Ignite (Cloverleigh Farms #6)(52)

“Hi, Loony Toon. Let me take that.” I grabbed the handle of her suitcase with one hand and scooped her up with the second, rubbing my scratchy jaw on her cheek. “How are you?”

She giggled and squirmed in my arms. “Good. Can we go swimming today?”

“Sure.”

“With Winnie?”

“We’ll see.”

Naomi came out, already dressed for work. “Hey. Got a second?”

I set Luna down, opened the back door, and told her to get in the car. After stowing her suitcase in the back, I faced my ex again. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to talk about October twenty-third. It’s technically your Saturday, but I wondered if I might keep the girls that night.”

“Why?”

“Bryce and I have decided to get married that day.”

“So?” I said, just to be difficult.

“Dex, come on. I want the kids there.”

“I thought you were getting married next summer.”

“We decided we didn’t want to wait.” She frowned at me. “And what do you care?”

“I don’t. You two can get married tomorrow if you want. But why should I give up one of my nights with my kids?”

“Really, Dexter?” She tilted her head. “You can’t do me this one favor? On this one Saturday night?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “That’s not what this is about. It’s about respecting the time I have with them—and you don’t.”

Her expression softened, and she nodded. “I’ll try to be better about that.”

“No more phone calls checking up on me. No more lectures about allergies or meals or how things need to be done. When they’re with me, they’re mine.”

She took a breath, briefly closing her eyes. “Okay.”

“Seriously? Okay?” I wasn’t sure I believed her. “If I say yes to the wedding day, no more micromanaging from afar?”

“You have my word.” She held out a pinky and offered a tentative smile.

Reluctantly, I hooked mine through it. For a second, I remembered good times with Naomi, and it eased some of the resentment and anger in me. “Thank you. I know I’m not perfect, but I’m trying.”

“I know you are.” She tucked her hands into her back pockets. “And they’re so crazy about you. Honestly, it gets to me. I have to be the mean parent, and you’re the fun one. I take them to get flu shots and school shoes and teeth cleanings, and you take them for donuts and swimming and fire station visits.”

“So give me some of those responsibilities, Naomi,” I said. “I can handle them. Sometimes I feel like you hoard all that shit just so you can complain about me.”

She nodded. “Okay. I’ll make more of an effort to go fifty-fifty on that stuff.”

“Good.” I managed a half-smile. “And maybe let them have a fucking donut every once in a while. It won’t kill them.”

Laughing, she shook her head, her eyes wandering over my body. “I don’t understand how you eat that way and stay so fit. It’s not fair.”

“Have a good weekend,” I said, opening the driver’s side door.

“What are you going to do with them?” she asked.

I gave her a warning look, and she put her hands up.

“I’m just asking out of curiosity! I’m not micromanaging.”

“I’m not sure. We’ll go swimming, probably, and I might take them over to Cloverleigh Farms to go horseback riding.”

She looked surprised. “I didn’t know they had horseback riding there.”

“I don’t think it’s open to the public. Winnie invited us. She works there.”

“Winnie invited us where?” Hallie said, who’d come out with her bag in one hand, Rupert the penguin in the other.

“Horseback riding,” I told her, taking her bag. “Hop in.”

Hallie jumped into the back seat and immediately she and Luna started squealing with excitement.

“The girls talked about Winnie a lot this week,” said Naomi. Then she laughed. “It’s funny, when you first mentioned her, I pictured an old lady. Such an old-fashioned name.”

“She’s not old.” I went around to the back of my SUV and stuck Hallie’s bag next to Luna’s.

“I know that now. Hallie says she’s twenty-two.”

“Sounds right.”

“And very pretty.”

I shrugged.

“I hear she came to the pool with you guys.”

“Bye, Naomi. See you Monday.” I got in the car and shut the door. My ex-wife was the last person on earth I wanted to discuss Winnie with, and an excellent reminder of why I did not do relationships.

“Bye, girls!” Naomi blew kisses to Hallie and Luna. “I love you! Have fun!”

I backed out of the driveway and turned on the Dad station, which happened to be playing “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

“Oh, I love this song!” Hallie said.

In the rearview mirror, I caught them both bopping their heads along to the music, and smiled.

I could feel a ten coming on.





Fifteen