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“Thanks, Sophie! I mean—Ms. Miller! Bye Daddy!” Penny grins, then scampers off inside the school.
“Bye, Pen!” I shout, then direct my attention back to Sophie. “I’ll see you tonight?”
She bites her bottom lip, looking a little shy. “Yeah, see you tonight.”
She holds my gaze for a few seconds before we’re interrupted by the car behind us.
HONK HONK HONK. “Move it! Some of us need to get to work!”
I look in my rearview mirror and spot a shiny black Mercedes, with none other than Bradley Vanderven behind the wheel. His eyes are narrowed as he sends invisible lasers at my Bronco.
I roll my eyes, drawing a giggle from Sophie. I wave to her and then pull out of the line of vehicles.
Taking my exit for the highway toward the hospital, I call Emily on speaker phone. She won’t be at work yet and I have fifteen minutes on the road to chat.
“Hey, bro! Haven’t heard from you in a few days.”
“Hey! Sorry, Penny and I had some sort of plague.” I sigh.
“You guys were sick?!” She sounds panicked. “Why didn’t you call me?”
“Calm down. We’re all fine now. It was just a stomach bug.” I shrug my shoulders even though she can’t see me.
She pauses, and I can almost picture her on the other side of the phone fuming. “You know I like to be kept informed on Penny. You could’ve just texted me and let me know what was going on.”
“Emily, you moved out and started a new job to get some distance from us, to move forward with your life. Me texting you every time Penny has any scrape or sickness isn’t going to help with that.”
She gasps audibly. “She has scrapes too?!”
“No! I was just being facetious. Good grief.”
Emily sighs. “Okay, sorry for freaking out. I’m just used to being there and knowing what’s going on.”
“I know.” I tell her, trying to sound sympathetic. “So, I actually called to talk to you about this weekend.”
“Yeah? Can I come see Penny?” She sounds excited at the thought.
“You know you can see her anytime. I was wondering if you could watch her Friday night?” My hands tighten on the steering wheel, nervous about what I’m going to say next. “I was hoping you might watch Samantha too.”
“Drew …”
“Emily.”
“What are you doing?” I can hear her release a deep breath.
“I haven’t talked to Sophie about it yet, but I’m going to ask her to dinner on Friday. I was hoping having a sitter lined up would make the offer all the more enticing.”
“Are you sure about this?” she asks. I imagine her tapping her foot and crossing her arms with a judgemental look on her face.
“Em, I’ve never been more sure about anything in my entire life.”
She sighs again. “Of course I’ll watch Samantha. If that’s okay with Sophie.”
“Thank you, I owe you.” I’m smiling so big my face hurts.
“Just make me your best woman at the wedding and we’ll call it even.” I can practically hear her smirk through the phone.
I laugh light-heartedly, admittedly not minding the idea. But I’m getting way ahead of myself. “You’re the best. Wish me luck! I just pulled up to the hospital, so I’ll see you Friday?”
“Sounds good, see you then.”
We hang up and I park in my designated parking spot in the parking garage. And I stride into the hospital with an extra pep in my step.
