Second Chance Baby (Crescent Cove #18)

Chapter 5

FIVE

They were probably the best cheese fries I’d ever had in my life.

Then again, I’d missed lunch and we’d worked up quite the appetite at the hotel.

Which I’d have to face soon enough when I finally dealt with my slew of waiting text messages, several of which were from Daphne, I was quite sure. I just hoped that we could re-shoot our, uh, unexpectedly steamy session unless the edits Drake had mentioned could work.

Until then, these fries were hitting the freaking spot.

I grabbed the last three on the platter and swiped them through the puddle of melted cheese and bacon bits. “Dang, these were great. Though are they making these orders smaller now?”

Carrington giggled. “No, you just ate the whole thing in like five bites, Dad.”

“Oh, crap. Did I?” Smiling sheepishly, I glanced at Bridget’s also empty plate. “You got some, didn’t you? I wasn’t paying attention.”

“I got a few.”

“Only a few? Man, I’m sorry. We’ll get another order. Just hang on.” I motioned to Polly, and she hurried back. “Ready for meals?”

“No, not yet. Actually, can we get another platter of these fries, maybe with an extra serving of ranch dressing?”

Carrington finished her milkshake with a loud slurping noise. My glass was mostly empty too.

As was Bridget’s, for that matter.

“Want another one?” I asked her.

“Oh, I shouldn’t?—”

“You look amazing.” My gaze lingered for an extra moment on my jacket currently emphasizing her gorgeous breasts. That the fit was a little snug only made her look hotter to my mind.

I’d be just fine if she never took off my jacket again. Maybe I’d have to buy a whole new selection of them for her to wear in different colors.

“To hell with it.” I smiled at Polly. “Make that another round of milkshakes too.”

Polly’s eyes widened. “No way. Those are huge.”

“Yeah, and delicious. Thank you.”

She rushed away, shaking her head.

“Jeez, doesn’t anyone ever get milkshake refills around here?”

“No, Dad. Those things are gigantic. And you ordered the monster size to begin with.”

“Oh, I did? Huh.” I shrugged. “We’ll just drink as much as we want. You don’t need to finish if it’s too much. But I’ll probably finish mine.”

“What kind of workout did you do today?”

“Workout?”

“You only go for milkshakes when you’ve burned off extra calories with a weight training session or an extra long run,” Carrington said matter-of-factly.

She did have a point there. But I had burned off extra calories today, just not with any sort of workout I could discuss with my almost eleven-year-old kid.

Bridget and I exchanged a quick glance before she went back to scooping up the remaining bacon bits on her plate with her fork.

We’d just leave that conversational gambit alone for now, thanks.

Polly returned with the new round of milkshakes and the refill on our fries, heaped high on the platter with not one but two extra cups of ranch on the side. She’d also been liberal with the bacon bits, which Bridget dumped on her plate.

I rubbed my hands. “This looks amazing, Pol. Thanks so much.”

“No problem. Eat up. Growing boy and all.”

Was I imagining her eyes twinkling? Maybe I was. But even so, I grinned and dug in once both Carrington and her mom had loaded their own plates. I tried to be mindful of how much I took, but in no time, the platter was empty again and we were slurping our milkshakes before falling back in the booth with similar groans.

“No more,” Care Bear said, her head lolling to the side as she finally pushed away her nearly empty milkshake glass. “How are we gonna shop now when we’re so full?”

She did have a point. I hadn’t planned this lunch the best considering we still had stores to plow through and many Halloween decorations to acquire.

“I have an idea,” Bridget offered, leaning forward with a gleam in her eyes. “What do you say we have a spooky movie night together? Do you like scary movies? I mean, like the classic ones. Like Scream ?”

“Which one? There’s like half a dozen now. Maybe more.”

“I’ve lost track. I’m so behind.” Bridget looked at me. “Do you still like Scream ?”

“I do, but…hmm. What age is appropriate for that movie? I better check.” I picked up my phone, noting the many, many texts I still hadn’t bothered to deal with.

