Page 5 of Chase Our Forever

Clara nods as she clings to Pippa. “I besobored, Daddy.”

I fight a laugh at the sassy tone of her voice. She absolutely got that from her mother, and I’m already terrified of how it’ll manifest in her teenage years.

“Clara, honey, Pippa and Lexi have to work. We’ll get treats, and you’ll come with me, remember?” I try to raise my voice an octave to convince her that coming to these meetings with me would be fun when, in reality, I know they’ll be anything but.Idon’t even want to go to them, but as we’re trying to expand the Livingston brand, these meetings are, unfortunately, important.

Pippa carefully sets Clara down. My daughter eagerly runs across the space again and skips right to the booth closest to us—the one with the stranger Lexi introduced us to.

“Are you working?” Clara asks the woman—I’m ashamed I’ve forgotten her name, even though Lexi just said it. I was too caught up in making sure my tornado of a daughter didn’t wreak havoc moments after stepping into Wake and Bake.

The woman in the booth sits up straight, pieces of her blonde hair falling into her face. “Ummm…” she mutters, her eyes wide underneath the brim of her baseball hat as she looks over at Lexi. “No?” The word comes out more as a question instead of an answer.

This makes my daughter smile. Clara climbs into the booth, clearly not having any sort of stranger danger. It’s something we’ll have to talk about later, but I don’t blame her. I know nothing about the woman in the booth, but her timid smile convinces me that, at least for the moment, I don’t need to be concerned about my daughter crawling into the booth across from her.

“I sit here, Daddy,” Clara announces, folding her chubby little hands in her lap and giving me a smile that tugs right at my heart. However, the way she says Daddy instead of Dada also breaks my heart a little. It’s a sad sign she’s growing up.

I tuck my hands into my pockets as I let out a deep breath. My phone vibrates again, but yet again, I ignore it, knowing I need to get things settled with Clara first.

“Clara, honey…” I begin, trying to keep my tone soft. My eyes wander over the table and the woman sitting at it. “You can’t just sit here. She’s busy.”

Clara juts her lip out. She adjusts her position until she’s on her knees before reaching up to put her elbows on the table and leaning over it. “You busy?” she asks, her focus solely on the woman at the table. I wonder what it is about the stranger that draws Clara to her, but she clearly is set on spending time with her. Maybe it’s her calm demeanor or the soft smile that seems to stay on her face.

The woman’s eyes go wide as she looks to Lexi for help.

Lexi smiles, clearly finding Clara’s antics adorable. “Liv might want to read her book alone, Clara. You can come hang out with me, though.”

I sigh, trying to be patient with my daughter but needing to leave to make it to the meeting on time. “Clara, she was enjoying reading her book. Why don’t you go pick out a treat before we leave?”

Clara shakes her head, apparently not wanting to listen to Lexi either. “I love books.”

The woman—Liv—laughs, the sound so soft I almost miss it. “I don’t know if you’d likethisbook.”

“Ilovebooks,” Clara repeats. She’s not lying. Bedtime drags on every night because of the number of books she wants to read. I could cut her off after two, but I’m a softie when it comes to my daughter, and I can’t tell her no when she begs for just one more. Even when thatonemore turns intothreemore.

I take a step forward, holding my hand out for my daughter to take. I make eye contact with Liv and try to relax the muscles of my face a little in what I hope is a look of apology. “I’m sorry.” I then focus on Clara. “Time to go pick out our treats.”

Clara doesn’t budge. If anything, she leans even further onto the table, practically climbing on top of it to get closer to Liv. “I stay right here, Daddy. I want banana bread today.”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger. Before I can say anything, Liv speaks up.

“She can sit here if she wants. I promise not to read her any of the book.” She laughs again, and for some reason, the laugh eases the tension in my body ever so slightly. I have no idea who this woman is, or anything about her, but Clara instantly being drawn to her helps ease my mind.

“You’re trying to relax,” I tell the woman before turning to my daughter. “How about I let you stay here with Pippa and Lexi if you just promise to let Liv enjoy her peace and quiet?”

“Technically, I was already interrupting her quiet,” Lexi pipes up, giving a casual shrug.

“I’m not much a fan of the quiet anyway,” Liv offers, leaning forward to smile at Clara. She takes her attention from my daughter and directs it to me.

Her big blue eyes crinkle at the edges with her smile. Next to her smile are two of the deepest dimples I’ve ever seen, and it’s hard to miss how beautiful she is. Maybe it’s because that smile doesn’t leave her face. She’s still smiling as she looks from me to Clara. “As long as your dad is okay with it, I don’t mind if you keep me company.”

“We’ll be here the entire time, too, Dean,” Pippa interjects, walking up to the table and smiling at Liv. “I’m Pippa, by the way. Owner here at Wake and Bake.”

Liv stretches her hand out. “Liv. It’s so nice to meet you. If I lived here, I think I’d have to have one of those pumpkin cinnamon rolls every morning.”

I anxiously rub my hand over my mouth, trying to figure out if I’m going to continue to attempt to persuade my daughter to leave this booth or if I’m just going to give in. If both Pippa andLexi are going to be here, too, maybe I can try not to stress about leaving her in the company of a stranger.

I’m so deep in thought, wondering if this is a good idea or not, that I miss some of the conversation happening around me. I tune back in to hear Lexi talking.

“Well, maybe if you feel like it, you can pause here in Sutten for a bit before you keep traveling.”

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