Page 25 of Fifty-Fifty

“See? Problem solved. You don’t mind if Beau and her lil’ girl sit with ya for a bit, do ya?” Harold interrupts, takin’ Noah’s attention away from me and back to the table.

I can see the unease in his tense shoulders for about two seconds ‘til Mac wraps her arms around his neck and squeezes.

“No nap! Stay with you.”

His hesitation evaporates into thin air, bein’ replaced with open affection.

Yup. Mac’s definitely got that boy wrapped around her itty bitty fingers.

“Alright, Mac. No nap. Are you hungry?” Noah asks, giving me his back while spoilin’ the shit outta my daughter with his undivided attention.

Mac doesn’t say a word, she simply grabs the half-eaten slice of pumpkin bread sittin’ on the plate in front of them and nearly devours it whole.

I shake my head, tryin’ to contain my smile before walkin’ over to the opposite side of the table and sittin’ down.

When Mac reaches for his iced coffee, I quirk my brow.

“She ain’t supposed to have caffeine,” I admonish them.

Mac ignores me, while Noah simply shrugs his broad shoulders.

“Sorry, Beau. But everyone’s entitled to their own caffeine fix. You don’t see me hiding the coffee from you in the mornings, am I right?” He smirks at me, and the sight seems to temper my earlier discomfort. “Plus, I doubt she’ll like it.”

Sure enough, Mac’s lips pucker in distaste as soon as the cool liquid touches her tongue.

I laugh as she scrunches up her nose and shakes her head at Noah.

“No,” she states as she leans into his side. She hands the half-empty glass back to Noah, and he takes it from her with a sly grin then places it on the table.

“See?” he teases, knowin’ly.

I roll my eyes. “Yeah, yeah. Now, what do you say, Mac? Can you thank Noah for sharin’ his pumpkin bread?” I raise my eyebrows, silently encouragin’ her to remember her manners.

“Thank you,” she replies while lookin’ up at Noah with her big doe eyes.

He smiles down at her. “Not a problem, Mac.”

“Color!” Mac continues, pointing to the open notebook on the table. It’s the same notebook I’ve seen him carryin’ around at the inn. This time, however, I’m given a glimpse of what’s inside.

My eyes nearly bug outta my head when I see the drawing takin’ up a whole page. It looks like a new logo for the inn with swirlin’ ink and bold letters. It’s… beautiful. When Noah sees me starin’ at it, his hands shift awkwardly on the table.

“It’s just a sketch. I was going to show it to you when it was ready. I was thinking it might be a good idea to switch things up, give us a fresh look. That kind of thing. I mean––”

“Color!” Mac interrupts as she reaches for his pencil.

Noah smiles kindly in return before flippin’ the page and givin’ her a blank canvas to work with.

Greedily, she grabs it and starts scribbling over the paper.

“So, have you guys ordered? What do you want to eat?” Noah asks, changin’ the subject.

I chew my lower lip as Harold hovers by our table. I have no doubt he’s spyin’ on us because he knows Betty will want all the details as soon as we leave. I feel like I’m bein’ examined under a microscope, and I don’t like it one bit.

“Will you leave me alone for a minute?” I ask, turnin’ my attention to the sweet ol’ man that’s practically a second daddy to me.

The first bein’ Jay, of course. He ain’t my real daddy, but he was close enough. Now Harold seems to be sneakin’ his way into the role.

“Nah. I like the conversation goin’ on right here. Maybe once y'all stop droolin’, I might find somewhere else I need to be.” He grins, makin’ me wanna smack him one.

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