Page 46 of Second Chance Baby

Nothing had ever felt better than holding his hand with our daughter putting on a concert in the backseat.

Nothing.

It took about another twenty minutes to reach the Spirit store in the early rush hour traffic, but I would’ve been just fine if we’d kept driving forever. I didn’t want him to ever let me go again.

So much for managing my expectations around what had happened yesterday. Clearly, my expectations were a gateway drug to wishing for a fairy tale ending.

Even if it was crazy, I was too committed to the hazy happiness surrounding me that I wasn’t even going to try to tell myself not to get carried away.

Iwantedto get carried away. I wanted that fucking fairy tale.

What good had it ever done playing it safe or holding back my feelings?

None, that was what.

Travis swerved into the parking lot of the Spirit store and let out a low curse. “Guess we are behind, huh, Care Bear? This place is frigging packed.”

“Jeez, imagine that.”

Her sarcastic reply made me laugh into my fist, and Travis’s narrow-eyed reaction just made me laugh harder.

“You two are both the same. Full of criticism.”

He couldn’t have complemented me more, which he must’ve realized because he broke into another huge grin.

“It’s not criticism,” I said primly. “It’s just a simple fact of life. Once you get to October, the best Halloween decorations have frequently been picked over. EvenIknow that, and we only had a small trailer to buy decorations for, not a big house like your parents’ place.”

“That was probably the last time I bought decorations other than a Christmas tree and a wreath. I’m good with those.”

My head whipped toward his. “You guys don’t decorate for Halloween normally? You used to always love spooky season. And you’d start trying to scare me as soon as it hit September, forget October.”

“What’s up with that, huh, Daddy?” Carrington crossed her arms. “That sucks. For me, I mean. Not you, Mom.”

“Your dad is super busy. Have you seen all the big jobs he’s had lately?” I asked, knowing all too well how much he’d been doing in recent months.

“Me? What about you?Youwere in a freaking movie.”

My cheeks were hot, so I knew my face had to be bright red. But it was a good kind of embarrassment. “It was a foreign film with subtitles. Not like some big box office smash. I just happen to be fluent in French, so I happened to be who they needed at that time.”

Carrington leaned forward between the front seats. “Dude, like a real movie? No way.”

I had to laugh. “It was a small one, but yeah, technically it was a movie. Not some blockbuster like Steven Spielberg would do, and there was no action.”

“Then what was it about?”

A loving relationship, so…sex.

Sex action. No guns or clingy body suits, just actual body parts. My own, even, since I hadn’t wanted to use a body double.

God knows I wouldn’t be doing such an explicit film ever again.

I cleared my throat. “Honestly, we sat around in little coffee shops a lot and talked about family stuff. And we read poetry. And argued now and then.”

Usually about wanting to have more sex.

But I wisely kept that part to myself.

“Can we watch it, Dad?”

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