I set my beer down and finally turned to look at her. The fury on her face was what I expected. This was the way it always ended. Even though I warned them in the beginning that I’d never want more. “Did I tell you from the start that there would ever be more than fucking from me?”
She glared at me but finally nodded.
“Correct. I didn’t. You were the one who wanted to change the rules.”
I could see the pain in her eyes, and I felt guilty for putting it there. I felt guilty every damn time.
Elle didn’t say more. She turned and left.
Finally, I was alone.
Rose
Franny was curled up on the sofa asleep when I got home. Mrs. Baylor was sitting in the recliner with a book in her lap. She smiled up from what she was reading to greet me with a whisper.
“I tried to persuade her to go to bed, but she wanted to wait up for you. She played hard today. We even made three dozen macadamia nut cookies. You need to take most of those to work with you tomorrow; we won’t be able to eat them all.”
Brad’s truck pulled up behind mine in the driveway, and I glanced back toward him. I hadn’t expected Franny to be asleep so early. Typically, she was a night owl. But I also wasn’t about to ask Mrs. Baylor to stay and watch her while I went out for pizza with a man.
“Thank you for today. I know she had fun,” I said, as I gazed at my daughter. She was my world. I would never be able to thank Mrs. Baylor enough for being so good to her.
Mrs. Baylor stood up and cleared her throat softly. “Well, it looks like you have company.” Her voice held an amused tone.
I turned back to see Brad stepping out of his truck. He looked uncertain about whether he should proceed.
“He’s a friend from work. I’ll just go explain that Franny is asleep and send him on his way.”
“Nonsense. You need to make some friends, and from where I’m standing, that friend is a fine sight.”
My face flushed red. “Franny waited up for me. I want to be here if she wakes up.”
“And you can be. But that doesn’t mean you can’t fix that young man a glass of wine and invite him to sit on your lovely porch. The stars are beautiful tonight.”
I doubted Brad drank wine. He seemed more like a beer drinker. And he was hungry. All I had was leftover chicken pot pie from the night before. I did have the makings for a pizza, though. Franny and I had pizza night once a week, so I always kept the kitchen stocked with what we needed.
Mrs. Baylor patted my arm as she walked past me. “You’ll figure it out.” Then she smiled over at Brad before walking across the yard and toward her house.
I wasn’t sure if I should even bring up making a pizza here. He seemed really excited about the place in Grayton Beach. Asking a guy over for dinner wasn’t something I’d ever done. And although he was becoming a friend, I was still nervous.
“Everything OK?” he asked, as he walked toward me. His brow was creased in a concerned frown.
“Yeah, it’s just that Franny fell asleep. She was sick earlier this week, and she’s still not a hundred percent yet.” I paused instead of offering to make him pizza. Brad was nice enough to accept even if he didn’t want to.
“That’s understandable,” he replied, then glanced over my shoulder at the house before looking back at me. “Would you be up for ordering pizza instead?”
That was the reassurance I needed. “I actually have everything we need to make pizza here. I could cook for you,” I offered.
A smile spread across his lips. “I’d like that.”
“OK, let me wake Franny and move her to her bed. She’ll want to talk to me for a few minutes, I imagine. Come on inside. I don’t have any beer, but I do have sweet tea,” I told him, feeling a silly smile on my face that I couldn’t help. This was nice. He was nice.
“I’m a big fan of sweet tea,” he replied.
I wasn’t good at this, but he didn’t seem to mind. I led the way inside, then quickly made him a glass of tea. Franny slept through it all. I didn’t want her waking up and being confused by a strange man in the house. She wasn’t used to men being in our home at all.
“Here you go,” I said with a smile, as I handed Brad the glass. “Just give me a second to move Franny.” I really wanted to ask him to step outside while I did it, but that would seem rude.
“I’ll just enjoy the view of the water from your back porch,” he said with a wink, before heading for the door.
It was like he could read my mind. I almost said thank you but stopped myself. When he was safely outside, I went over to the sofa and gently ran my hand over Franny’s hair. “You need to get into bed,” I whispered close to her ear.
She stirred before slowly blinking her eyes as she tried to focus on me. “M’kay,” she mumbled, then snuggled deeper into the sofa.
“I can’t carry you, so you’re going to have to stand up. I’ll walk you to bed.”
“M’kay,” she said again, and held up an arm for me to take. Grinning, I helped her stand and tucked her close to my side.
“I love you,” I told her.