Page 104 of Wilder

“Would you like water to drink? Or we have soda—diet and regular—milk, or apple and orange juice.”

“Water is just fine,” Lexi said. “Thank you.”

As the microwave whirled, Blake said a prayer for the food. He’d just finished when it beeped. While the kids lined up to get their pizza, Charli went to the microwave and pulled Lexi’s food out.

“Do you want a plate for this?”

“Nope. I usually just eat out of the container. No sense in dirtying more dishes.”

“A woman after my own heart,” Charli said with a smile. “Which is precisely why we’re using paper plates for pizza.”

Wilder went into the dining room with Lexi, letting her choose a seat, then he set his can of soda at the seat beside her to claim it as his. The girls hurried to take the seat on the other side of Lexi, and Amelia pouted when Layla beat her to it.

But instead of saying anything, Amelia just circled around them and took the seat beside the one Wilder had planned to sit on.

“Here, Berry,” Wilder said, offering his chair. “You can sit here.”

She smiled up at him again. “Thank you.”

Though he might have liked to sit closer to Lexi so they could talk, he was fine sacrificing a little of the evening for the girls. Once they were done eating, they’d probably head downstairs with Peyton to watch a movie or play video games. For sure Layla would go, Amelia might stick around.

Wilder went to the kitchen to grab some pizza, and by the time he made it back to the dining room, most of the chairs weretaken. He smiled when Amelia waved her hand at her dad when he went to sit beside her.

“Uncle Wilder is sitting there.”

Blake’s brows rose. “He is?”

“Yep. He let us swap seats, so that’s his.”

“Is this one okay?” Blake asked, pointing to the one on the other side of Wilder’s seat.

“Yep. That one’s yours.”

“Thanks, Berry.”

“You’re welcome, Daddy.”

The exchange was so cute, and Wilder couldn’t help but smile as he took the seat between them. He glanced up as Charli walked in, Shiloh on her hip. She circled the table to give the baby to Blake.

“I’ll be right back,” she said.

Wilder sensed a sudden tension in his sister, but he had no idea why. What had happened in the last few minutes?

When she returned, she had Shiloh’s high chair and a bowl of food, which she set on the table. Blake settled the baby in the seat while Charli disappeared again. Wilder glanced over to see Blake’s gaze tracking his wife.

“Everything okay?” Wilder asked Blake, keeping his voice low.

Blake frowned as he put a few pieces of mushy carrot on the tray in front of Shiloh. At almost seven months, she was now eating people food and was practicing feeding herself.

“I don’t… know. Everything was fine a few minutes ago.”

Wilder knew Charli could be mercurial with her moods sometimes. He was as puzzled as Blake was. He hoped for Blake’s sake that the guy hadn’t upset her in some way and just hadn’t figured out yet what he’d done. That was never fun with Charli.

Eventually, Charli returned with a plate and settled into the seat on the other side of Blake with the highchair between them. She was quieter than usual, but Wilder didn’t stay focused on her. She’d snap out of whatever was bothering her soon enough.

Lexi was talking with Rori, which Wilder found interesting. From what he’d come to know of Rori, and what Lee had shared about her, the two women couldn’t be more different. However, it appeared that Rori was either a figure skating fan, or she’d brushed up on Lexi’s career because they were talking about skating.

He wasn’t sure if Lexi enjoyed talking about her previous skating career. Perhaps if she wasn’t attempting to revive her career, she might not want to revisit it. However, she seemed fine talking about past skating programs and her experiences as a high-performance athlete.

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