I knew I would have to soon enough. In the meantime, it was family time.

“Dad, I already saw 1-4 at Missy’s house.”

I frowned. “With her parents’ permission?”

Carrington rolled her eyes at me. “Sure, Dad.”

“When was this, young lady?”

“Which time? We’ve seen them a bunch by now.”

In the scheme of things, my daughter watching old school horror movies that weren’t even that scary overall wasn’t that bad. I had to loosen the apron strings now and then with her, since she was going to be eleven soon. Somehow.

In current times, with the amount of stuff the kids were exposed to with social media and cell phones and all of that, eleven was approximately equivalent to upper teens back when I was growing up.

Carrington was good about not using her phone during meals, and she didn’t freak out about the parental controls I’d set on some of her apps. Nor did she mind when I asked her not to use most of the social media sites.

Though, hell, maybe she had ways of using them behind my back. I’d learned long ago that trusting her eased a lot of heartache between us. She was a smart, responsible kid.

I’d just have to hope for the best.

“Okay, movie night it is.” I looked at my daughter. “Do we still have popcorn?”

“No. You ate the last microwave bag weeks ago, remember?”

“Why are you calling me out like that? What did I ever do to you?”

She giggled into her fist. “I don’t know, maybe thinking I’m too young to handle scary movies I saw when I was like nine.”

I winced. How did I not know that? “To me, you’ll always be my baby girl. Deal with it, kid.” I looked up to see Bridget watching us with obvious tenderness in her eyes. Heat blasted up my neck as I shifted in my seat. “So, what other movies are on the agenda?”

Bridget shrugged. “We can figure it out as we go. We’ll start with a couple of the Scream franchise. I am so hopelessly behind then maybe we can find some other cool ones on streaming. Depending what services you subscribe to.”

“I subscribe to everything. Since my princess here likes to see current stuff on a regular basis.” I reached across the table to tap Carrington’s nose. “She probably knows about ones us old folks have never even heard of.”

“Sadly true.” Bridget leaned her head on my shoulder and something inside me settled in a way I hadn’t even realized I’d been missing. It was as if I could finally release a breath I’d been holding for probably years. “We can get some snacks on the way back to the house…” She trailed off. “Unless you want to just start movie night right away.”

“Then that would be movie afternoon though, right?” Carrington giggled.

Before I could question it, I grabbed Bridget’s hand and tugged her out of the booth.

Carrington’s eyebrows rose before she scampered after us, easily doing an end run around us and veering out the door.

The sudden movement made Bridget stumble on her ankle-breakers before she steadied herself.

I held onto Bridget’s hand for a few minutes longer. Why not? It felt good. “Those heels are dangerous,” I muttered, just in case she needed an explanation for what I was doing.

“They are,” she agreed quietly. “I appreciate the extra support.”

I tightened my grip, swallowing hard when she curled her fingers into my palm as she’d done a million times before. Granted, not for many years now. “At your service, milady.”

We exited the diner and started up Main Street, which was currently congested with pedestrians, thanks to the lovely, pleasantly warm fall day. The crisp breeze felt heavenly on my face as I tilted it up to the sun, and I caught Bridget watching me with a smile playing around her lips that just made it even better.

Carrington pointed out different things in the windows of the stores we passed, pausing to pet an adorable tiny golden dog wearing a bright orange collar as he sipped water from the bowl in front of the pet supply store. “What’s your name, boy?”

“Bernard,” his teenage owner supplied. “I just got him a few days ago. He’s a Morkie. Do you know about those dogs?”

Carrington nodded. “Yeah, my uncle Moose has one. No, two now, actually. Bernard’s so cute. How old is he?”

“Just under a year and he has so much energy. Never stops for a minute.”

As if to prove it, Bernard started barking up a storm at me and Bridget. She laced her fingers with mine before she crouched in her tight dress to give him a quick rub under the chin. “Aren’t you the most handsome little boy?” she asked, quickly straightening once again.

