Page 78 of My Lucky Charm

“Whoa, for real?” She looks at the pictures.

“For real,” I say. “And there’s a big parade and tons of food—beef and roasted red potatoes and Irish soda bread. You’ll love it!”

“Wow. I hope I get to stay.” She hands my phone back to me. “I’ve never seen a green river.”

I spare her the history of that tradition and click my phone off, doing my best not to listen in on the conversation happening down the hall. “I really hope so too.”

Chapter Nineteen

Gray

Celeste has a way of blindsiding me.

From the day she told me she was pregnant, to the day she told me I had a daughter, to this morning, when she called me from the lobby of my building.

Blindsided.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” I’d asked.

“We wanted to surprise you,” she’d said.

“We?”

A bit of a pause, then “Yeah, Scarlett’s here too.”

I shake my head. “You only surprise me when you want to make sure I don’t say no to whatever you’re about to ask.” Celeste knows I can’t say no when Scarlett’s involved.

“We’re coming up.”

When the elevator opens, Scarlett practically jumps into my arms, throws her arms around my neck, and squeezes.

“What’s up, Scout?” I bear hug her until she groans.

“I missed you, Dad!”

I pull away and frown. “Dad? Since when do you call me ‘Dad’?”

“I’m a little old to call you ‘Daddy.’ I’m practically a teenager.”

“I think I’d like you to stay about six or seven. Can you manage that for me?”

She makes a face and I make one back. Then I look over to find Celeste staring at me, and a wave of panic rushes through me. Something is wrong.

“Why don’t you hang out here for a minute while I talk to your dad, okay?” Celeste asks.

I set Scarlett down, and she looks around. “Where’s your TV?”

“In my room,” I say. “I’ll get another one.”

“That’s why we brought your iPad, hon,” Celeste says.

Scarlett, who is a little like a forty-year-old woman trapped in the body of a ten-year-old, waves us off. “I’m fine. I know when I’m not supposed to hear things. Go talk like grown-ups.”

We walk down the hall, and Celeste closes the door of my room behind us.

“What’s going on?” I ask impatiently. “Is something wrong? Did she have a doctor’s appointment you forgot to tell me about or . . . ?”

She shakes her head. “No, Gray, nothing like that.”

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