“Just a water,” Pete says, and I disappear to find Reed and my mom talking at the kitchen table.
“So, you’re not coming back in?” I ask.
He leans back, holding out his hand which I easily accept, and he pulls me to his side.
“Your mom and I have declared this the Pete-free zone.”
I shake my head. “You have to get along with him. He’s Jade’s father.”
“I’ll always be cordial, but it doesn’t mean I have to be in the same room as him.” His hand grips my hip and he pulls me into his lap.
We laugh, and my mom is staring over at us with happiness gleaming from her own eyes.
“I’m not sure I’m cool with the PDA while Jade is in the next room,” Pete’s voice sounds from behind me.
I stay planted on Reed’s lap and lock my arms around his neck, planting a kiss on his cheek.
“Oh, yes, because you hiding in a hotel room with your mistress was great for your little girl. It destroyed her parents’ marriage.” My mom stands and leaves the room without another word.
“You’d think I cheated on her.” Pete shakes his head, pointing to the fridge. “Water?”
“Oh yeah, sorry, I got distracted.”
I can’t deny it feels good to see Pete walk on eggshells around my house after I walked on them for years.
“I see.” He heads to the fridge. “Your friend Chelsea should try stand-up.”
Reed and I share a look to say she’s probably nailed him with a few zingers already. With Chelsea, it’s any ex, not necessarily her own. She hates them all.
“She is funny,” I say.
He grabs a water out of the fridge. “Cute cake. Remember when we baked the turtle one that year.”
Reed’s muscles stiffen underneath me.
I’m sure Pete’s remembering the lovemaking on the kitchen floor covered in flour, but I remember him not coming home until ten that night. Me yelling, him screaming and then fighting until we make out. Pete always forgets the bad.
“The pizza should be here soon.” I stand up so when Jade comes out she won’t see me on Reed’s lap.
Pete sits down across from Reed and there’s enough tension in the room you’d think they were mob leaders having a sit-down.
“I gotta know, I mean I know you’re rich, but why choose the DA’s office? You could be a defense lawyer,” Pete asks. “Still trying to act like you’re holier-than-thou?”
“I enjoy putting the bad people away.” Reed spins his own water bottle on the table.
I busy myself getting the paper plates and napkins out. If they’re both going to be a part of our lives, then they have to get along.
“Lucky you’re rich, because the job pays shit.”
Reed stares blankly at him. “Money doesn’t buy everything.”
Pete huffs and leans back in his chair. “It’s funny that you have the whole golden boy act down pat, but you think it’s okay to steal my wife and daughter.”
My hand slaps the counter. “I’m not your wife.”
“Fine, my ex-wife,” Pete counters, but he’s still posing the question to Reed.
“I guess I’m not all that good then.”
I smile at Reed for keeping his composure.
“What if I was here to get her back?” Pete asks.
I freeze and every muscle in my body tightens.
Reed sits up straighter. “Are you?”
“Maybe.” He shrugs.
“Then I’d say you missed your chance. She’s with me now.”
“Hello, the choice is mine.” They each turn their attention to me. “Pete, cut the shit. We’re over and if you’re jealous over Reed it’ll disappear as soon as you’re back in L.A. Reed, you know what we have.”
He smiles.
“Last warning.” I hate that I sound like a mother delivering an ultimatum, but it’s the only way to do this. “Get along because it’s Jade’s birthday and if either one of you ruin her day, you’ll be asked to leave.”
They each glance at one another and then lean back in their chairs.
How many hours before Pete’s on a plane back to L.A.?
Chapter Thirty-Two
“You have got to be kidding me!” Darcie’s steps pound on the pavement, her bullhorn clutched tightly in her hands.
The tow truck lowers the car in the roped off area while Reed’s positions the various sledgehammers, hammers, gloves, baseball bats and other tools we picked up to do some serious damage to this car.
I might even have to buy a handful of tickets myself. Pete hops on a plane tomorrow and let’s just say my patience has worn thin. There’s a reason we’re divorced.
“Oh, hey, Darcie. Georgia,” I say, acknowledging Mean Mom number one and her constant shadow.
“This is your idea of fun?” Darcie asks in a screechy voice.
“Yep.”
“The kids can’t do it, they could get hurt. Do you want that on your conscious? Maybe your boyfriends can afford the lawsuits, but I know you can’t.”
She thinks she’s going to bully me to breaking down. Not happening. I laugh a little that she still believes Pete, Reed, and I are in some kind of relationship. What an idiot.
“It’s a parents-only event.”
“You’ll get no one. I’ll make sure of it.” She stomps away, but she can’t do anything about it because Principal Weddle already okay’d it.
Reed walks over to me. “How angry is she?” he asked with a chuckle.
“Pretty pissed off.”
“Good.”
I step into him, wrapping my arms around his neck and lifting up on my tiptoes to kiss him. We have a little time before the carnival starts. Pete is bringing Jade after she slept over at his parents’ last night.
“Let’s go grab some coffee?”
He checks out his watch behind my back. “We have an hour.”
“Perfect.”
We choose to walk the two blocks to the nearest Starbucks since the weather is nice today. His hand swings in mine on the way back and I think of how I could really get used to this.
“Since we have some time before everything starts, we need to discuss something. I was going to wait until tonight, but I can’t,” he says.
The pit that’s been in my belly since the topic of him relocating elsewhere came up, morphs into a crevice.
“You got an offer?” I ask, hoping I’m wrong. It’s not that I don’t want him to succeed in his career, but we need more time to see what this is before we make big decisions about our future together.
He nods toward the park a block away from the school and leads me over to a bench where we sit.
“Tell me, Reed.”
He sets our coffees down behind him on the bench, both of his hands taking mine in his. “I got an offer.”
My eyes burn, and my nose crinkles and that crevice turns into a gorge. “Of course you did.”
“It’s in New York,” he says.
“City?” I clarify although I already know. Of course, he could be the DA in New York City. How could I ever compete with that?
“Take it,” I tell him. I have to force the words out of my mouth. I know what it’s like to put your dreams on hold for a relationship and I can’t ask him to do that for me.