Page 53 of Second Chance Baby

Us not dwelling on the past was probably wise, but we couldn’t simply sweep it under the rug. It would be too easy to fall into old patterns if we didn’t discuss all of what had happened before. We’d definitely made a good start though during movie night, but good intentions weren’t enough to build a solid future on.

I would do everything in my power to keep my family this time.

“Oh, hey, those are great. Did you see they have faces in them too?”

Travis ripped open one of the cobweb packages and dragged out the spiderweb, stretching it over the cart so I could see what he was referring to. Vampires, witches, werewolves, and other creatures were outlined in the gauzy material, making Carringtonoohandahh.

Care’s huge eyes sparkled with excitement. “Oh, now I know what I didn’t get! We need one for our scene if we’re going to beat the Gideons. We just gotta have one, and I saw the perfect one. Wait here.”

Before either of us could say a word, she darted out of the line and disappeared.

The line that was actually moving pretty swiftly.

“How are we supposed to wait here if she’s grabbing something else she’ll want to check out?” Travis rubbed the back of his neck. “We can’t hold up the line.”

“No, we can’t. Let’s go over here,” I suggested, gesturing to a long bench at the front of the store near the snack bar. The snack bar was super fun with Halloween-themed snacks I’d never seen before. Purple popcorn with candy shaped like eyeballs and every kind of creepy crawly known to man. Not to mention a punch bowl filled with some kind of smoky green beverage thatkids were buying and consuming in huge quantities. Then the usual assortment of candy and caramel apples.

“I used to love that caramel shit,” Travis said wistfully. “Wonder if Carrington likes them too?”

“You’ve never gotten her one?”

“Nope, somehow, I haven’t. Then again, I never have gotten you one, either.”

I smiled. “I can buy my own caramel apples.”

“I’m sure, but if I buy you one, then I can take a bite of yours and see how caramel tastes on your lips.”

Before I could say a word, he’d jumped up to get in line at the snack bar, returning with both a giant tub of purple popcorn and three caramel apples covered with nuts. That he managed to carry all of his loot back to the bench without dropping any was a feat as far as I was concerned.

He sat down on the bench and began dispensing our snacks though Carrington still hadn’t reappeared yet.

“Where do you think she went?” I asked, unable to keep the worry from my tone. “I mean, the store is pretty big, but she should be back by now, right?”

“She’ll be back soon. I was about to say, don’t worry, but I have to admit, I love seeing you like this about her. As if you’re just like any other fretting mom.”

“I am just like any other fretting mom.” I chewed on my ragged pinky nail for a minute before sitting on it to keep from playing with it some more. “And I may get to do it again soon, if what I’m hoping for happens.”

I wasn’t thinking about what I was saying, just distractedly talking off the top of my head. As if we were any other normal couple sharing concerns instead of the opposite.

A previously tight couple trying our hardest to find our way back to each other.

I hadn’t missed the occasional probing looks some other customers had aimed our way. Maybe due to our sexploits at the shoot or perhaps some people knew our history and were just expecting us to have a knock-down drag-out episode near the witches stirring their cauldrons.

Not that we’d ever argued in public. But people knew we’d clearly split up long ago. Gossip definitely had its place around here. So, who knew for sure what they speculated in private?

Speaking of witches with cauldrons, Carrington was on her way over to us, struggling mightily under the witch stirring hers. She could barely carry her, which her father would’ve realized quickly and hurried over to help her if he hadn’t been staring at me, slack-jawed.

“You think it’s possible already?” His voice was awed.

Not scared. Not anxious. Just eager.

Not that he hadn’t indicated he was fine with it in the abstract.

I gave a jerky shrug. “Who knows? Maybe. Hey there, Care. You need some help with that?” I hurried over to her to take the blow-up witch figure out of her arms.

“Nope, not even,” Travis said easily. “You carry the snacks, Care.”

Before I knew what had happened, Travis had offloaded his snacks to Carrington and plucked the witch out of my arms, turning to hoist it into our already overflowing cart. Somehow, he made it fit without crushing all the other stuff and then he wheeled it back around to rejoin the line we’d left.

---