Bless her heart, even Dakota’s mouth opened the tiniest of inches.
Good.Rachel had made her point.
“You and I are going to chat.” Rachel hung on to Gavin’s gaze a moment longer.
Gavin took a step toward her. “Rachel, I know you’re upset—”
“What did he do?” Molly apparently hadn’t made it outside before Rachel’s zucchini slicing demonstration.
Rachel glanced at her best friend,who was covering Pete’s eyes with her hand.
“What are you doing?” Rachel asked.
“I didn’t want him to see the massacre,” Molly whispered.
“Come outside and I’ll tell you all about what Gavin did.” Travis held the door open for Molly.
The party was hopping in the backyard,Kellan, Brady, and all their friends bouncing on the trampoline Gavin had bought for them last year.
That present hadn’t sucked, even though there had been an initial concern about broken bones and trampoline-related accidents and how it would fit. Eventually, she’d let it be, because Rachel could handle a lot. She rolled with it, rearranging the backyard furniture so it would fit.
The trampoline didn’t require food and shelter and love and…
She set the knife carefully on the cutting board,then worked to untie her apron.
“I think it happened,” Travis said to Molly where he probably thought Rachel couldn’t hear, but she could totally hear.
“Seriously, what is happening?” Molly melodramatically stage whispered.
“He pushed her last nerve,” Travis said, deadpan.
They had no idea. Nada. She wassodone.
Rachel started toward the dining room. “Let’s go have that chat, Gavin.”
Gavin, however, didn’t follow.
He seemed to be in some state of shock. Probably because of the zucchini sitting there diced up nicely next to two slices of watermelon shaped like the number eight.
“Now.” Rachel used the tone that always worked on the boys, hoping her take-no-shit tone covered her utter distress at her ex-husband and what he’d pulled with the puppies, not showing up in time to help with the birthday party set-up, and sending his brothers to ambush her into taking their kids on the family vacation that lasted two-freaking-months.
Seriously, what kind of family vacation lasted two whole months? Four days was plenty. Her family managed to do all the socializing they needed to do each year in four days. They’d all get together. They’d have some dinners. Maybe hit the beach. Then they’d all go home.
Thatwas how family vacations should go.
Not with the Puffle-Yum Franks. Oh no. They had to well and truly drive one another up the wall for sixty full days.
Rachel did her best attempt of a saunter out of the kitchen to the dining room.
Gavin, thank goodness, finally followed her.
Unfortunately for him, he started to speak before they reached the dining room. “Rach, you’re being un—”
“Do not.” She whirled on him, shoving her pointer finger in his face. And yes, it was kind of comical, but no, she didn’t care. He had pissed her right the hell off. Given that before Dakota, and before the puppies, they’d had a lovely co-parenting relationship, he was ruining everything. “We are going in there”—she moved her pointer finger from his face to the dining room—“to discuss your harebrained idea about giving our sons puppies that will live atmyhouse.”
Dakota decided it was her place to say something. For the record, it wasn’t. “Rachel—”
“No.” Rachel turned to Dakota. “If those dogs were your idea, then they can come live at your house.” Rachel brushed by Gavin’s fiancée. “But we both know that won’t happen,because you travel too much,” Rachel said to herself. The pettiness felt indulgent for a change.
