Walk Through Fire

“Yep,” he answered, letting his girls go and moving around the bar toward me. “They get it done in the morning, we’ll go to the RV, pick it up, bring it back.”


“Works for me,” I muttered, dropping a slice of brioche into the egg mixture and turning it.

And it did work for me, Logan all moved in and settled. That totally worked for me.

“Today, Millie’s got a surprise for you.”

I knew this particular announcement from Logan was for the girls.

“Yeah?” Cleo asked as Logan got in my space.

“I’ll get on this. You give my babies the goodness,” he bossed me.

That was a boss I’d accept, so I didn’t object. Instead, I moved to the bar and opened the drawer where I’d stashed the gift cards.

I took them out and lined them up in front of the girls, all ten of them, five for each, side by side, saying, “Mini-shopping spree. Your dad has relented to taking us to the mall. We’ll have lunch there first and after we lay waste to the stores, maybe we’ll go to that place where you can buy frozen yogurt by the pound.”

I watched closely as Zadie stared in disbelief at the cards.

Cleo didn’t stare in disbelief.

She aimed shining eyes at me and exclaimed, “Seriously?”

I smiled at her. “Seriously.”

“But...?Forever 21. And Claire’s. And Buckle. And H&M. And Urban Outfitters!” she exclaimed with glee.

Apparently, I’d picked the right ones.

I felt extreme relief but only lifted a shoulder. “It’s kind of a welcome to my house for your first sleepover type thing. A little celebration for an occasion that’s special to me. It’s also special to your dad. Just my way of saying I’m happy to have you here.”

“That’s so cool!” Cleo cried.

Zadie didn’t say anything.

So I found my mouth babbling, “And maybe, when we get home, we’ll do girlie stuff. You know. Give each other manicures and pedicures. We can stop by Target on the way back from the mall and pick up some fun colors.”

“I didn’t relent to that,” Logan muttered from his place at the stove.

“Oh my gosh! That’s so awesome!” Cleo yelled.

“It is,” Zadie said, and I looked to her. She wasn’t looking at me. She was nudging a Claire’s gift card with her finger.

“I’m glad you think so, darling,” I said carefully.

Her eyes came to me for the barest of moments before she looked back to the cards.

I was so focused on Zadie, I jumped when Logan got close, tossing an arm around my shoulders.

“My girls do girl crap all day, I pick the movie tonight,” he declared.

“Okay, Daddy,” Cleo immediately agreed.

Zadie’s head came up, her eyes going to her dad.

“Just as long as it’s not scary,” she stated, just like she was a part of the conversation, not pouty or demanding.

I pressed my lips together to hold back my cautious excitement because maybe I was getting somewhere.

“Would I scare my baby?” Logan asked.

“No,” Zadie answered.

“I like scary,” Cleo announced.

“That’s what I’m sayin’. You wouldn’t, but Clee-Clee would,” Zadie explained.

“You and me can have our scary nights when I get another TV in this joint,” Logan told his oldest. “That way, we do that, Zade and Millie can go watch somethin’ else in the bedroom.”

I was not putting a TV in the bedroom. It would be ugly, ruining the aesthetics. I knew this because I’d considered it and even looked for a media center with doors that closed the TV away in order to have a TV in my bedroom. Years of looking, I’d found nothing that would work.

So that was not going to happen.

However, Logan and I would have that conversation at a later date.

Right then, I looked up at Logan. “I actually DVR’ed Pitch Perfect and Easy A a while ago and I’ve been wanting to watch both of them for ages.”

“I love Pitch Perfect!” Cleo squealed.

“Jesus,” Logan muttered, frowning down at me.

“Of course,” I said hurriedly, “we can watch them another weekend.”

“Oh, Daddy, we so have to watch Pitch Perfect,” Zadie stated excitedly.

So excitedly, my eyes flew to her.

She was looking up at her dad, her eyes now shining, something I’d never seen.

Like her sister, the transformation was amazing.

She was a cute kid, a budding beauty, both impossible to miss.

But now, both the cuteness and the beauty shone from her like a beacon that was blinding.

Seeing it for the first time, I got why her father spoiled her. I, too, would do anything in my power to get that aimed at me on a regular basis.

It might not be good parenting.

But staring into that beam, I knew it would be near impossible to beat back the urge.

“It’s funny and so good,” she went on, “even you’ll like it.”

I hadn’t seen the movie yet.

Still, I knew a movie based on a capella groups dueling each other in college was not something Logan would ever like.

“That movie too old for you?” Logan asked.

“No,” Cleo answered.

“Totally no,” Zadie put in.

“Zade’s right, Daddy. You’re so gonna laugh. It’s really funny,” Cleo stated.

Logan let me go to move back to the stove, muttering, “So I gotta put up with the mall, nail polish smell, and I don’t even get to pick the movie.”

“Millie, Cleo, and me’ll make chicken, bacon mac ’n’ cheese,” Zadie bartered.

When she did, I went still.

She’d included me in that.

Me!

I didn’t know what chicken, bacon mac ’n’ cheese was. But I was so totally making it.

I fought back giggling like a lunatic and twirling in delight.

“Chicken, bacon mac’s the only thing worth watchin’ an asinine high school movie,” Logan murmured to the skillet.

“They’re in college, Daddy,” Cleo informed him.

“Chicken, bacon mac’s the only thing worth watchin’ an asinine college movie,” Logan murmured to the skillet.

Cleo giggled.

Zadie did too.

My heart got so light, it lightened everything about me to the point it was a wonder I wasn’t floating on air when I went to the pantry to get the syrup.

Kristen Ashley's books