Bree kept in touch with him for a while, but I told her not to tell me anything. I didn’t care if I ever heard his name again.
But I supposed he had taught me some valuable lessons—how not to be a father. How important it was not to let anyone make you feel weak. How good it felt to prove someone wrong when they doubted you.
Turning around, I dumped the rest of the beer in the sink. The last thing I wanted was a hangover in the morning. My girls deserved better.
After turning out the lights, I went upstairs, checked on them one last time, and went into my bedroom.
Five minutes later, undressed and under the covers, I lay with my hands behind my head, wide awake and unable to stop thinking.
About the past. My mother and father. Naomi and me. Our marriage had failed for different reasons than my parents’—I hadn’t been unfaithful, and to my knowledge, she hadn’t either—but we just hadn’t loved each other enough to make up for lost time, for our differences, for failed expectations, for hurtful things that couldn’t be unsaid.
I thought about Chip and Mariah and hoped it would work out better for them. It certainly seemed like some people were able to figure it out. Maybe it was the luck of the draw. Or maybe it helped to grow up like Chip had, in a house with a mom and a dad in a good marriage. Seemed like Winnie had grown up that way too.
Not that she’d been a grownup very long.
Stifling a groan, I flopped onto my stomach and shoved my head under my pillow, trying not to think about her perfect round ass, her bare wet breasts, water dripping down her warm, smooth skin. I imagined licking droplets from the stiff peaks of her warm pink nipples. I remembered what it felt like to pull her toward me and press my hard cock against her. What would it be like to cover that body with mine, to move inside her, to make her moan beneath me?
She was probably in bed now, just a few feet from the other side of this wall.
It was too close.
Seven
Dex
“Look at the way his nostrils flare when he snores.”
Hallie’s voice came through the fog of a restless sleep.
“Yeah.” Luna giggled. “Is that hair in his nose?”
“Ew, I think it is. I never noticed that before.”
“Maybe he cuts it,” Luna said. “I saw him giving his bushy eyebrows a haircut once.”
More giggling. “I’m glad my eyebrows don’t look like that.”
“They kind of do.”
“Do not!” Hallie was indignant.
“I just mean they’re dark like his. But don’t worry, yours aren’t as fuzzy. Daddy’s are like black caterpillars crawling over his eyes.”
Hallie snickered. “Totally.”
Silence for ten blissful seconds. And then.
“Daddy has an outie. I have an innie.”
“Me too.”
“Outies are funny-looking.”
“I know.”
The next thing I knew, one of them stuck a finger in my belly button. I opened my eyes. “Seriously?”
Luna, whose finger was still on my belly button, grinned. “Did that wake you up?”
“Your shit-talking woke me up.”
“We want to go swimming,” Hallie said.
“We have church first. You have Sunday school.”
“Can’t we skip it?”
“No. Your mom would kill me. Bring me my phone please.”
“Where is it?”
I tried to think where I’d left it plugged in. “Try the kitchen.”
Hallie left the room and went downstairs while Luna hopped onto my bed, but instead of getting under the covers, she started jumping on it. “Are we going to get a cat today?”
“No.” I moved my lower body out of the way so she wouldn’t crush the family jewels. “We have church, and then we can swim, and then I need to go to the grocery store. There’s still lots of unpacking to do too. Plus, I haven’t yelled at you enough yet for disobeying me yesterday. And we need to make our emergency plan.”
Hallie appeared with my phone. “It’s seven-twelve,” she said as she handed it to me, then proceeded to join Luna in jumping on my bed.
“I see that.” I also saw that I had texts from Chip and from Naomi, who’d also called several times. “What should we do for breakfast?”
“Donuts again?” asked Hallie hopefully.
“How about bagels?” I frowned at the message from Naomi, which had been sent sixteen minutes ago.
I heard Luna had an allergic reaction last night at the party. I can’t believe you didn’t tell me. Did you take her to the ER? CALL ME.
After a deep breath, I looked at Chip’s text, which had been sent around midnight.
Hey, I hope everything is okay.
Really sorry about the allergic reaction.
Our flight doesn’t leave until two so if you’re up early and have time for coffee let me know.
“Stop jumping, I have to type something,” I told the girls. “Why don’t you go get dressed? Nice clothes, please. Something that matches.”
They performed a dismount and raced for their room, while I shot Chip a quick note.
All good here.
We’re heading for church shortly, but maybe you could swing by here on your way to the airport? We should be back by ten-thirty.
I didn’t want to deal with Naomi before getting some caffeine in my bloodstream, but I forced myself to call her back.
“Why didn’t you call me?” she shrieked upon picking up.
“Morning,” I said, mostly to piss her off.
“Dexter.”
“What?”
“I asked you a question! Why didn’t you call me after Luna had a reaction?”
“Because it wasn’t that big a deal. All she needed was an antihistamine. I handled it.”
“I still had a right to know it happened! You should have notified me right away. Instead, I had to hear about it from someone at the bakery this morning.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“Well, it was. I’m still their mother, even when they’re with you. I need to know about medical emergencies.”
“It wasn’t a fucking emergency,” I snapped.
“Watch your mouth—are the girls right there?”
“No. They’re getting dressed for church.”
“I want to talk to Luna.”
“You’ll see her at church.”
“Now, please.”
Deciding it wasn’t worth the fight, I took the phone into the girls’ room and handed it to Luna. “Your mom wants to talk to you.”
Luna put the phone to her ear. “Hi, Mommy. I’m fine. Yes.” She looked up at me. “Yes. Okay. I will. Bye.” She gave the phone to Hallie. “She wants to talk to you.”
Hallie got on while I crossed my arms over my chest. “Hello? Yes. It was fun, but we weren’t there too long.” She looked around the bedroom. “Yes. It’s nice. Uh huh. And the neighbor lady is really nice too. Her name is Winnie, like the Pooh, and she has a cat named Piglet.”