“I wasn’t expecting them already,” she says in a hushed voice. She takes a step away from me as the footsteps in the hall grow louder. Her eyes search mine. “If you want to stick around after dinner, perhaps we can finish what we started.”
Oh, shit.
I wasn’t expecting her to say anything remotely close to that.
“Momma!” Chloe’s voice echoes in the room as she comes bounding through the door, running directly to Ella. Ella bends down, sliding her hands beneath Chloe’s arms and lifts her into the air before tucking her against her body.
“Hi baby. Did you have the best time with Aunt Remi?”
Chloe nods eagerly, her smile bright and her eyes filled with amusement. She giggles and the sound drifts through the air, tangling around my soul. She looks like a replica of her mother. The softest features with the brightest eyes. Her smile lights up the entire room.
“Did you get everything figured out?” Remi questions her as she walks through the doorway. She half pauses, her eyebrows raising as she sees me standing in the center of the room. “Oh. Well, hello.”
“Hey Remi,” Ella starts as a blush spreads across her cheeks and she motions toward me. “Cole stopped by to help me and we were just talking about getting dinner from somewhere.”
Remi purses her lips with mischief dancing in her eyes. She knows we were doing a little more than that, judging by the look on her face, but she doesn’t call either of us out. “I am actually going to head out. My mom called and asked me to come help her with her new plates.”
Remi makes a face at herself and shakes her head, shaking it off before smiling at the two of us. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, El.”
Ella bites back a grin and nods at her friend before she disappears from the room. Then she directs her attention back to Chloe in her arms. “Can you say hi to Cole?”
“Hi Co.”
A soft laugh rumbles in my chest. “Hi Chloe,” I smile at her, giving her a small wave.
“Do you remember Cole? He gave you the little pink truck.”
Chloe nods eagerly as she squirms in Ella’s arms to let her down. She runs out of the room, the sounds of her little feet padding on the hardwood floors as she heads into the other room. Ella abandons her art room, stepping out into the hallway before going to see where Chloe went.
I follow after her, anticipation and excitement filling me as we stop in the doorway of Chloe’s bedroom. She has the pink truck in her hand with a few other toys in her other hand. She walks right up to me and I crouch down in front of her to get to her eye level. She opens her hand and I catch a small plastic elephant from her fingertips before it falls onto the floor.
“Dis for you.”
“For me?”
Chloe nods eagerly and her smile is infectious. “Yes,” she half giggles as she glances at her mother and then back to me.
“Well, thank you so much, Chloe,” I smile, lifting the elephant up to inspect it. “Does it have a name?”
“Ella.”
Ella snorts from behind me. “I told you she needs a new name, Clo.”
“I think it’s perfect,” I wink at Chloe and curl my fingers around the elephant. “I promise I will keep her safe.”
Chloe lifts her hand and pats me on top of my head. “Good boy.”
This earns a hearty laugh from her mother and I can’t help myself as a string of laughter falls from my lips. “Okay, who’s hungry?”
The sun sets in the distance, casting hues of yellow and orange across the horizon. I lift my tea, taking a sip as I stare out at the colors mixing together. Contentment settles in my soul and I adjust in my seat, setting my foot down on the ground, planting both feet and gently rocking back on the bench swing.
We ended up ordering takeout from the bar and hung out in the backyard until it was time for Chloe to go to bed. I didn’t want Ella to feel like she needed to finish what we started earlier, but the moment I suggested I go, the disappointment in her facial expression told me everything I needed to know.
She wanted me to stay.
“Hey, cowboy.” Her voice slides like silk across my eardrums and I turn my head to look at her over my shoulder. She changed into a different pair of cotton shorts and has an oversized t-shirt on. Her long hair is pulled up in a bun on top of her head. She’s truly the most beautiful piece of art I’ve ever laid my eyes on.
“Hey darlin’.”
