Page 22 of A Better Place

“I played with it for hours! And I am sleeping in there!” she exclaims then turns a pint-size glare at her father.

He only rolls his eyes, apparently completely immune to her manipulative ways. “For more than a couple days, baby,” Barrett tells her. “Then I’ll build you the coolest set of bunkbeds you’ve ever seen.” Well, almost immune.

Harper scrunches up her nose at him then refocuses her attention on me. “So, you wanted the scary restaurant for a long time?”

“No, baby girl.” I chuckle. “I wanted a restaurant for a long time. A really, really long time. I’m not going to keep it scary. I promise. Will you help me? Make it not scary? Maybe you can help me decide what is going to be on the kids’ menu?”

“Corndog bites. And your mac and cheese, because even though kids think that box stuff is awesome, yours is wa-a-ay better. They just don’t know it yet. Ooh… and cheese pizza. And! Oh yeah — and mozzarella sticks. Make those things, and the kids will all love it there,” she says then pats me on the cheek and walks away.

We all laugh at her simplicity, and Grady chimes in, “I like those, too. Put them on the regular menu so I can eat ‘em.”

The rest of the evening is spent going between answering questions about what décor I plan to have (Tess), what building needs to be done (Barrett and the boys), if she can get a job waitressing (Maggie), what am I going to call it (Lily), and a lot of questions revolving around the menu. Even Mia, Cole’s girlfriend and old friend of the family, asked a couple questions.

After we feast on our homemade pizzas, everyone settles in the living room to watch a movie together. When it is over, all the girls head to the bedrooms they will be sharing, Grady goes to his room, probably to talk to Bri before going to sleep, and Cole ambles toward bed as well. I moved my stuff from Cole’s room to the spare bedroom, ditching the idea of being a buzzkill uncle and bunking with him. I’m sure he appreciates that, but at the same time, I highly doubt he will be using the bedroom for much other than sleeping. He respects both his parents and Mia too much.

The last month has completely exhausted me, but it still doesn’t stop my mind from drifting to the beautiful woman I met just a few weeks ago when I was watching Tess and Barrett’s kids. It’s not that I hadn’t heard of her, of course. Tess and I talk all the time, so obviously, her name has come up, including a bit of her background. But nothing prepared me for the intense and raw feeling I had when I first laid eyes on Carly. Plus, we’re both single parents. That unspoken bond of knowing what the other went through is there, pulsing between us.

A body that, even though she was dressed in skinny jeans and a long-sleeve black t-shirt, showed that she worked her muscles every day. Shiny blond hair that made me want to run my fingers through it, preferably while my lips were seared to hers in what I know would be a soul crushing kiss. But what I can’t get out of my mind, what keeps me awake at night, are her chocolate-brown eyes… Eyes that showed heartache and a willpower to overcome it… Eyes that have consumed my thoughts just simmering, waiting for the perfect time to boil over.

I’m a patient man. I waited decades to have my own restaurant.

Now I have a taste of something I’ve wanted for as long as I can remember, and I’m going to savor it. But there’s something new I want also, and as those eyes flitter across my mind as I lie in my bed, I know that until I get it all, I won’t be satisfied.

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