Page 92 of After the Vows

“This is going to be fun.”

I don’t know what he means, but it will be fun. I get to spend the entire day with my two favorite people at one of my favorite places on earth.

What could possibly go wrong?

Chapter 30

Revelation – not necessarily a surprise if you suspected it all along

Lucas

“Piper says we need to do the bumper cars, too,” Natalia says as I park atMermaid Mystical Gardens.

She hasn’t stopped talking since we started driving. Granted, the drive isn’t long but still. My daughter is a chatterbox.

“The bumper cars are calledBubble Bash,” Chloe explains as we walk toward the entrance. “The cars are designed to resemble submarines and the floor looks like the ocean.”

“Cool! More ocean stuff. I like the mermaid stuff the best.”

“Me, too.”

We reach the booth to pay and Chloe tries to elbow me out of the way. “I should pay. It was my idea.”

“But Natalia is my daughter and you’re my wife. I’m paying.”

“Let him pay!”

I glance behind Chloe to wave at the mayor. “Hi, Lana.”

“Hi, tall drink of water.”

“He’s not water,” Natalia says. “He’s my dad.”

Chloe giggles. “It’s a compliment. It means your dad is handsome.”

“According to the counselors at summer camp, my dad is the most handsome of the dads.”

“They’re right,” Chloe whispers.

“What did you say?” Lana asks. “I didn’t hear you.”

I shove a ticket into Chloe’s hands. “This is yours.”

She scowls. It’s adorable. “I wanted to pay.”

“Too bad, wildcat.”

“Can you at least lie and say I can pay next time?”

“Nope.” I grasp my daughter’s hand and lead her toward the turnstiles.

“It’s common courtesy to lie,” Chloe grumbles.

She’s cute. “You have a strange definition of courtesy.”

“Whatever,” she mumbles and scans her ticket before pushing through the turnstile.

“All right, cupcake,” I say once we’re inside the park. “Where to first?”

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