“Cute,” I say because well... she is. She’s very cute, and I’m not a kid person. I’m not apersonperson either.
He tucks his phone away, that happy smile still on his face. “She is. She’s also a little hellion who keeps me on my toes. But man, I love that kid.”
Okay, I do not like this weird twisting feeling deep in my gut, and it occurs to me that we’ve been standing here talking for way too long. “Well, do you need my help today?” I ask, my tone gruff. There we go. That’s more like it.
But he doesn’t seem put off by my change in tone at all. He just turns toward the spot he’s been working and then glances back at me. “Not today. I was just about to pour the cement, but I can handle that on my own.” He shoots me a sly grin. “Unless you want to help?”
“No,” I say quickly, trying not to get lost in his eyes. “Not if you don’t need me to.” I reach for the empty bottle in his hand, and he allows me to take it. “I’ll be inside. See you tomorrow.”
He chuckles, unbothered, and it bothers the hell out of me for some reason. “See you tomorrow, Dakota.”
I guess he was paying attention earlier when I told him calling me Dakota was fine, but damn, if it doesn’t send a strange shiver down my side with that thick, deep drawl.
I go back into my house and put the plastic water bottle in the recycling bin, pacing my kitchen floor over and over, trying like hell not to look out into the backyard.
This job can’t end soon enough.
6
GABE
I’m just getting out of the shower and drying off when I hear the doorbell ring. My heart nearly jumps out of my chest because the only person it can be is Shelly, and she doesn’t just stop by on a weekday when it’s her week with Amber.
Unless something happened with Amber. Goddamn. I hate being a parent only half of the time. I want to always know what’s going on with my kid. I wrap a towel around my waist and haul ass to my front door, nearly falling on my ass when I trip over one of Amber’s toys. But I waste no time tearing the door open, finding a surprised-looking Shelly.
“Shell? Is Amber okay?”
Her face softens, and then the woman chuckles. Okay. So I’m assuming our daughter is fine, and I nearly broke my neck opening the door for nothing. Awesome.
“Why don’t you go get dressed?” She raises her brow at me, looking me up and down and shaking her head. Not like she hasn’t seen it all before.
I huff. “Why don’t you just tell me why you’re here? Amber really is okay?”
She walks into my house, closing the door behind herself. “She is. I’d tell you if she wasn’t. She’s having fun with Randy. They’re cooking dinner together.”
I forgot Randy can cook. And real gourmet sort of stuff too. Amber loves it. I, however, burn toast. So there’s that.
“Go get dressed. I’ll wait and then we’re going to have a little talk,” she says, making her way to my couch and making herself at home. Well, I guess at least someone feels at home here.
I know I’m not getting off the hook, so I go back to my bedroom, pulling on a pair of underwear, sweats, and a T-shirt before tossing the towel into the hamper. I make my way down the hall, back to Shelly, annoyed she’s here and probably wanting to talk about her news.
“Okay, let’s hear it.” I plop down in my comfy chair, feeling like a petulant child about to get a lecture.
“You had to know this was coming. I’m not letting you get away with not talking about this, Gabe.”
“Why does it matter?” I ask her, dead serious. Why does she care? She didn’t care when she tossed our marriage away. “You’re happy, and I said congratulations.”
She rolls her eyes at me the way that used to drive me absolutely insane, and I guess it still does. “You didn’t mean it.”
“Seriously?” I cock my head at her. “I didn’t sound enthusiastic enough? You’re my ex-wife, and you’re having a baby with another man. I’m as happy as I can be about that.”
She’s pouting now, but she’s also pissed off. And that’s just fine by me. I’m not in the mood to talk about this shit, and it makes me even more angry because I had a pretty good day.
Pouring the foundation for the greenhouse with Dakota was a hell of a lot more pleasant than this is. And not because Dakota was all that friendly. I smile, thinking about the way he shoved water at me like it was a huge inconvenience but still had to do it for his own conscience.
“I want you to be actually happy about it. I want you to be okay with this.”
I snort. “You don’t need my permission to have a baby.”
