ask for, by the way.”
Ellis taps Vienna on the shoulder. “You get to see me in my princess dress at the wedding, Ms. Lewis.”
Vienna rubs her nose against Ellis’s. “I know. I’m sure you’re going to be the best flower girl ever.”
“I am,” Ellis says confidently. “And my daddy gets to walk down the aisle too, in a tug.”
“Tux,” I correct her before looking back at Vienna to find her staring at my lips. When she sees that I’ve caught her, she darts her eyes back to her rock. “One of my least favorite garments to wear.”
“That’s a shame,” Vienna says. “A man in a tux is one of my favorite things to see.” She licks her lips, glances back up at me, and the hint of mischief in her eyes makes my dick twitch in my jeans.
Fuck. Is she…flirting with me?
“Are you gonna wear a princess dress?” Ellis asks the woman that is making my dick hard in front of my daughter. Thank God there’s a table covering it, but still.
“I don’t know. I’ll probably have to go shopping for something. I didn’t bring anything like that with me to Blossom Peak.” Vienna peers over at Ellis’s rock. “Are you still wanting to paint that rock as a watermelon?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we need to make black dots for the seeds.”
“I hate the seeds,” my daughter says, scrunching up her nose.
Vienna chuckles. “Me too, but it’s going to make the rock look so pretty.” She helps my daughter carefully clean her brush, dip it in black paint, and then paint a border of green around the edge to mimic the rind of the fruit.
Meanwhile, I’m over here just painting my rock green, not sure what else to do because my mind is fixated on so many other things right now—Vienna’s eyes, her smile, her tongue that keeps peeking out to lick her lips.
“Daddy?” Ellis’s voice breaks through my thought spiral.
“Yes?”
“What are you making?”
“Uh…” My eyes dip down to the rock that I’ve kept smearing the green paint over.
“What about a leaf?” Vienna suggests.
“A leaf?”
“Yeah, you can just paint a few brown lines through it and then we can put it next to my rose.” She holds up her rock painted in red, pink, and white, the blend of the colors so intricate to give the illusion of petals.
“Yes, Daddy! Make a leaf so your rock can go next to Ms. Lewis’s!” Ellis practically jumps from her seat at the idea.
“Okay, Ellis. All right. Sit down before you fall, please.”
The three of us continue painting and chatting about nothing really—things that happened at school or in Ellis’s class, the weather, and the upcoming events at the winery.
“Since I’m supposed to tell you my plans now, I thought you should know that your sister also invited me to the yoga night at the winery in two weeks.”