Bernard responded with more barking before he looked at me expectantly. Because I didn’t know how to keep a hold of Bridget’s hand while crouching, I just murmured to him, noting how my daughter was staring at me pointedly. Did she realize I didn’t want to let go of her mother?

Probably. She was an intuitive kid.

Before I could consider it further, Carrington dropped down to the sidewalk to sit cross-legged. Immediately, Bernard scrabbled into her lap, lapping at her chin with his tiny pink tongue.

“Aww, he likes you,” the teen crooned.

“He’s so sweet. Aren’t you, Bernard?” Carrington cuddled him close, fending off dog kisses with much laughter. “You’re such a good boy.”

Bridget slid me a heavy look which I almost didn’t understand until she nodded at Carrington. It took me a second to grasp what she was suggesting. Was she insinuating Care Bear should get a pet of her own?

And if so, who was going to take care of said pet? Not that I’d be on the road much anymore unless it was a super high-paying job, which probably wouldn’t happen. I needed to stick closer to home for the next little while with the holiday season coming up and all.

Though Carrington was growing older, and some time ago, we’d talked about her getting a dog a little later on.

Maybe that time was now?

“We have to get going, but my name is Cindy, so if you ever want to play with him again, just give me a call. Or if you have a dog of your own, maybe you need help walking him.” She produced a business card with a sweet cartoon dog and handed it to Bridget as if they were in cahoots.

“Oh, I don’t have a dog,” Carrington said sadly, “but thanks.”

“Not yet,” Bridget replied brightly.

Cindy tugged Bernard off Carrington’s lap with a smile. “Say bye, Bernie.”

“Bye, Bernie. I loved meeting you.” Carrington hopped to her feet and cocked her head at her mom. “Not yet?”

“Oh, you never know what could happen, right? A young girl needs a dog of her own.”

“Stanley,” I said immediately, the memory hitting me all at once. “He had the floppiest ears ever, and the softest, silkiest fur. How old did he live?”

“Almost 13.” Bridget’s soft smile had me tugging her hand under my arm so I could rub her knuckles. “He was the sweetest boy ever.”

Carrington’s gaze dropped to our joined hands, but she hurried to speak before I could consider what to do next. “You had a dog when you were young, Mom? What kind?”

“A cocker spaniel. I loved him to pieces. But he was a bit bigger than Bernard. Then later on, we got a German Shepherd, which was bigger still. And he had quite a bark. Doubled as protection in our trailer park.”

“He sure did. Anyone who heard him bark would have definitely thought twice of trying to break into your place.” I relaxed my hold on her hand, but I didn’t let her go. Instead, our linked hands just swung between us as we followed Carrington up the crowded block. She rushed to the crosswalk and glanced back. “We still need to get snacks, but should we go to Every Line A Story before we head back to the truck?”

I shrugged. “Sure, why not?”

Every Line A Story was more of a craft/gift shop and bookstore than anything else though they’d expanded in recent months with more sections. The front now had a ton of stationery carousels along with displays of stuffed animals and toys. And because this was Baby Central, there was a burgeoning baby section to boot.

Bridget traced a fingertip over a rattle shaped like a unicorn. Catching me looking, she swiftly dropped her hand. “I have a niece now. Amerie.”

“Oh, yeah? How old is she?”

She flushed scarlet then mumbled a number I didn’t quite catch.

“Try again?”

“Six.”

I cleared my throat. Hmm, why was she checking those out? “A little old for rattles, I imagine.”

“Oh, yeah. She just loves unicorns, and it caught my eye. Oh hey, Carrington, look, another spider like the one you were coloring at the diner.” She plucked a huge purple plush one with glowing green eyes off a shelf. “Do you still like these?”

“The spiders? Yeah, they’re cool.”

“I meant like stuffies. Or are you too mature for these now?”

Carrington shrugged, already moving on to a rack of spooky Young Adult books. But before she could take one, she noticed a display right on the counter of graphic novels.

“Hey, this one is Uncle Penn’s Knights of Chaos .”

