Page 29 of Summer with a Single Dad

“Do you like her?”

“I liked her before I even met her. Talking to you the last couple of times on the phone, I’ve heard how much you do, too. And did you see her with Hudson? My God. My heart melted.”

“Me too,” I said.

“I say, you keep doing what you’re doing. Don’t put pressure on yourself. Or her. Just let things progress and see what happens.”

I snatched her to me and hugged her tightly. “God, I’ve missed you. I swear the hardest part about being here is not being close to you or Mom and Dad.”

“We might be in different places, but we’re always here for you.” She pushed me with her hip and said, “Now let’s go see this new house of yours.”

“You don’t have to leave now, do you?” Mom asked Emily after we did a tour of the house.

“I have to go to Bark Park for my class.”

“Saturdays, she does a group class. I’ve been taking Luke every weekend.”

“Well, let’s make it a family event,” Dad said.

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Emily said. “You just got here. You should stay and relax.”

“We were in the car for over seven hours. We relaxed enough,” Sav said.

“Maybe she prefers not to have an audience,” Mom said.

“Oh, no. It’s not that. You’re more than welcome to come,” Emily said. “It’s a public park, and I typically have between eight and fifteen dogs.”

“Can we go, Dad?” Hudson asked, his eyes big, bright, and full of interest.

I looked at Emily, trying to gauge her stance before I put my foot down. I was sure her response, “The more the merrier,” had more to do with Hudson than with us adults.

Chapter Thirteen

Emily

“I finally get you to myself,” Cassie said as she lifted the lid to the pizza we ordered.

“Thanks for letting me come over on such short notice.”

“Em, you could come over unannounced, and I wouldn’t care.” We popped fried mozzarella balls into our mouths simultaneously and groaned together.

“So good,” I said around my bite.

“Themozzor all the sex you’ve been having?”

“Both.”

“So why the emergency get-together? Don’t tell me there’s trouble in paradise already.”

“There’s no trouble. And that’s the problem.”

She rolled her eyes. “You’re having trouble with the fact that there is no trouble? My God, woman. You are drama.”

“I am not!” I popped another ball into my mouth. “There is one thing though.”

“Athing, thing? Like with his equipment?”

“No!” I smacked her leg. “And you call me drama?”

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