Down Too Deep (Dirty Deeds, #4)(5)

I hadn’t changed for my date yet, so I wasn’t wearing anything fancy. Just a favorite pair of jean shorts and a soft yellow flowy top that had the shoulders cut out and billowed at my waist. But my hair and makeup looked more done up than usual. My long brown locks were loosely curled, making the caramel highlights my friend Shay had given me a few weeks ago stand out a bit more. I was wearing foundation instead of my typical tinted moisturizer, but kept my skin looking dewy since I’d skipped the powder. My eyes were lined black. Lips shiny with gloss.

“You would’ve looked real pretty for your date, Mama,” Olivia announced, coming to stand beside me.

I smiled down at her and cupped her cheek, which was flushed from exertion. “Not as pretty as you.”

“Are you sad?”

“Not one bit. I get to go on a date with you two now.” I winked at her when she grinned big, and then I ruffled Oliver’s dark hair when he got beside his sister. “And have the best burgers in Dogwood Beach.”

“Oh yeah!” Oliver hollered, adjusting his glasses when they slid down his nose. “Let’s go. I’m starving.”

The kids rushed outside when I opened the door. I followed, grinning as I watched them sprint to the car and pile inside it. Their unrestrained excitement was infectious, and I realized halfway to the restaurant how much truth had been in the answer I’d given Olivia.

My children always made the best dates.

*



The oceanfront restaurant was busy, typical for a Saturday night, I was sure. The kids didn’t mind the thirty-five-minute wait though, and spent it playing I Spy on the wraparound porch while I stared out at the ocean.

I braced my elbows on the railing and watched the waves crash through a break in the dunes. The June air warmed my shoulders.

I loved the beach. I couldn’t imagine living anywhere but here now.

Olivia chose our car for the second time in a row and stumped Oliver, who called her a cheat and demanded a rematch. When it was her turn to guess, Oliver started with the same description—I spy with my little eye something silver—and I had to bite my cheek to stop myself from laughing.

It was precious, how well they got along. I had a feeling even if they weren’t twins they would’ve been this close.

Kali, one of the waitresses I was friends with, stepped outside and called our name, then led us to an open booth by the window. The kids sat across from me, both up on their knees, and immediately got started on the children’s menu coloring activity.

“Can we get soda, Mom? You know, since we’re celebrating.”

“I think we can do that.”

Oliver’s grin took up his entire face. He leaned closer to his sister, who remained focused on her drawing. “You hear that? I’m getting a Dr Pepper.”

“Me too.”

“No. You get something else. Then we’ll swap and get double the soda.”

“Okay. Good idea.”

I studied the menu, humming along to the Twenty-One Pilots song playing overhead.

“Hey, it’s my favorite Savages.” Tori walked up to our booth, flashing a smile at the kids. Our last name was Savage. She shot me a questioning look. Date? she mouthed.

I gave her a thumbs-down.

Tori shook her head in disapproval and mouthed, Seriously?

I’d become good friends with Tori after my brother got together with Sydney a little over a year ago. Tori and Syd were best friends. And now Tori was engaged to Brian’s friend Jamie, whom I’d known most of my life.

“Oh well. On to the next guy,” Tori mumbled, giving me a cheeky smile.

She knew how hard I was looking.

“We’re here celebrating,” Olivia shared, her crayon stilling so she could lift her head and look up at Tori. “School’s out!”

“Oh yeah, that’s right.” Tori turned to me. “Don’t you get off for the summer too?”

“Yep. Three months with my babies.”

I was eternally grateful for that job perk.

The attorneys at Price & Price LLC, the law firm where I worked as a paralegal, had offered me the option to work from home three years ago when I was first hired. I’d expressed concern about summer hours and affordable childcare, anticipating the worst and hoping for nothing. I’d thought for sure I’d be stuck working forty-hour weeks in the office and shelling out my entire paycheck to cover daycare. But they were impressed with my résumé and willing to work something out.

Unless I could somehow get paid to stay at home with my kids full-time, I was never leaving that job.

“Mom.” Oliver groaned. “We’re eight now. We’re not babies.”

“You’ll always be my babies, no matter how old you are.” I reached across the table and pinched his cheek.

“That’s weird.” He huffed, shaking his head.

Tori giggled, poising her pen to write on the ticket book in her hand. “Do you guys know what you want, or do you need a minute?” She looked from me to the twins.

“We’re ready,” Olivia answered.

I perused the menu while the kids rattled off their orders, thinking I wanted a burger but making sure of it. Everything listed looked delicious. It was hard to pick just one thing. I knew Stitch, the cook and Shay’s man, killed it in the kitchen. Everything he brought over to Sunday dinners at Syd and Brian’s house tasted amazing.