She understood enough about how fame worked to lower her voice on Penn’s name. For the most part around here, people gave my brother his space when he visited, but there were far more tourists around about now due to the Cove’s recent infamy as Baby Central. And now Every Line A Story was doing book signings too here and there, one even with Penn recently.

“Sure is, Care. His books are so good. I read the first dozen or so…” Bridget trailed off, glancing back at me as if to gauge my reaction.

I merely smiled. I had no issue with her reading my talented brother’s books. Lots of people did. “Then what happened?”

“Then I got busy, but I need to catch up. I still always preorder.”

“Seems like you need to make some time. I think the series is like forty books or something crazy.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

Clearly bored now, Carrington grabbed two Young Adult novels off the nearby spinner and camped out in the nearest overstuffed chair to start reading.

“Do you do any of this stuff?” I asked Bridget, gesturing to all the bins of brightly colored yarns and the accompanying ones of needles or whatever they were called. “Craft shit?”

Bridget’s lips twitched. “I did some cross stitch once upon a time. Talk about having to pay close attention. Tiny stitches. And if you make a mistake, then you’re in a whole heap of trouble to undo your fuck-up.”

I had no clue what cross stitch even was. “Um, I just bet.” I glanced up toward the ceiling at the bouncing ghost lights currently blinking on and off. “Oh, those are cool. Maybe we should grab a set for Carrington’s room? What do you think?”

“I like them. They’re fun.” She glanced over to where Carrington was devouring her book. “Is she into ghosts?”

“Your guess is good as mine. But they’re outlined in all those bright colors.” I headed over to the checkout to ask the pretty brunette behind the counter if she had any of the ghost lights boxed up and ready to go. She smiled and made polite conversation before she mentioned having to check the storeroom.

The moment she disappeared, Bridget sighed. “Another one wowed by your charm.”

“Huh?”

“Did you see how fast she hurried away? She couldn’t help you fast enough.”

“I’d say she was just eager to make a sale. That’s Colette, the owner of this store.”

A moment later, she returned, toting not only a sweetly bagged set of lights tucked in a Snoopy vampire bag but also a set of blinking acorn lights. “On the house.” She nudged the bag at me. “Gotta honor our local legends. Especially you two.”

“What?” I glanced at Bridget. “Oh, no, we can pay.”

Discreetly, Bridget hip-checked me as if to say, see, told you.

“I mean, you’re steaming up this town already. We owe you a debt.” Colette pretended to fan herself before whispering, “I’m friends with Rita. She texted me that the heat was off the charts. She’s so excited about your new book cover.”

Hurriedly, I looked to where Carrington was still curled up in her chair near the fireplace. Thank God. I didn’t want her to hear anything that would traumatize her.

Or us, for that matter.

“We didn’t plan for that to happen,” I said quickly. “It was all my fault, getting ahead of myself. I figured we should sell it well to make sure the reshoot was good for the book cover too.” I cleared my throat. “Bridget is never anything but professional.”

I ducked my head, hoping she didn’t read my embarrassment. I’d come up with the idea of “selling” the scene when me and Bridget had connected before the shoot. I hadn’t had any idea what I was doing, but I’d been desperate to be close to her again.

Even if it was sort of through dubious means.

Colette made a strangled noise I couldn’t quite interpret. Then she held a hand to her forehead as if she was feeling faint.

“Enjoy the lights!” She fled toward the direction of the back room.

“What the hell was that about?” I muttered. “Did she suddenly get sick or something?”

“Probably or something.” Bridget squeezed my fingers. This time, she was the one who gripped my hand. “If I had to guess, I’d think your chivalry in defending me right then nearly took her out.” She smiled faintly. “It’s not easy for a single girl in a town of so many couples and families, you know?”

“It’s not always that easy here for a single guy, either. But I was just telling the truth. I know I suggested more, and you just followed my lead.”

“Keep telling yourself that.”

My cheeks went hot. “Huh?”

“Not that I don’t appreciate your chivalry, because believe me, I do, but I was right there with you. Every step. You didn’t push me into anything I didn’t want desperately. Honestly? I was glad you suggested that. It was exactly why I wanted to do the shoot.”

