Page 23 of Healing You
“Oh yeah? This doesn't have anything to do with yours and Yvonne's display outside of Lex's, does it?”
Fuck. “How did you—”
“Kyra texted Lydia a few minutes ago.”
Fuck, fuck. “When did they get so chummy?” Last he heard, Kyra had a long time school girl crush on Cam, and Lydia was her nemesis.
He heard Cam's chuckle on the other end. “They've been friendly for a while now.”
And Kyra was Yvonne's best friend in high school. “Dude, if your fiancée becomes friends with my ex, I might have to move to California.”
“Oh, calm down. I said they're friendly. Not friends. Look, why don't you come over here for lunch instead? Lydia's about to take Maddie shopping. I'll make us something and we'll have a beer down by the lake.”
He pulled up to the stop sign, taking an extra moment to think. “Okay,” he said. As much as he felt like being alone, it probably wasn't the best idea with the way his chest was tightening. The farther away he could stay from his anxiety meds right now, the better. Maybe a peaceful lunch on the edge of the lake would do him good. And if not, he had that run at six-thirty tonight.
A few minutes later, he pulled into Cam's driveway and got out in time to find Lydia unlocking her car. Maddie lit up when she saw him and she rushed into his arms, squeezing him in a hug.
“Look,” she said, grinning wide at him. A space gaped where her canine tooth was missing. “It fell out last night.”
Steve touched a finger under her chin, directing her giant smile toward the sun. “Look at that. Doesn't look like you have many more to lose, huh?”
“Nope! That was my last one.”
“The last tooth?” he said, eying Lydia with a smile. “Wow, that must be worth a pretty penny to the tooth fairy. What's the going rate for a tooth these days?”
“I got five bucks for my last one.”
“Five dollars?” Steve snorted. “I used to get one dollar. Maybe I should have gone into the tooth business instead.”
“But then who would give Nibbler his shots?”
Lydia smiled in return, smoothing her soon-to-be stepdaughter's hair. “She's got a point, Steve.”
“Very true. So, I heard you two are doing some shopping?”
Maddie pointed down to her shoes where a hole had worn away at her big toe. “Lydia says I'm sprouting like a giraffe on ‘roids.”
Lydia cringed and Steve barked a laugh. “Yeah,” she said. “I'm still getting used to what I should and shouldn't say in front of a pre-teen. How about we change that to ‘sprouting like a ragweed’ when we repeat it from now on?”
Maddie giggled, but nodded.
“All right, then,” Steve said. “Don't let me hold you up.”
Maddie rushed to the car, hopping in the backseat, but Lydia stayed in front of him, looking over her shoulder until Maddie was out of listening range. “Heard you had a little run-in at Latte Da.”
“Yeah. It's nice to see you and Kyra getting along these days.”
She shrugged. “She's pretty great when you get to know her.”
“And when your face isn't the bull’s-eye on her proverbial dart board, right?”
Lydia laughed, but gave him a reluctant nod.
“Hey, brother.” Cam popped his head out of the front door. “Come around the back to the docks. I've got the grill going. Burgers okay?”
“Hell, burgers sound great. I was just expecting sandwiches or something.”
“You should know Cam well enough that he wouldn't host a lunch half-assed.” Lydia pushed onto her toes, giving Steve a quick sisterly kiss on the cheek before she hopped over the car and drove away. “Have fun!” she called out the window.
