All Stars Fall (Seaside Pictures #3.5)(28)

His face softened. I’d like to think he had the best intentions, just horrible execution when it came to doing good deeds.

“Thanks for being my date tonight,” Drew said loud enough for the whole beach to hear him, and then he pulled me in for a hug and kissed my forehead, his lips slid down my cheek, and his whisper made me almost collapse against him. “Take it easy on him, baby steps.”

I nodded.

And then he was gone, and I was staring up into Trevor’s angry gaze, wondering if he would even let me into the house.

I wasn’t sure how long we stayed like that.

But Bella broke the silence by moving around him and running toward me. “I knew it, I just knew it!”

“Knew what, sweetie?” I picked her up and twirled her around before drawing her close and kissing her nose.

“That you were gonna be my new mommy.”

I almost dropped her.

Trevor’s eyes got so wide it looked like his head was ready to explode.

“Oh, sweetie, no, that’s not…” Any time, Trevor, any time would be good, now would be good. “There’s a problem with my house, so your daddy is letting me stay in the guest room for the next week.”

Her face fell, and then she lit up and whispered in my ear. “That’s okay, I’ll just keep wishing on the stars. After all…Daddy says every star eventually falls sooner or later.”

Tears filled my eyes as I nodded and said, “Your daddy’s right.”





Chapter Fourteen



Trevor




I was going to murder Drew.

But first, I had to rein in the complete devastation caused by Bella’s words. She needed a mom so bad, and I hated that there was a role that I as a father couldn’t fill, a hole she had that no matter how many times I tried, seemed to always exist.

My chest felt tight, and the reheated pizza only made my stomach feel like a rock had settled on the bottom.

“Bella.” I said her name softly. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”

“Yeah, but I heard Uncle Drew.” Her little face was beaming like a lighthouse on a dark night.

“You and the rest of Seaside,” I said in a voice that severely lacked any amusement on my part. The breeze picked up, carrying Penny’s hair with it. Damn, she was pretty. It was like the more I got to know her, the prettier she became. What the hell was I going to do tomorrow morning? By the end of the week, I was going to need to walk around with my eyes closed and just pray I made it out the door alive. I let out a sigh. “Run up to your bed, and I’ll read you a story in a few minutes, all right?”

“Can Penny read it?” Bella piped up, her eyes wide and excited at the opportunity to have someone other than her boring dad read to her. Fantastic. Maybe that was where my irritation was coming from. Penny wasn’t staying, this wasn’t a permanent thing. Sure, she would probably still help out if I asked, but I’d originally told her only until school started.

How could I change that from a few weeks to forever?

I was about to say no, mainly because I didn’t want my daughter getting so attached that it broke her heart when Penny no longer read her stories, but she was clinging so tightly to Penny’s neck, her little arms wrapped around it like a vise. And I realized that in another time, another life maybe, I would have been content to do the very same thing. “Yeah, baby, she can read it.”

“Good! Thanks, Daddy. Come on, Penny!”

Penelope’s eyes darted to me and then back to Bella before she flashed a wide smile that hit me like a punch to the gut. “Let’s do it.”

I held my breath when she walked by because I knew if I didn’t, I’d get a whiff of intoxicating perfume with a hint of almond, and I’d do something stupid like kiss her again. Or maybe tell her that Drew was heavily medicated at all times and belonged in a mental hospital and that he peed the bed at night. He might never forgive me.

A smile tugged at my lips. I could live with that.

My chest felt tight as I watched them walk up the stairs, and then I leaned against the doorframe. Her bags were outside the door staring up at me, waiting for me to take them in, and all I kept thinking was that one day, those bags would be leaving, this wasn’t permanent. This was just…life.

And life had been kicking me in the ass.

One day those bags would leave.

One day Penny would leave.

Where did that leave us when she was gone?

It wasn’t supposed to be this hard.

She was supposed to be helping, not hindering, not making me feel things I hadn’t felt in…

I frowned out at the distance, the salty air hanging heavy around me like the universe was waiting for my honesty, for my truth.

I hadn’t felt that way about a woman in a long time.

And if I was being completely honest, I’d stayed with Jo because she was my children’s mom. I hadn’t slept with her in who knew how long? Separate bedrooms, separate lives. For the last two years at least.

A cold sweat broke out on my forehead as I grabbed Penny’s bags and brought them into the house then up the stairs to the mother-in-law suite.

I walked by Eric’s room then Malcom’s. Both of them were sleeping, limbs hanging off the side of the bed ready to fall onto the floor in minutes. They were rowdy sleepers, which is why I didn’t typically let them in my bed, too many black eyes to count when they were three years old.