I was staying.
I wanted this.
The whole package.
“I’ll make pancakes,” I said. “You have chocolate chips?”
“I have a five-year old,” he said. “Of course I have chocolate chips.”
I sat up, wrapping the blankets around me, and Nash leaned down to kiss me again. I kissed him back, sitting in that sensation, reveling in it.
“You’re beautiful,” he said. “I’ll be back soon.”
“You’d better,” I said.
Then he pulled his shirt on and left me in the room—to think. To dream.
To make pancakes.
SIXTEEN
nash
I was much moreconfident when I’d been in bed with Maggie. But now…now I was sitting in the car with my very intelligent daughter, and I had no idea how to explain what she was about to go home to.
“How was the sleepover?” I asked, avoiding the issue. “Did you do anything fun?”
“We played Mario Party and Aunt Claire made brownies,” she said, clutching Gerald to her chest. “They were tasty.”
“And you brushed your teeth after, right?”
Nell wrinkled her nose. “Of courseI did, Dad. It’s gross not to.”
I gripped the steering wheel as I turned onto Main, frowning at the road.
Nell reached over to poke me in the arm.
“You look funny,” she said.
“Do not.”
“Do too.”
“Mm,” I said. “Okay. You’re right—I look funny.”
She held back a laugh.
“Because I have a surprise for you.”
Her eyes widened slightly. “You do?”
“We’re having a guest over for breakfast,” I said. “Miss Laine is making us pancakes today.”
Nell didn’t say anything.
I looked over at her.
She was holding Gerald tight to her chest, eyes enormous now. She blinked over at me, inhaling sharply. “Dad…but I didn’t clean up my toys.”
