Page 52 of Sawyer

“C’mon, Elly Belly Boo, this will be fun.” I walk out into the hallway and take advantage of Ella’s momentary distraction, yanking the sweatshirt over her head. “Let’s get our pants on?—”

“No pants.” Ella sits up and begins to peel off her shirt. “I want a dress.”

Jesus. Effing. Christ.

Bribery is bad. Or so say the parenting books I read. But I’m out of tricks, and we really are running late at this point.

Yanking a hand through my hair, I say, “If you put on a dress and your shoes and you brush your teeth, I’ll give you a piece of chocolate.”

Ella goes still. “What kind of chocolate? The peanut butter kind?”

“Of course it’s the peanut butter kind.”

Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups were my dad’s favorite. When we were growing up, he always kept a bowl of miniature, individually wrapped ones on top of the fridge in the kitchen. When we were good, he’d let us have some of his stash.

I smile, knowing Ella loves them as much as Dad did.

She holds up her first and second fingers. “Two chocolates.”

“I said one.”

“Two.”

“Ella.”

“Fine.” She gets up. “One chocolate. But I get another if I’m good at the park, right?”

Rolling my eyes, I follow her back into her lilac-painted bedroom. “Sure. Whatever. Now let’s get dressed.”

CHAPTER14

Sawyer

STUCK IN THE MIDDLE

The park.

Ella loves it. I … don’t.

You ask me to my face if I’m a fan of Hartsville’s newly revamped playground with its infinite number of swings, slightly terrifying slides (they aretall), and the adorable seesaws that are shaped like dragonflies, I’d tell you that yes, yes I most certainly am. Ella digs it, so I do too.

Only when you spend as much time at the park as I do, you get a little antsy when you’re there. At least I do. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I do enjoy playing with Ella here. The two of us dig in the sandbox, making mermaid shapes with our hands. She’ll ask me to sit on the swing beside her so I can teach her how to pump. She’s almost got it.

But other times, like today, I’m really,reallyglad we’re meeting friends here. Hopefully Junie will keep Ella entertained so Ava and I can take a load off. The prospect of being able to just sit, especially after the morning we’ve had, is more than a little exciting.

Tucking a purple-and-pink soccer ball under my arm, I slide on my sunglasses and wonder who the fuck I think I’m kidding. I’m not excited to sit.

I’m excited to see Ava.

“Daddy.” Ella tugs on my free hand. “I don’t see Junie yet. How will she play soccer with me if she’s not here?”

“She’ll be here. We have to be patient.”

Ella pouts. “Waiting is hard.”

“I know. But we can do hard things, right?”

Ella sighs. “Maybe.” Then she takes off toward the little climbing wall that leads up to one of the smaller slides.

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