Page 174 of Sloane

Ash and I ended up talking for an hour and a half. When I finally hung up, I found myself wishing I had a vehicle so I could drive to the beach house and be with her and Millie in person.

While a valid driver’s license would be a bonus, I’d be willing to risk it to be with them.

Of course, there was that little detail of not being invited, but with how good a conversation we’d just had, I had a feeling she’d let me in the door.

Her bed, I knew, was another story.

But she’d sent me a care package and had taken my call; it seemed like that was a start.

Chapter Sixty-Three

Sloane

“Why don’t you invite her over?” Grace said when I filled her and Maddie in on what was happening with Ashley as we stood in Maddie’s kitchen to start making delayed-Thanksgiving dinner. Ryan and Craig were outside throwing the ball for Greta and Fritz, the German Shepherds Craig found injured on the side of the road and spent a small fortune on in vet bills.

“I don’t know. I thought about it, but I wasn’t sure if she’d want to come. Things have been so going good between us, I didn’t want to rock the boat.”

“How would inviting her to dinner be rocking the boat?”

“Well, if she didn’t want to come, I didn’t want her to feel obligated to just because of Millie. Or, if she didn’t want to come, and she said so, then I’d feel shitty. It just felt safer not to ask.”

“Men,” Maddie muttered with an eyeroll.

“What?” I exclaimed. “I’m doing what Grace said! I’m trying to make her remember why she fell in love with me.”

“Right,” Grace replied gently. “And kudos to you because it sounds like it’s working. But she has a daughter now. You have a daughter now, and she’s growing and changing every day.”

“I’m well aware of what I’m missing out on.”

“You don’t think it would mean something to Ashley that you want to spend time with your child?”

“Or what it says to her that you don’t,” Maddie interjected.

“Hold the fuck on. I never said I don’t!”

“Sloane,” Grace continued softly. I could tell she was going to be a great psychiatrist. “You were willing to give up your paternal rights without so much as an argument. That means something to a mother.”

“I wasn’t in a good place at the time. I thought I was doing what was best for everyone.”

Maddie, the SWAT officer, was much more brash.

“Well, you’re in a better place now, so man the fuck up and fight for your kid. And your woman. You love them, right?”

Without hesitation, I replied, “I do.”

“What the hell are you waiting for?”

What the hell was I waiting for?

“I don’t know. Perfect timing?”

“No such thing, my friend,” Grace said with a smile. “I know that better than anyone.”

I thought about what her and Ryan had gone through to be together and realized, she was right.

“Can I borrow your car?”

Maddie looked at me with narrowed eyes. “Are you able to drive?”

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