Page 42 of In All My Dreams

“Hiya, Bug.” His gruff voice sounds pleasantly surprised.

“Hi, Dad. Guess what I’m eating right now?” I ask, my mouth full of churro like the heathen I am.

“Well, I can hear the telltale signs of the fair, so if it’s not a churro, you’re grounded for life.” His laugh is loud over the phone, making me smile while wanting to cry at the same time.

This is the dad I’ve missed the most over the last two decades. The one that makes silly jokes and big belly laughs because the joy he feels can’t be contained. I don’t know what changed, but something flipped a switch in my father, and I hope nobody ever flips the switch back. This is the grandfather that Auden has already fallen in love with, and the father that might convince me to stay at Crane.

Ian isn’t the only reason to stay anymore.

“You still chewing, or did you hang up because you’ve realized you're grounded?”

I laugh loudly into the phone. “No, I’m still here. And yes, it’s a churro, and it’s as delicious as I remember it being when you brought me here for the first time.”

“That was a good day. You and your mother both wore matching neon-orange T-shirts so I wouldn’t lose you,” he muses, clearly fond of this memory.

“I don’t remember the orange shirts, but I remember the Ferris wheel with her. It was magical. Ian and I are actuallyabout to take Auden on the Ferris wheel. I just wanted to call you and see how you’re feeling today,” I say while looking for Ian and Auden. I don’t see them in the line.

“I’m feeling much better. I’d be a hell of a lot better if you talked that boy of yours into convincing these angry doctors to feed me a bacon cheeseburger.”

I sigh loudly into the speaker. “Dad, he’s not my boy. I don’t know what he is.”

“I take it you haven’t told him about Auden, then? Because, Georgia, you know the moment you do, it’ll change everything.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” I whisper. “It could change everything for the better, or it could ruin Auden’s future if he wants nothing to do with us after I spill the beans.”

Dad’s gruff laugh rings loudly through the phone. “That boy ain’t going anywhere without you girls.”

I smile to myself, praying that what my father is saying ends up being true.

“Mommy!” I hear Auden’s voice screaming from above me, and when I look up, I see her and Ian sitting together on the Ferris wheel as it slowly starts going up. They are both waving and smiling huge smiles at me.

“Dad, I gotta go. Auden and Ian are on the ride, and I want to take a photo of them. I’ll send it to you.”

“You three have fun. I love you, Bug. Talk to you later. Thanks for checking up on me.”

“Love you, Dad. I’ll come see you tomorrow,” I promise him before hanging up.

I turn the camera app on and point it toward Auden and Ian, taking several snapshots before turning it to video mode and hitting record.

I don’t want to miss this moment of them together, and I know it’ll be one Auden will cherish forever.

Once their turn on the ride is up, Auden comes running toward me, her pigtails hopping up and down with each bound.

“Mama! That was the coolest ride ever! Ian pointed out all the buildings, and once we got to the tippy-top, he showed me where home was! I could see it all the way from over here! It was so awesome,” Auden tells me in a rush, barely taking a breath.

Home, she called it.

Maybe Crane Manor could be our home.

“Sorry we didn’t wait for you. This girl of yours lacks patience, much like someone else I know,” Ian teases with a sly smirk. “Did you eat a churro without me?”

“I might have. Why?”

Ian laughs and licks his thumb before bringing it to my face. “You have some sugar right here,” he says, wiping it away gently.

It causes every butterfly in my stomach to take flight while my skin feels like it’s on fire where he touched me.

“I, uh—thanks. I got these for you two,” I say nervously as I hand over the pink and blue cotton candy. Auden digs into the pink bag immediately. “The pink is obviously for Auden. But the blue is for you. Naturally.”

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