Page 88 of The Single Dad

At his impossibly round eyes, Olivia can’t help but smile. “Okay,” she says, shooting Archie a wink. “Later. For now, do you want to get drinks and find somewhere to stand?”

“Let’s do it,” I agree. “How about an apple juice, Archie?”

Archie perks up at that suggestion. “Okay.”

We head over to the open bar, and once we’re all set—one apple juice in a plastic cup for Archie, a glass of chilled white wine for Olivia, and water for me—we find our way to an unoccupied table.

The table is too tall for Archie to reach, so Olivia and I take turns helping him get his apple juice up and down. As we hang out, idly chatting, Archie starts to open up to Olivia. In no time, the two of them are chattering away, Archie describing his recent trip to the petting zoo.

“—there were how many goats?” Olivia exclaims, pretending to be shocked.

“Five!” Archie pauses for a moment, frowning, then shakes his head. “No! Six!”

“Which is it?” Olivia gives me a look, one eyebrow raised.

“I wasn’t counting,” I say. “Archie is the goat expert here.”

While Archie describes all of the animals he met, I keep an eye on the table where Cole and his friends are gathered. Every few minutes, I look up and meet Cole’s gaze directly, then quickly look away again.

He can’t stop looking at me, and I can’t stop looking at him, even accidentally. How long can we really keep this up?

After a while, I notice the taller of Cole’s friends—Reed—leave the table and start heading toward ours. It takes a few seconds, but Olivia eventually notices him too. At once, she stiffens.

She curses under her breath, quietly enough that I can hear, but Archie probably can’t.

Then, to my surprise, she takes a few steps back.

Chapter 27

Riley

“What’s the matter?” I ask Olivia, confused. “That’s one of Cole’s friends. He’s—”

“Yeah, uh… I’ll be right back,” she says, sounding distracted. “Let me just—”

She turns to slip away, and almost immediately collides with one of the waitresses, who yelps, nearly dropping the tray of cocktail shrimp she’s carrying. A bowl of cocktail sauce slides off the edge and shatters on the floor, spraying red goo all over the white tablecloth.

The waitress glares at Olivia, fuming, and my friend cringes. “Agh—I’m so sorry, I wasn’t looking—”

Reed arrives at our table, looking over at Olivia and the waitress in befuddlement for a moment. Then he turns to me.

“Hey, I just came over to let you know that the bidding’s going to start soon, if you want to get a look at any of the artwork.”

“Thanks,” I tell him, embarrassed on Olivia’s behalf. She busies herself helping the waitress with the pieces of broken ceramic, as well as the dirty tablecloth.

Reed nods. He glances at Olivia, and for an instant, their eyes meet. His expression is unreadable as he turns to leave.

As soon as he’s out of earshot, I turn to Olivia, who looks miserable. “What the hell was that about?”

She takes a deep breath. In a hushed voice, she says, “Okay, so… I actually know that guy.”

“Are you serious?”

“That’s Reed Eastwood.”

The name sounds familiar to me. I scour my brain for a moment, trying to place it. “Eastwood… like the hotels?”

She nods, her eyes wide. “I knew him years ago. Honestly, when you told me about this charity thing, I was worried he was going to be here.”

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