Page 52 of Exposed Ink

She’s done this before. Tries to turn a work trip into a mother-daughter trip, but it ends with her working around the clock and Taylor being bored, asking to come home.

“No, Shane, an actual vacation with just our daughter and me. Though if you wanted to go, I wouldn’t be opposed.”

I can hear her smirk over the phone, and I mentally roll my eyes. When we were younger, she’d stroll into town, and because I was young and dumb, I’d give in and hook up with her, hoping to put my family back together. I grew up with two loving parents and wanted the same for Taylor.

But then I grew up, saw that Jamie had no intention of settling down and was only looking to scratch an itch, and I put a stop to it, not wanting to complicate shit between us. With Jamie, the lines need to be clear. Otherwise, she’ll try to blur them.

“Where?” I ask, ignoring the not-so-subtle invitation to join them.

While I’ll miss my daughter—if Jamie follows through—a few days of having Kinsley all to myself would be nice. Maybe I’ll even take some days off work so we can do something, just the two of us.

You’re getting ahead of yourself.

She’s barely agreed to see where things go. Planning trips is probably moving too fast for her.

“She mentioned wanting to go to the city. Something about wanting to see a college. I was thinking she could take a few days off school so we could make it a little longer than the weekend.”

“Jamie,” I sigh. “You know how important school is, hence her wanting to visit NYU. That’s where she wants to go to college.”

I know she’s in her own world ninety-nine percent of the time, but would it kill her to pay the smallest bit of attention to the shit our daughter says?

“I’m well aware of where our daughter wants to go to school,” she snaps defensively. “And it’s only a few days. I don’t get to spend a lot of time with her and?—”

“By choice,” I point out, refusing to let her get away with acting like her daughter is being kept from her.

She could spend time with Taylor whenever she wants. She chooses not to come around more than once a year.

“Well, not all of us were destined for the small-town life,” she volleys.

And not all of us were destined for parenthood,I think, but don’t say out loud since Taylor is standing in front of me, begging me with her eyes to say yes.

“I don’t know.”

“Dad,” Taylor groans. “Please.”

She doesn’t see her mom often, and we both know if I say no, it’ll probably be several months before she’s back in the area again.

“I’ll think about it,” I tell them. Then, to Jamie, I say, “Once you know the dates, text them to me, and I’ll look to make sure they don’t interfere with any exams or school functions.”

“Thank you, Dad!” Taylor exclaims, grabbing the phone. “Love you!”

She takes off up the stairs to continue her conversation with her mom while I finish preparing dinner for Kinsley and me. She didn’t invite me to the shop, but she did mention she’d be there, doing inventory, so I figured since she couldn’t come over for dinner, I’d bring dinner to her.

* * *

I called Scott,who let me know Kinsley’s last appointment of the day should be done by six o’clock, so at a quarter till, I head over to Exposed Ink.

“Sorry, we’re—” Kinsley looks up from the desk, but when she sees it’s me, she changes directions. “What are you doing here? Is our appointment tonight?” she asks in confusion.

“Nope.” I lift the cooler I packed. “I brought dinner.”

Her eyes light up in shock and curiosity. “What did you bring?”

I lock the door behind me, switch the Open sign to Closed, and have a seat on the couch. “Come see for yourself.”

Kinsley gets up and joins me while I place the containers of food on the table.

“Whatcha got there?”

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