I lean over the table and kiss her cheek. There is no way to ignore Bradie’s pointed stare or Duke, who moans, “Gross.”
“You’ll change your tune,” I tell him.
“Don’t give him any ideas,” Bradie warns as she follows Winnie off the porch and around the house to the trailer.
Duke and I talk about hockey and pile up the remaining dishes. As Bradie walks back to grab some more, Winnie’s phone starts to wail. She left it on the picnic table. The ringer is on really loud and so we all look at it. The lit up screen flashes with a name. Well, not so much a name as a title.
Boyfriend.
My eyes move from the screen to Bradie. She’s looking down at it with a hard expression, which doesn’t get softer as she raises her gaze to look at me. I try not to look too shocked. After all, I am fairly certain that it’s just an oversight that her ex is still programmed in her phone that way. I mean, I still fucking hate it, but we haven’t even defined what we are doing so I can’t exactly pitch a fit.
“I assume you aren’t pocket dialing her,” Bradie says and doesn’t wait for my confirmation. “So what are you doing with her if she has a boyfriend?”
“She doesn’t,” I say. “It’s complicated.”
“Which is probably the last thing you need,” Bradie remarks and before she can say anything else, Winnie rounds the side of the house.
“I don’t have anything for dessert,” she announces apologetically. “But I think there’s ice cream in the freezer in the house and there’s coffee or tea if anybody wants that.”
Bradie reaches over to Duke and gives his sleeve a tug. He stands up. “Actually, this has been great. The food was fantastic and it was nice to hang out but we have to get home. I’m sorry to eat and run.”
“It’s okay,” Winnie says easily. “I’m just glad you stayed. Duke, I’ll see you in two days for another session but remember, you can always call or text me if you are having trouble with your homework.”
Duke nods, but he isn’t wearing his usual smile. Fuck. Did one ring of her cell phone ruin this night for him too? I grab his shoulder and give it a squeeze. “Have a good night, bud. See you at practice in a couple days.”
We watch Bradie and Duke walk around to the front of the house and hear her car drive off. Winnie turns back to grab the remaining dishes off the table, but I’ve already scooped them up. She gives me a beautiful, grateful smile. “Please say you’re going to help me do dishes too. I forgot the dishwasher isn’t installed yet in the cottage and the Airstream doesn’t have one.”
“I will help you do dishes,” I say walking around the table to lay another kiss on her cheek. “And later I will help you have an orgasm.”
She blushes and it’s really becoming my new favorite thing. I want to bring up the call—and I’m about to—when her phone starts screaming again. She jumps and grabs it so quickly that I can’t see the full name before she turns it away from me, but I do see “Boy” so I know it’s him again. She turns off the ringer and looks up at me. This is where she says something to make me feel better about her ex—still listed as “boyfriend”—in her phone—calling her late at night, repeatedly.
“I have to take this, but it will just be a second,” is all she says as she walks across the deck to the other side, opens the screen door and slips inside the cottage.
I don’t know what I needed to hear, but that wasn’t it.
I carry the dishes into the trailer and start to wash them, my least favorite chore in the world. I’ve gotten all the pots and pans washed and am moving onto the plates when there’s a knock at the trailer door. Is Winnie knocking before entering now? That’s ridiculous. I turn off the water and grab a dishtowel. Wiping my hands I reach for the door handle and twist. “Since when do you knock—”
It’s not Winnie. It’s Kevin. My mood flips so quick it scares even me, but I told him to stay the fuck away from here. It’s not my place and he’s not allowed to just show up here. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
He looks astonished by my reaction. He fucking shouldn’t be. I warned him last time to stay the fuck away from here. I glance up at the cottage. Winnie is nowhere in sight. I step out of the Airstream, forcing him to back up. I glance around. No car so he walked. Fuck.
“You don’t want me here? Fine, I’ll leave with my information,” he says and starts backing away.
“What information?” I bark but keep my voice low so Winnie doesn’t hear me from inside.
“I found her!”
“You told me that last time,” I say through gritted teeth. “Do you have something I can actually use? Like does she still have the fucking necklace?”
“Yeah, actually she does,” Kevin says, annoyed. “I drove down to Boston like I said I would and turns out not only does she still have that stupid thing, she’s willing to sell it back to you.”
“Sell it?” I scoff. “She never paid for it. Kidd gave it to her as a gift.”
“Well, now she wants money to part with it,” Kevin shrugs. “Is that an issue?”
“Yeah, it’s a fucking issue, but not a deal breaker,” I grumble because I am so sick of giving these scumbags money. But if I can give Cat her grandma’s necklace back then I’m sure she’ll forgive me. And I need her to because if I’m going to keep Winnie in my life—and in Maine—then Cat will be in my life too. I need her to tolerate me, at the very least.
“How much?” I ask and I glance at the cottage again. Still no Winnie, thank God.
