Make a Wish (Spark House #3)(80)

I grin. “Funny how kids can develop new fears just like that.” I snap my fingers.

He drops down on the couch beside me. “You’re so gleeful about this.”

“She’s a kid, and this is new. Didn’t you ever try a sleepover with any of your past relationships?”

He frowns and shakes his head. “No. Not when Peyton was home anyway. We never got to a point where I felt comfortable enough to try it. Or maybe I was too nervous? I don’t know.”

“So this is new for all of us. She’s excited, but she’s also nervous. She likes me, but this is very different, so she’s going to push some boundaries.” I run my fingers through his hair. It’s still kind of wonky from the mini horn ponytails. “Relationships with kids involved take time and patience. She needs to know that you’re still here for her, and that I’m not going to take you away from her. Did you really think tonight would be about more than sleeping?”

He shrugs and gives me a chagrined smile. “I wasn’t banking on it, but a guy can hope.”

“We’ll get there eventually, but it might not be tonight.”

“Karen offered to take Peyton next weekend, sort of as a peace offering. We could drive her to Boulder and rent an Airbnb. Have some us time. The uninterrupted kind.”

I bite my lip. “Us time would be amazing.”

“I’ll call Karen tomorrow morning. As long as you’re sure you can get the time off.” He laces our fingers together.

“We’ve hired a bunch of new people to help with events, so I’m pretty sure I can make it work. Let me double-check with my sisters, but next weekend is a corporate event and Avery typically handles those.” One of the positive things that have come out of the franchise opportunity is the hiring of additional staff. We’ve been able to bring in new people and promote some of our other employees. It’s freed up more and more of our time recently, and has allowed me to focus more of my energy on the parts of the job I love the most.

“I’ll keep my fingers crossed then.” Gavin brings my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckle. The creak of a door opening has him closing his eyes and exhaling heavily through his nose. “Crap. I can’t stand up right now.”

“I haven’t even touched you.”

He cracks a lid. “I know, but talking about alone time is making things happens. My control is on par with my teenage self from two decades ago.”

I laugh and lean in, giving him a quick peck on the lips. “Would you like me to see if I can get her to stay put this time?”

He nods once, and I push to a stand, meeting Peyton at the threshold to the living room. She glances from me to her dad and back to me. “There’s a scratching sound outside my window.”

“Why don’t we check it out?” I offer her my hand.

“Can I hug Daddy one more time?”

“Of course. Go give him a hug, and then we’ll see if we can figure out where the scratching is coming from.”

She rushes over and gives him a hug and then comes back to me, slipping her hand into mine. I pull her curtain aside, and we discover it’s just a branch that’s swaying in the wind.

“Can you sing me a song?” Peyton asks as she climbs back into bed.

“One song and then it’s bedtime, okay?”

“Okay.” She nods and pulls the covers all the way up to her neck.

I brush her hair away from her face. “But before I sing you a song, I want to ask you something.”

“Okay.”

“Were you really afraid there were monsters in your closet?”

Her mouth twists to the side.

“It’s okay if you weren’t. And it’s okay if you said you were because you wanted your dad to tuck you in again, honey. I know this is different and that maybe you were excited at first, but now you’re nervous about me sleeping over here.”

Her fingers go to her lips. “I want you to sleep over, but I want to be part of the sleepover.”

I nod in understanding. “Because you don’t want to feel left out?”

She nods.

“I get that, but the best part of a sleepover is waking up and making breakfast together, and then spending the day having fun. Nighttime is for sleeping, and if we don’t get a good sleep, it’s hard to have a good next day.”

“When I go to bed late, I’m grumpy.”

“And we don’t want to be grumpy for chocolate chip pancakes, do we?”

She shakes her head.

“So I’ll sing you a song, and then you have to try your hardest to stay in your bed and go to sleep, okay?”

“Okay.”

I curl up beside her and start singing a lullaby. When I get to the end, Peyton whispers tiredly, “One more?”

“One more.”

Before I start singing she takes my hand in hers and laces our fingers together. “I love you, Harley.”

“I love you too, Peyton.” I kiss her temple and fight to keep my voice steady as I sing the second lullaby. I repeat the final refrain twice, her hand going lax. I give it one more minute before I finally slip out of her bed and steal out of her room.

This definitely isn’t a long-term strategy, but she needs reassurance. And hopefully, with time, these sleepovers will become part of her normal.