“Unbelievable,” Dad grumbles. “Go home, Tierra.”
“You’d miss me,” she sasses, stepping on her toes to plant a kiss on Dad’s cheek.
He chuckles. “Keep telling yourself that, princess.”
“That’s queen to you, sir.” She smirks.
The doorbell rings. I nearly leap at the chance to leave this conversation. Tierra always flirts with Dad. I’d say she was just messing with him, but I know her track record with older men. Luckily, I don’t think she’s Dad’s type. He likes frosty, bitchy women who have clout in this town. Dad wants a trophy. An armpiece. He doesn’t want a naughty girl with daddy issues.
I fling open the front door, expecting to see Charlotte or anyone else. Not Terrence and Zella. The last time he showed up on my doorstep, he broke up with me. Gone, though, is the hard look in his brown eyes.
He’s smiling.
Happiness looks good on Terrence.
“Oh, hey,” I choke out, shocked at their arrival.
Zella flies at me, hugging my legs. I’m surprised when Terrence steps forward, also enveloping me in a hug. The surprise at having them here at my home has me stunned silent. I try not to behave like a creep and inhale Terrence’s soapy scent.
God, I’ve missed him.
Too soon, he pulls away. The grin on his face remains.
“Daddy and I are going on an adventure,” Zella says to me, looking up with a huge grin. “Can you come too?”
“An adventure, huh?” I ask, unable to keep from fluttering my fingers along her kinky curls. “What kind of adventure?”
“A birthday adventure!”
Tierra hobbles over to us. Her ankle is still messed up, but she keeps a cheery disposition. “An adventure? You didn’t invite me?”
Zella giggles. “You can come too, Tee!”
“Maybe I can come on the next adventure,” Tierra says. “My ankle is giving me trouble. I’ll just hold you guys back. Dr. English will take care of me.”
I shoot her an exasperated look. She shrugs and laughs.
“Be good,” I grumble.
“I’m always good.”
We both know that’s a lie.
As soon as Zella falls asleep in the back seat, the air seems to crackle with unspoken words. All evening, Zella chattered in animation, distracting Terrence and me from the big elephant between us. She dragged us through all the miniature golf holes, talked our ears off through dinner at Hood River Hoodlums, and then had lots to say while we got ice cream. After a busy birthday adventure, she finally crashed.
“The loft is that way,” I say, shooting a questioning look Terrence’s way.
“Yeah, I know. I thought I’d show you our place.”
Charlotte mentioned they’d moved out a few weeks ago. I’m proud of Terrence making a life for him and Zella. They deserve to be happy.
It doesn’t take long for him to pull up to the old Campfire Chaos cabin. I frown in confusion.
“You live with David and Kate?”
Terrence laughs, deep and masculine. It sends a thrill of desire through me.
“No,” he says, shaking his head. “They sold this place to me. Now that their property has been cleared from the fire, they’re going to rebuild. David bought a trailer for them to stay in while they rebuild their home.”
Charlotte had failed to mention that. I mean, I get it. Terrence is a touchy subject for me. She doesn’t like to see me hurting.
“You did well, Smash,” I tell him, reaching over to take his hand. “This place is great.”
He nods, giving my hand a quick squeeze before he climbs out of the Trailblazer. I also get out of the vehicle, waiting for him to pull a sleeping Zella into his arms.
“I forgot how peaceful it is out here,” I murmur as I follow him up to the cabin porch.
“It’s quiet when it’s not overrun with a million idiots.” He chuckles. “Zella is going to be sad she fell asleep. Whenever she shows you her room, pretend like it’s the first you’ve seen of it.”
“I promise,” I say with a grin as he guides us inside.
Immediately, my heart warms. The cabin has Charlotte’s decorating sense written all over it. I’m thankful my sister has a good heart and helped make this place a home for them. It doesn’t look like a bachelor pad. It’s a real family home. I know it’s her style, but I don’t say anything in case Terrence doesn’t want to tell me. At this point, I’m drinking in the time I’m getting with him. The past couple of months have been empty and achingly sad. This is the best day I’ve had in forever.
“Wow,” I whisper when we walk into her bedroom. “It’s beautiful.”
The entire bedroom has been painted like something out of a fairy tale. There’s a black king on a black horse and a white queen with blond hair on a brown horse. Between them, on a pony is a pretty brown-skinned princess. There’s a green dragon on one wall and a knight on an orange horse is fighting him. I tear up, staring for far too long at the knight.
Terrence removes Zella’s shoes and tucks her into her bed. His gaze follows mine, his shoulders tensing for a moment. I bite on my lip, quickly escaping her room so I don’t do something stupid like cry.
The door clicks shut and Terrence walks past me.
“Have a seat,” he says, motioning for the sofa. “I’ll get us something to drink.”
I sit down on one end of the couch. He reappears with two cans of soda, handing me one before sitting next to me.
“Did you draw that stuff?” I ask, nodding toward Zella’s room.
“Nah, Jordy did. He’s the artist around here.”
I smile, imagining Jordy taking Princess Zella’s fairytale scene order and transforming it to something on her wall she’d approve of.
“This place is nice,” I tell him. “I like what you’ve done with it.”
He holds up a hand in defense, shaking his head but still grinning. “That’s Charlotte. She and Roux took control. I had no idea how to make this place a home.”
“She’s great like that,” I agree.
The room falls silent. But, because it’s Terrence, we sit in comfortable silence. Both of us have always been fond of the quiet.
“Penny,” he murmurs. “Thanks for tonight.”
I set my soda down and shrug. “I should be thanking you guys. My birthday was crappy until you two showed up. I had fun.”
“Zella is serious about her adventures.” He smiles. “That girl has a lot of energy. Wears me out sometimes.”
“Spoken like a true daddy.”
“Baby Hope is getting big,” he says. “Kinda looks like Hollis.”
“She’s way cuter,” I argue. “But, yeah, I guess she kind of does.”
Hope has been a lovely surprise to our family. I cuddled that baby this weekend, happy to stare at her adorable little face rather than see the pity-filled eyes my family looks at me with ever since the breakup.
“Penny,” Terrence starts and then frowns.
“What?”
“I’m sorry. I fucked up. With us. I was so goddamned furious with you, but that’s because I couldn’t bear to lose you. I lost you anyway—”