Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 84247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 421(@200wpm)___ 337(@250wpm)___ 281(@300wpm)
“That’d be awesome! I missed Callum while I was in Colorado,” Logan replied.
“He missed you too. He told me.” I looked at my daughter. “And he’s really excited to officially meet you, Charlie-girl.”
“Okay. The park sounds good,” she replied but didn’t say anything about Callum.
“Good. It’s a date, then.” We’d planned it two days ago, even though I’d just mentioned it to the kids. I didn’t know why. Like they wouldn’t want to go to the park? I knew I was being overly cautious about this, but Charlie was so perceptive in ways Logan wasn’t, and when she noticed things, she voiced them. It was ridiculous, and I was acting like a damn kid, but I had this fear that she’d look at me and know I was in love with him. What I didn’t understand was why it mattered so much if she did.
I picked my phone up off the counter and shot him a quick text. We’ll pick you up at 10:30.
Can’t wait. I miss you.
I couldn’t stop the cheesy smile that spread across my face. Miss you too.
I finished cooking breakfast, and the three of us ate. Charlie was talkative the whole time, and we laughed together, she and Logan not fighting. It was a good morning, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Cal joining us for times like this.
Everyone got ready after that, and before I knew it, we were pulling up in front of Mary Beth’s house. He came out instantly with a bag in his hands. He was wearing simple shorts, a T-shirt, and sneakers. He didn’t have on any eyeliner on today. I could tell from the way he moved that he was a little stiff and nervous.
I wished he hadn’t come out so I would have needed to go in to get him.
He opened the passenger door to the truck—Charlie and Logan were in the cab behind us.
The moment he climbed in, Logan said, “Hey! I’m so glad you had the day off and could go with us. I’ve been bugging Dad every day since we got home. I was gonna tell you about this new game I got.”
I noticed Callum didn’t make eye contact with me as he replied, “You could have called me. I totally would have wanted to hear about it.”
“We’ll play it later. It’s this sort of escape-room thing. They’re harder and harder to get out of.”
Callum nodded at Logan.
I turned in the seat. “Charlie, you remember Callum from the video movie night?”
“Yep, I remember. Plus, how could I forget? All you and Logan do is talk about him.”
“Charlie,” I warned.
“You do. That’s not something bad.”
“It’s okay. She just stated a fact,” Callum said before giving her his attention. “I’ve been super excited to officially meet you. Your dad told me you like nail polish.” He dug into his bag and pulled something out. “I got this set, and I thought we can do nails sometime if you wanted. They’re all glittery and supposed to be different galaxy kind of colors.”
Her eyes glowed at that. “Oh my God! Those are so cool.” She took the package he handed her.
“Did you get me something?” Logan asked.
“Of course I did. I know you wanted to go to that Edgar Allan Poe museum in Richmond, so I thought you could read some of these first.” Callum handed him a book. “We can read them together if you want, but you might be too cool for that.”
“Of course not,” Logan replied, and warmth spread through my chest. “We’re the founding members of the you-know-what-cool-kids club!”
“Yeah, we are!” Callum said, and Logan gave him a high five.
“You can be a member too,” Callum told Charlie.
“That’s okay,” she replied, making my gut tighten.
“Hey,” I said to her, but Callum put a hand on my arm.
“It’s fine. She has to get to know me first.”
I sighed, hoping he was right. “Did you get me something?”
“Nah. I like them more than you,” he joked, and damn, I wanted to lean forward and kiss the smile on his face.
“You guys are looking at each other weird,” Charlie said, making me jerk my attention away from Callum.
“They’re not looking at each other weird,” Logan countered. From there the two of them were arguing.
“Okay, guys, cut it out. We’re supposed to have a good day. Callum did something really nice for you guys, though I hope he knows he didn’t have to buy you anything. He didn’t need to do that.” I cocked a brow at him.
“Yeah, but I wanted to,” Callum replied.
“Yeah, Dad, he wanted to,” added Logan.
“Yeah, Dad.” Callum smirked.
“Great, I’m back to you two ganging up on me. Put your seat belt on, traitor, so we can go.”
“Sooooo bossy.” Callum rolled his eyes, and I laughed, before getting on the road.
It was a forty-five-minute ride to the park. We chatted as we drove. Cal tried hard to engage with Charlie, and while she was polite and talkative, it was different than it had been with Logan. He’d connected with Callum instantly, this bond I still couldn’t explain, but I knew my daughter. To her, he was a random adult trying too hard to be friends with her, but she wasn’t really into it.