Make a Wish (Spark House #3)(10)
I suppress an eye roll. “You won’t have to worry about glitter after today.”
“Oh? Well, that’s good news. Right?” He unpauses his game.
“I guess.”
“Glitter isn’t really something you want to wear unless you’re a unicorn.” He glances up and then back down at the TV. “Why no more glitter after today?”
“Because this is the last birthday party I’ll be hosting for kids. I told you that last week, remember?”
“Right. Yeah. I forgot. Those things kind of seem like glorified babysitting, anyway.” His phone pings with a message and he glances briefly at the screen. “That’s Allen asking when we’re gonna be there.”
“Give me fifteen and I’ll be ready to go.” I leave him in the living room and stop in my bedroom to grab a change of clothes before I hit the bathroom so I can wash away the birthday party, and hopefully some of the sadness that goes with it.
Three
LUNCH DATE FOR THREE
HARLEY
Two days later I get a message from Gavin saying that Peyton has been hounding him about seeing me again and asks if I would be up for lunch with the two of them. I wait half an hour before texting back, to see if I break out in hives again. When I don’t, I agree. I meet them at Chuck E. Cheese on a Monday afternoon, which is always slower at Spark House since most of the biggest events take place on weekends. I’m dressed in Chuck E. Cheese-appropriate wear—a T-shirt, jeans, and flats.
Gavin and Peyton are already there when I arrive. I stand outside for a moment, take a few deep breaths, and tamp down the familiar embarrassment. It happens every single time I think about Gavin and Peyton, so it makes sense that seeing them magnifies it. I’m hoping that with repeated exposure, it will lessen, not worsen like an anaphylactic allergy. I took a non-drowsy antihistamine in preparation for this event. Just in case the hives decided to come back.
“You can handle this. You can have lunch with a nine-year-old and your former boss,” I mutter as I push through the doors.
As soon as Peyton sees me, she slides out of the booth and rushes over. She grabs my hand and pulls me over to the table where Gavin is sitting with a glass of soda cupped between his palms. “Can we play games now that Harley is here?” Peyton is bouncing like she’s been mainlining sugar.
“I think we should let Harley have a seat first and order a drink, don’t you?” Gavin arches a brow and gives me a wry smile.
“Oh.” Peyton’s face falls for a second, before she smiles up at me. “I’m really excited. I’ve never been to Chuck E. Cheese ’cause Granny says there’s too many germs and the food isn’t healthy.” She lets go of my hand and climbs into the booth across from her dad, then pats the seat beside her. “Let’s decide what we’re going to eat! Then we can play some games!”
“Okay. I like the sound of that.” I take the spot beside Peyton, which means she and I are seated across from Gavin, who takes up most of the booth with his broad shoulders. Which I need to stop admiring.
“What do you like to drink? You can have soda, or juice, or even chocolate milk. Dad lets me have chocolate milk when we go to restaurants, or Sprite, but not anything with lots of caffeine because Dad says I already have enough energy and I don’t need the kind they keep in colas.”
I grin and glance at Gavin who seems amused by this explanation.
“It is sort of a special treat, isn’t it?” I agree.
“It’s like that movie Monster Truck, where they give the monster gas from the gas station instead of the stuff straight from the ground. It has all kinds of other stuff in it, and it gives the monster too much energy,” Gavin explains. “And then what happens?”
“The monster has a sugar crash. Have you ever seen that movie?”
“I sure have! It’s one of my favorites.”
Peyton’s eyes light up. “Mine too! I love princess movies, but that movie is so fun, and the monster is so cute. I used to watch it sometimes when I went to Granny’s after school.”
“Did you spend a lot of time with your granny?” I ask as we scan the lunch options. Peyton has a child’s menu on a place mat that she can color.
“Every school day,” Peyton tells me. “Except for Friday. Dad would always take me for pizza and chocolate milk on Fridays. I like that it’s Monday and I get my favorite foods and I get to see you and we get to play all these games!” She motions excitedly to the open floor where the carnival-style games fill the room.
“Peyton used to go to my mother-in-law’s after school and I’d pick her up after work,” Gavin explains.
“That must have been nice for you to get to spend so much time with your granny,” I say to Peyton and turn to Gavin. “And it must have given you peace of mind to know Peyton was in such good hands.” In some ways, this feels a lot like the closure I needed all those years ago. Giving Peyton’s grandparents an opportunity to be directly involved in raising her was a good reason to move.
“It was definitely helpful, and Karen loved taking care of Peyton, so it worked out well for all of us, right, kiddo?”
“Yup. And now I’ll get to spend time with Nana after school some days, and she makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world, and she said she’d teach me how to make them too.”