“Wait, you wanted to do the shoot?” Instead of answering my question, she leaned up to whisper a single word.

“Panties?” Then she licked her lips.

As if I could forget how wet they’d been. Or the fact that she was currently wearing my jacket stretched tightly across her ripped dress.

“Wish I’d kept what was left of them. Think I tore those too.”

Her eyes sparkled for just an instant before she eased back and surprised me by removing something from the denim jacket pocket.

“You did. No point in even wearing them anymore. So…here. If you want them.”

“Oh, I want.” I didn’t even bother trying not to stare into her eyes as she pushed that square of damp material into my palm, folding my fingers over it.

Clasping it tightly, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Don’t do it. Carrington could see.

But I had to breathe, right?

Moving swiftly, I lifted it to my nose, taking a fast, needy inhale before I tucked it into the pocket of my jeans and reclaimed her hand. Holding it felt far too good, like something vital I’d gone without for an eternity.

I didn’t want to let her go again. At least not voluntarily.

I didn’t want to analyze that impulse. Or any of that day’s impulses. I just wanted to do what felt good.

And nothing had matched today in so very long.

“What’s that bag?” Carrington demanded, appearing beside us with her books under her arm.

“Just some lights we got for your room. Or the living room. Or maybe the dining room. Wherever you want to put them up.”

She grabbed the Snoopy bag and began rifling through the tissue paper as if she was a woman on a mission. She drew out the acorn lights, laughing delightedly before tossing them aside to yank open the box of ghost lights. She drew out the strand, squealing. “Oh, these are those over there on top of the fireplace. I love them. Thank you, Daddy.” She leaned up to give me a quick, hard hug.

“Your mom helped pick them out,” I rushed to add, smiling as our daughter turned to give her a hug too.

“You both have good taste. We’re delaying our shopping trip, but it’s still gonna happen, isn’t it? Just with mom though now, right?”

“If that’s what you want, sweetheart.” Emotion laced Bridget’s voice, making my stomach tighten. “I would love to go Halloween shopping with you tomorrow, maybe?”

“Yeah, tomorrow we will go to the Spirit store. Right, Dad? I want one of those huge skeletons.”

Bridget swiped her fingers under her eyes as Carrington dumped her lights back into the Snoopy bag.

Swallowing hard, I gave Brig’s fingers a bolstering squeeze. “Don’t tell me you mean those monstrous ones people have climbing up their trees and hanging off their roofs? No way.”

“Oh, come on, Daddy, they’re so cool. I heard they were even having a sale,” she teased, knowing that was always my favorite word.

My little girl knew me all too well.

“Those skeletons are amazing. The really huge ones are so scary, but in a fun way. People do so much with them.”

“See? Right. Exactly.” Carrington bounced from foot to foot. “They’re probably all sold out by now since we are so freaking late. Other people have been decorating for weeks. Some even started in August.”

“August is still summer. In August, you were swimming in Uncle Murphy’s pool, not searching for grotesque creatures to drape in blood and put all over the lawn.”

Her eyes lit excitedly. “Oh, I’ve never seen anyone do that. That’s even way better than the Gideons. Macy will turn green with envy. Forget her spider. Spiders are so last season.” She waved a hand and headed toward the door.

“Hey, wait a second, did you forget something?”

She kept walking. “Nope. Let’s go.”

“What about paying for those books? You can’t just sail out of here with them. I gotta pay.”

“Um, no, you don’t. I already did from my allowance when you two were whispering and holding hands.” She held up something over her head that clearly looked like a receipt.

So, guess she had paid.

“Let’s go, people.” The door slammed shut behind her with an incongruous tinkle of bells.

I glanced at Bridget, taking in her currently bright red cheeks with a grin. “Could’ve been worse.”

“How?”

“She could have seen you passing me your panties.”

She nodded and gripped my arm. “You’re right. Let’s go before she goes for a joyride in your truck.”

I laughed and followed her out of the store.

Though I had no idea what was happening right now, I was in no hurry for it to end.