Page 84 of Broken Dreams
“Sure she does,” Asher laughs. “Rowan is right, though. She’s tough.”
Rowan raises his hand like we’re in grade school. “I’d just like to point out that it’s twice now I’ve been right, and you assholes keep acting like I’m incompetent.”
“You are,” I cut him off, then say, “So, win over Sydney Arrowood and the town will stop glaring at me?”
Asher pops a fry in his mouth. “It’ll get you closer than you are now.”
* * *
“You’re sure about this?” Addison asks as we’re waiting for Sydney and Declan to arrive for dinner at Addy’s.
“Absolutely.”
After my talk with my brothers, I thought about the best way to do this. I thought about making up some bogus legal thing, but then I figured she’d see right through it. So, in the morning, when Addy and I were dropping the kids off, I asked if she thought we should do dinner with the kids.
She thought it couldn’t hurt and might go a long way once we parted to have Sydney and Declan on our side.
Two days later, here we are. Jett pulls on my arm. “Daddy, we go horses?”
“No horses, buddy.”
Elodie twists her body side to side. “Mommy said no pony.”
I squat down in front of her, taking both her hands in mine. “Want to come ride the pony at my house?”
She nods, her big blue eyes getting even wider. “Please! Now! We go ride the pony?”
“Tomorrow, you come over and I’ll take you.”
Elodie rushes to Addison, her smile so wide it looks like it could break her cheeks. “I get to ride the pony, Mommy!”
“What do you say to Mr. Grady?”
“Tank you!”
She runs over, her arms wrapping around my neck, and I squeeze her tight. “Of course, sweet girl.”
The two kids run out back to the play area, which I can only imagine the damage they’ve done. Those two are like hurricanes when it comes to that room.
I walk over to Addy and pull her close. “I love that they get along.”
She grins at me. “Me too. She really adores him—and you.”
“Feeling is mutual from both of us.”
Jett loves Elodie. He tells everyone that she’s his best friend. It really is great to see him so happy when he’s around her. He also loves Addison. She bakes him cookies and always gives him big hugs.
When the sounds of their laughter fill the room, Addison’s blue eyes get misty and she stares at me. “When this ends, when we walk away from this arrangement, I don’t want the kids to suffer. Promise me, Grady. Promise that Elodie and Jett won’t suffer another loss.”
I’m stunned for a moment. I never would allow the kids to be hurt by this. “Addison, we’re still going to be friends. I don’t plan to lose you or Elodie when our arrangement ends. Look, I know this is our way to get what we want, but I hope that you know I would never let the kids be affected by this. They’re friends, hell, we’re friends and that isn’t going to change.”
She steps back, her hand resting on her chest. “Good.”
I can tell that is absolutely not what she wanted to say, but Sydney and Declan should be here any minute and now is not exactly the best time to get into a discussion like this. So I nod once. “Okay. Now, will you let me kiss you before they get here?”
Her lips quirk up. “I guess so.”
I take two steps, cradling her face, and slowly bring my lips to hers. “Thank you.”
