Page 23 of In All My Dreams

She bites her lip. “I thought I was, but I think maybe it was just a bad dream like the other night,” she replies, watching the brush weave in and out her hair as I go.

“What did you dream about the night before?” I start braiding one side of her hair, pulling a purple hair tie out of the drawer before I finish.

“I don’t remember. I was scared, so I looked out of the door, and I saw the other open door. I went in and saw you asleep. Ian was awake on the couch and playing on his phone. He told me to keep quiet as we snuck out and let you sleep,” she tells me. “Then Ian made blueberry pancakes for Horton and asked me a bunch of questions.” She’s tugging on the hem of her purple dress, twisting it around her fingers over and over again.

I chew on my lip, contemplating what to ask next. “What kind of questions did he ask you?”

She shrugs, looking up at me through the mirror's reflection as I braid the other side. “Just silly questions. Like how old I was. If I knew my dad.” She shrugs, looking down at her hands again. “And he asked if you had a boyfriend.” She giggles at the last one.

I laugh with her as I wrap the hair tie around the second braid. “And what did you tell him?” I cock an eyebrow at her with a smile. She doesn’t need to know that my heart is racing over the enormity of hisinnocentquestions.

“I told him my birthday was October 2, 2019, and that my dad was a soldier who died protecting his friends. And then I told him you’ve never had a boyfriend before,” she tells me, looking at her braids in the mirror with a smile. “My hair is perfect. Thank you, Mommy. Now I’m really hungry, so we should go see what Ian made for breakfast!” She jumps off the stool, slamming the bedroom door behind her.

I need to talk to Ian. I’m not sure he’s ever going to forgive me for not telling him about Auden, but it’s clear that he suspects the truth about her.

I shouldn’t have come back here.

Mrs. Foster made it sound like my father was on his deathbed, which is why I dropped our whole life to come here. From what I’ve seen, he’s recovering slowly, but he’s recovering.

So why did she insist I come back?

12

Georgia

Now

Auden is sitting on one of the barstools in the kitchen, eating a plate of french toast and strawberries, when I finally make my way downstairs. Ian and Mrs. Foster are nowhere to be found. But there is an extra covered plate next to Auden.

“Where’d everyone go?” I ask her, setting my mom’s diary down on the countertop before pulling an empty stool out and taking a seat next to her.

She slides the extra plate over to me, taking another huge bite of her french toast. “Ian said Papa needed help. I don’t know where the other lady went,” she says with her mouth full.

I tsk under my breath. “Auden, her name is Mrs. Foster, not ‘the other lady,’” I correct before taking a bite of my own breakfast. “Also, it’s rude to talk with your mouth full,” I mumble through my own full mouth of food, looking sideways at her with a smile.

“Bit of a pot-kettle situation we have here,” Ian muses, greeting me with a smile and a wink for Auden. His dark hair is damp after his morning shower. His white button-up shirt fits snugly against his chest, and he has the sleeves rolled so his forearms are on full display. Dark jeans sit low on his hips as I marvel at him. “That whole ‘like mother, like daughter’ thing makes total sense now,” he jokes, grabbing one of the empty stools and dragging it behind him to the other side of the bar.

I can’t take my eyes off of him as he reaches over, grabbing the fork I must have abandoned on my plate sometime between him walking through the door and me checking out his perfectly sculpted ass when he grabbed the stool. He spears a piece of my toast, making sure to get a strawberry as well, before bringing my fork to his mouth.

Auden giggles loudly when he makes a loud noise of approval from across the two of us. “Hey, that’s supposed to be my mom’s, remember? You also forgot to get her coffee.” Her sass has no bounds, but Ian seems to enjoy it because he laughs loudly. One of those big belly laughs that make your sides hurt.

He’s still laughing when he stands to pour us both a cup of coffee, making sure to add the coconut creamer into both mugs before sliding my cup across the counter to me.

“Thank you,” Auden says politely to Ian. “Mama is kind of cranky without her morning coffee.”

Ian laughs into his cup. “Don’t I know it,” he jokes, blowing into his cup before risking a sip. His face contorts in disgust as he spits the coffee back into the mug. “Yeah, that’s a big no. G, don’t drink that. I think the creamer’s gone bad or something.” He reaches over and takes my cup from the countertop, dumping both of them in the sink.

“I actually meant to clean the pot out yesterday, but the night got away from me...” My words fail me as I look over at Ian. I bring a hand to my face, touching my lips gently, remembering the feeling of his mouth on mine last night.

Then I remember the way I yelled at him, then hours later fell asleep in the safety of his arms.

“Mommy, I’m all done.” Auden’s voice punctures the awkward silence that I cast into the kitchen. “Can I go play with your old dolls until we are ready to go to the lake?”

“Of course, sweetie. I’ll come get you when it’s time.”

Ian and I both watch her skip out of the kitchen, listening to her steps stomping loudly on the stairs.

He’s leaning against the countertop next to me, his hands crossed over his chest as he watches me clean the few dishes in the sink.

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