Page 24 of Beneficial Misfortune

It doesn't matter, but the second Vincent closes the door, I feel like I might as well be on his lap. I need to get myself under control. He wants me to nanny for Addison, and I’m pretty sure I’m going to say yes, not to mention my promise to Addison. But if I’m going to be around him more often, I can’t react like this every time. Hopefully, it will get easier the more I’m around him, but as I steal a glance at him, I kind of doubt it.

“Vincent, it appears we have more to celebrate than just Addison’s last day of her summer program. It’s also Kat’s birthday today, so I’m thinking we will need to make a special trip.”

“Oh, no, that’s not—”

“Yay!” Addison cries, cutting off my protest. She scrambles around me to fall into the seat between me and Nathaniel, bouncing around excitedly. “They have the best ice cream ever, Ms. Kat. You're going to love it!”

Well.

“It’s a little bit of a longer drive, but nothing too crazy. No worries,” Nathaniel tries to reassure me, and I chew my lip tostop myself from saying anything. I don’t think he’s going to listen anyway, and Addison is so happy.

With a sigh, I let it go and just try to enjoy it.

“Happy birthday, Kat,” Vincent says as he pulls out into traffic, and I whisper a quiet thank you.

Addison fills the silence for most of the drive. She tells me all about her favorite flavors, and I quickly learn that she just loves ice cream in general. Not that I can disagree; I love most ice cream as well.

Nathaniel is quiet, simply listening with a smile on his face as Addison waves her arms around and bounces in her seat. She tells me about her last birthday party, where they had twelve different flavors of ice cream.

The car comes to a stop, and I realize we’re already here. Not surprisingly, I’ve never been here before, but I rarely venture around the city.

“Should I wait or drive around?” Vincent asks, and Nathaniel pauses for a moment, considering.

“Can we go to the park with our ice cream, Daddy? Please?” Addison begs him, folding her little hands together and everything. Oh my, how anyone can say no to that is a mystery to me.

Nathaniel looks up, meeting my gaze over Addison’s head. “What do you say, Kat?”

“Oh, um,” I stutter, caught off guard. Why the hell do I get a say in this? Addison takes my lack of reply as a chance to turn her pleading eyes to me. “The park sounds nice,” I say, once again crumbling under the weight of her begging.

“Thank you!” she cries happily before throwing herself at me.

“Wait here. We’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Vincent nods in understanding.

Nathaniel opens the door and climbs out, and Addison quickly follows behind him, a huge smile on her face. I follow themacross the sidewalk and into the shop, feeling like I don’t belong, but it’s too late now. I’ve already agreed.

The man behind the counter turns at the sound of the bell on the door, and a smile curves his lips. “Ah, Monsieur Lawson, andla petite princesse.”

“Remy,” Nathaniel greets him with a nod. Addison ignores his words, instead running to the counter, pressing her face to the glass, and admiring the ice cream with wide eyes.

“It has been a while, my friend. What are we celebrating today?” Remy asks Nathaniel as he makes his way over to Addison.

The store isn’t very busy. Only a handful of other people are here, with a young woman running the register. She looks up and sees Nathaniel before her cheeks turn pink, and she quickly looks away.

“I finished kindergarten!” Addison exclaims, jumping up and down in excitement before quickly turning back to look at me as if she’d just remembered I was here. She abandons her place at the glass to run over to me, grabbing my hand and yanking me back with her.

“And it’s Ms. Kat’s birthday!”

Remy looks up at me at her words, and his already large smile grows. “A birthday and a celebration. Ice cream is the perfect choice,” he says with a chuckle.

Oh, wow.

From my spot in front of the ice cream freezer, I look up to find the menus hanging overhead, and suddenly, Addison’s love for this place makes a lot more sense.

Not only do they have ice cream but also crepes, waffles, hot chocolate, coffee drinks, and macarons, and according to the sign, they scoop their ice cream to look like flowers!

“Judging by the look on your face, I’m going to assume you’ve never been here,” Nathaniel says, stepping closer to us.

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