“See you all tomorrow,” I say as I leave the locker room.
“Wait,” Wesley calls out. “You got a date tonight? You need help?”
He says it so earnestly. I’m almost tempted to tell them they’re such great wingmen that they helped me find something I thought I might not find again. But something stops me. Is it that nagging sense I forgot something? Or is it that maybe now’s not the time? That has to be it.
“Yep, but she’s planning it, so I’m all set.”
“Make sure to wear your powder-blue ruffled tux tomorrow then for the gala,” Ford calls.
“Yeah, ladies love ruffles,” Miles deadpans.
“Noted,” I say, grateful I won’t need to tell them all their help was for nothing. I won’t ever need to tell them I was putting them on since we’ll just coast right into…well, whatever this thing is with Isla. Tonight, she only told me to be ready to meet her at six-fifteen and she’d text me the location.
You only have one real date planned, a voice says. But I bat that thought away as I swing by the family suite to pick up Mia. I need to help her get ready for the cookie-making class before I go to my surprise date with Isla.
That’s what Mia keeps calling it as we hop in the car. “Aurora is hosting it with someone named Mabel. She’s a guest baker,” Mia says, chattering about the class from the back seat as I drive her home. “I looked her up last night, and she makes the best decorations on her Christmas cookies. She can do Santa faces and wreaths and all kinds of snowflake designs. But she can also do heart-shaped cakes for Valentine’s Day and Halloween cakes in the shape of ghosts. Oh, and she does rainbow cakes too. But I’m not going to do rainbow cakes for Christmas. I’m just saying, someday that would be fun.”
My head explodes from the baking intel, but I do my best to keep up with it. “All right, so what do you need to bring today? Tell me everything and I’ll help you get it ready,” I say, since maybe it’s the baking class details that I needed to remember?
Whatever it is, I’ll figure it out since I’m in super-dad mode now. I have to be.
“I need my apron, and I need to bring a notebook if I want to write down recipes. But I’m also going to need my special snowflake sprinkles.”
My brow knits as we pull up to the house. “Do we have special sprinkles?”
Shit. She asked me to pick them up and I forgot. The class provides everything, but she wanted to make somecookies with a snowflake design she saw online. She researched the sprinkles and everything and sent me a link. I’d even checked and found the local grocery store had them. “Mia,” I say, my gut swirling with regret. “I forgot to get those. But don’t worry. We can swing by the grocery store beforehand.”
That’ll make me a little late to see Isla, but she’ll understand. I’ll text her when I figure out the new time.
“Oh. I left you the list yesterday. But it’s okay. We can go on the way. I hope they still have the sprinkles.”
“I doubt the whole store ran out.” But what if they did?
We reach our cabin and I cut the engine, then trudge through the snow. I check the time. I should be fine. I’ll help Mia get her things, make a healthy snack, let the dog out, pick up the sprinkles, and make it to—wherever I need to be.
Mia will be at the class while I’m out with Isla. When we’re done, I’ll spend some time with Mia, I’ll give her the Advent gift, and have her read a chapter. It’ll all work out.
We head inside. After we let Wanda out for a quick pee break, I point to the kitchen. “Let’s get your things together first.”
“Yes! I need to find that apron I brought from San Francisco.”
“What does it look like?”
“It says Christmas Cookie Tester on it.”
I draw a blank, so she keeps going.
“I got it at the Christmas fair at school. The one where the money went to charity.”
Still not ringing a bell. “Have I seen it?”
She gives me a look. “Dad. I showed it to you the day after your cookie swap.”
She did? I don’t remember that at all. But that doesn’t matter. I can find a fucking apron. “Right. I remember perfectly now,” I lie, then yank open a kitchen drawer, hunting for an apron for my kid. Not there. It’s not in the pantry, or a drawer, or a cupboard.
My shoulders tighten. I really should have done this yesterday. Hell, I should have done it last night. But once the snow started, I was…totally in another place. Focused only on romancing Isla.
Liar. You were in another place the second Isla showed up.
