“Okay, give me the phone,” I said, nervous the next words out of Hallie’s mouth would be we saw her bum. “You can tell her about all this another time.”
Putting the phone to my ear, I walked back to my room. “Satisfied?”
“I guess. But please call me next time, okay?” Her voice had softened. “That’s all I ask. It’s hard enough to be away from them for days at a time, and I . . . I just need to know they’re okay. And it’s so hard when you won’t talk to me.”
Great. Now she was crying. I didn’t want the sound of her sobs to affect me, but the truth was, it did. I took the edge off my tone. “Fine. If there is another allergic reaction, I’ll call you.”
“Or any medical thing.”
My jaw clenched. “Or any medical thing.”
“Thank you, Dex. I appreciate it. I don’t mean to intrude on your time with them.”
“I have to go,” I said. “They’re waiting for me.”
“Okay. I’ll see you at church.”
“Fine.” Ending the call, I tossed my phone onto the bed and rubbed my face with both hands.
Marriage was a fuck ton of work, and I hadn’t been good at it, but damn—divorce was a bitch too.
I didn’t plan on doing either of them ever again.
Fifteen minutes later, we were ready to go. As I backed out of the garage, I didn’t even glance in the direction of Winnie’s house.
But Hallie spoke up. “Hey, maybe we should ask if Winnie wants to go to church with us.”
“We’re not doing that,” I said.
“Do you think she’s awake?” Luna asked.
“No idea.”
“I wonder if her car is in the garage,” Hallie said. “She’s old enough to drive, right Daddy?”
“She’s twenty-two,” I told them. “Yes, that’s old enough to drive.” And vote and drink, I thought—but barely.
Shoving the thought of that kiss from my head, I concentrated on the road.
“I wonder what she does for a job,” Luna said.
I realized I’d sat outside with her for at least twenty minutes but I had no idea what she did for a living. “I don’t know.”
“Her mom owns a bakery,” Hallie recalled. “Maybe she works there?”
“She might.” For a second, I wondered if it was possible Winnie had been the someone at the bakery who’d told Naomi about the allergic reaction last night. But how would she have known who Naomi was?
“That would be a fun job,” Luna said. “Baking cupcakes all day.”
“Hey, that’s the place our cupcakes were from!” Hallie shouted, pointing out the window. “Plum & Honey. It matches the sticker that was on the box. And the sign says open.”
“Can we go there, Daddy?” Luna pleaded. “Maybe Winnie is working.”
“I thought you wanted bagels,” I said, panicking slightly at the thought of facing Winnie this morning after I’d rubbed her crotch against mine last night.
“No, let’s go to the bakery,” Hallie said.
I looked around but didn’t see any other breakfast options, and of course, there was an open parking spot right in front of Plum & Honey. Cursing the universe, I pulled into it and the girls cheered.
As they unbuckled their seatbelts, I flipped down the visor mirror and checked my hair, trying to fix where it stuck up a little on the side I’d slept on. Then I sniffed the collar of my dress shirt—it was the same one I’d worn to the party last night, but I’d taken it off and hung it up as soon as we’d gotten home. I hadn’t felt like ironing a new one this morning, so I’d just thrown it on again. It smelled like cologne, which I figured was okay.
What about my breath? Had I brushed my teeth? I’d been so annoyed about the phone call with Naomi, I might have forgotten. I exhaled into my hand and sniffed. I couldn’t smell anything, so maybe I was fine. At least I’d trimmed the nose hair.
That’s when I locked eyes with a perplexed Hallie in the mirror. “What are you doing?” she asked, blinking at me.
“Nothing.” I snapped the visor shut and opened the door. “Come on, let’s go or we’ll be late.”
“But why were you smelling your hand like that?” she persisted as they scrambled out of the back seat.
“No reason.”
I opened the bakery door and followed them inside, relieved when I didn’t see Winnie behind the counter. The girls, however, were disappointed, and went rushing up to the woman standing near the register. She might have been Winnie’s stepmom—she seemed like the right age, and I thought she looked familiar. Maybe I’d seen her at the party last night.
“Hello,” she greeted them, her smile warm and welcoming. “What can I get for you?”
“Is Winnie here?” Hallie asked.
The woman looked surprised, then she laughed. “Not today. Do you know Winnie?”
“Yes, she’s our next door neighbor.”
“We met her yesterday,” Luna said excitedly. “Does she work here?”
“No, but she comes in here a lot. She’s my daughter.” She lowered her voice and spoke behind the back of her hand, like she was telling them a secret. “She says she comes here for me, but I think she just likes the free cupcakes.”
The girls laughed as I approached the counter. It smelled delicious in here—like sweet, buttery cinnamon rolls were in the oven. And something about the scent reminded me of Winnie . . . maybe because of the cupcake we’d shared last night?
“So you must be Hallie,” Winnie’s mom said, pointing to Hallie. “And you must be Luna.”
“Yes,” Luna said. “But how did you know?”
“Winnie told me all about you last night at the party.” She looked up at me with gray-green eyes that crinkled a little at the corner and smiled. “Hi. I’m Frannie MacAllister.”
“Dexter Matthews. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too. I was sorry to hear about little Luna’s allergic reaction. I have sixteen-year-old twins, and one of them has terrible food allergies.” She hesitated, her expression turning apologetic. “I’m a client of Naomi’s at the salon, and we’ve chatted a little about the challenges of dealing with them. She was in here this morning, and I asked how Luna was—judging by her reaction, she hadn’t heard about it. I’m sorry if I caused any friction.”
Now it made sense. “No worries,” I said easily. “We’re divorced, but I spoke with her this morning.”
She nodded and turned her attention back to the girls. “Well. What can I get for you? And don’t worry—no nuts in anything!”
While the girls asked her about every single muffin, roll, and pastry under the glass, I checked my phone again to see if Chip had gotten back to me. He had—a couple minutes ago, he’d texted that they were just waking up and planning to have breakfast with his mom, sister, and stepdad at nine, but could swing by my place around eleven. All I had to do was give him the address.
I sent it to him and asked him to text me when he arrived, since we might already be at the pool. He immediately responded that was no problem and he’d see us soon.