Page 29 of Driven Daddy

Colette lifted her glass for a sip. She closed her golden eyes with a sigh. “I can’t tell you how much I needed this wine today.”Oh, hey, would you mind if we did a little photo to tease you being added to my signing?”

“I don’t know…”

“Gotta pull the bandage off, right?”

Quickly, I fussed with my hair. I really hated getting my picture taken, but maybe a candid one wouldn’t be too hard to deal with. I hoped.

Colette held her phone up in selfie mode. “Super casual. Don’t worry about anything.”

“Easy for you to say, since you’re stunning.”

“Okay, girl next door with your big green eyes. Whatever.”

“Girl next door? You think?” If people knew what my next-door neighbors had consisted of.

I didn’t think Romancelandia was ready for my past just quite yet.

“Definitely. With those freckles that just won’t be covered.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Unless I want super coverage makeup, they are here to stay.”

“No way. You’ll look young forever. Now lean in and smile.” She lifted the phone and said, “Duck.”

I was so surprised that I laughed just as she took the shot.

She flashed it to me. “Look at us. We’re adorable.”

“Duck?”

She laughed. “Ducks are kinda a thing here in the Cove. And it made you laugh.”

“It did.” I peered over at the photo. “Can you send that to me?”

“Yeah. Now I’ll get your number, and we can text. I’m an epic texter.”

I pulled out my phone and frowned that I had crap bars. I’d forgotten to do the cell tower reset thing. “Do you have a place for new phones? Mine is ancient.”

She laughed. “It sure is. We don’t really have big corporate stores in town but if you go to nearby… you know what? Why don’t I take you tomorrow?”

“Would you?” Surprised at the offer, I got a lump in my throat.

“Sure. I need to get some things at Target.”

“Oh, I do too.” I was not going to get emotional about a simple shopping trip.Ugh. Relax, weirdo.

“Well, then, I guess we’re going shopping too.” She texted me the photo and my phone sat like a stone. “Wow. Really no signal, huh?”

“I guess the signal isn’t great at the lake.”

“Not unless you have AT&T.”

“You’re the second person to tell me that. I guess that’s where we’re going.”

“All good. We can go early if you want. Wednesdays are slow at the shop so I can get AJ to cover for me. She covers most of the yarn world upstairs, but she helps me out downstairs too.”

“If you’re sure?”

“Definitely. Shopping is my favorite thing to do.” She glanced at my sweater. “I see you changed into something cute. Looks like Ember’s kind of clothes.”

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