Page 122 of Summer with the Single Dad

He already had his spray adhesive, double-sided tape, and two blades in the bathroom. Now he needed to carry in the vinyl. “Cam, you want to give me a hand?”

Cam nodded and set down his screwdriver just as Justine wandered into the cabin. “It’s like night and day,” she said, her eyes wide with marvel as she took in the hard-core restorations.

Jagger came out of the bedroom. “Well, we need to go hard now that Her Royal Highness, Princess Ashli, and the Grand Duke of Douchebagenshire have upped the wedding date to next weekend.”

Bennett’s heart momentarily stopped, and he held his breath.

Justine’s mouth dropped open.

Jagger gasped. “Oh shit.” He turned to Bennett. “You didn’t tell her?”

“I was going to. In a much gentler way,” Bennett grumbled.

“Crap,” Jagger murmured before disappearing back into the bedroom. “Sorry.”

“N-next weekend?” Justine stammered.

Bennett sighed and went to her. “I’m sorry. I got the email this morning and I sent it to my brothers. We think we can pull it off. So now we’re working like fiends to get this place ready for Friday since they want to stay here the night before, the night of, and three nights after that.”

“Ugh. Am I going to have to be in hiding for five days?”

That was the plan all along.

But he didn’t feel like now was the right time to remind her of that. He was in soften-the-blow mode. Only the blow had been delivered by his dumb brother, not by Bennett with his mouth on Justine’s clit as he’d planned.

Stupid Jagger and his big mouth.

“We’ll figure it out,” he said, rubbing her back. “And you absolutely do not need to hide from them.”

“I know,” she groaned. “It’s not that I’m afraid of them. It’s that I just don’t want to be reminded of them. I’m in a good place right now. I’m happy and I don’t feel guilty about that.” She met his gaze. “I don’t want them to harsh my buzz, you know?”

He snorted. “Harsh your buzz?”

“Isn’t that what the kids are saying these days?”

“What kids?”

“The kids?” She was smiling again and that was what mattered the most.

“Well, as the serious business owner of the bunch whose primary focus is customer service first and foremost, I will make it my sole mission that nobody “harshes your buzz.” That is my solemn vow.”

Her lips twitched, attempting another smile. He moved in for a kiss.

When he pulled away, her cheeks were flushed, muting the freckles, and her eyes were full of stars.

“What are you up to for the day?”

She shrugged. “No plans. I was actually thinking I might join Clint, Brooke, and the kids at Humpback Beach. Pick up some pastries from the bakery and surprise them.”

“They would love that. Aya was very envious of your date yesterday with Emme.”

“Emme needed it though,” she said. “I owed her because I bailed Friday. I see a lot of myself in her. The people-pleasing, the unwillingness to take risks or make the wrong decision.”

His chest ached for his daughter and how she might be struggling. He hadn’t seen any of those things in Emme until he heard her speaking to Justine about how she feels like Bennett and his brothers pile too much responsibility on her. And to hear Justine say that Emme was a people-pleaser and afraid of making the wrong choice, now he could see it all so clearly. She’d always been his easy child. Aya was the feral one who gave very few fucks about anything—a blessing and a curse. But Emme was always so agreeable. She was an easier baby, an easier toddler, and an easier child.

But was she really? Or was she just doing it to please him?

Had he parentified her? Was she growing up faster than she needed to because he treated her more like a nanny and maid than a child?

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