Page 84 of The Path To Us

She nods, hair wild. “Yup. And I get to sleep at Grandma and Papa’s house tonight!”

“Wow! It’s been a busy day for you, huh? You sure you’re up to more excitement?”

She huffs and shoots me what she probably thinks is a dirty look but in reality it just makes her that much cuter. “I can handle it.”

I bark out a laugh and come around the couch, sitting next to her. I wrap an arm around her and pull her onto my lap. “Of course you can.”

“Are you gonna miss me?”

“I always miss you when you’re gone.”

“You do?!” she asks, surprise in her voice.

“Sure do. A lot, actually. Why do you think I keep coming around so often?”

She shrugs and smiles. “I fink you miss my mommy, too.”

I don’t hesitate to answer her honestly. “I do.”

Zoey beams and then points to the book in Addy’s hands so that she will keep reading. When I look into Addy’s eyes, there’s heat there that I can’t wait to extinguish over and over again later tonight.

Addy finishes reading to Zoey and they move to her bedroom to pack a little overnight bag just as the doorbell rings.

I answer it, greeting my dad.

“Word’s already out,” he says instead of hello.

I don’t have to ask what he’s talking about to know that he means Addy and me. It’s not like we were kissing or doing anything remotely affectionate at the pool, but I knew by the way people were watching us that it was going to be the talk of the town. “Figured.”

“Got a haircut at the barber shop, thanks for noticing, by the way, and Chip mentioned it.”

Chip owns the barber shop and has since scissors were invented, at least it seems that way. He’s a wealth of information. They say hair salons are where all the gossip is? They’re wrong. Spend fifteen minutes in a chair at the barber shop and you’ll know everything there is to know about everything that’s happened over the past few weeks.

I chuckle at Dad’s not-too-subtle complaint about me not immediately recognizing that he got a hair cut within the first five seconds of seeing me, and move to the side to let him in.

“Hair looks great, Dad.”

He pats me on the shoulder as he makes his way past me. “Thanks for noticing, son.”

He’s ridiculous.

“Where’s my girl?” he says loudly and Zoey squeals.

“I’m right here, Papa! I comin’! I comin’!”

Her little footsteps pound on the floor as she races to him, running to his legs and landing against him with an “oof.”

“There she is,” he says, with a practiced hand at keeping her away from where she could inflict pain. “You ready to have a sleepover?”

“Uh huh! Can we bring Macaroni, too?”

“Of course we can!” Dad says, winking at me like he knows too much. Taking Macaroni means we don’t have that distraction either but it’s not like I want to talk to my dad about that.

Addy clears her throat. “She had kind of a busy day here so she might fall asleep early.”

“No, I won’t!”

Dad grins. “Well, Grandma has the living room all set up for a movie night and we’re having your favorite so you have to promise me you’ll stay awake long enough to eat supper.”

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