Page 37 of Mistletoe Misses
“Yay!” She takes off toward their apartment with Trixie on her heels, but Carmen lingers behind.
In the soft lamp light, my mind jumps to a vision of the girl I once knew and how much I loved her, but I can’t go there. I turn back to the wall and my task, wishing for the memories and the woman to leave me alone.
“Would you like to join us?” she asks.
So much for wishes. “I don’t—”
“Please,” Sadie begs from the other room, and if Carmen hadn’t sucked the air out of my lungs with her beauty, I might have laughed.
“We’ll stay in the present, Maddox. I promise.”
Thanks to her confession the other day, her promise to keep our past out of our conversation is not one I can match. Outside of distractions provided by Sadie and Trixie, it’s all I think about.
“Please, sweetie!” Sadie yells, and Trixie yelps in response.
No matter how much I dread what an evening with Carmen might do to me, saying no to Sadie isn’t in my vocabulary. “Okay.”
“You’re welcome to clean up at our place. Do you have water in here yet?”
“I removed the sinks the other day. Let me finish this wall…” What am I doing? “And I’ll be over.” Shit.
“Thank you, Maddox. I’m looking forward to it.”
Wish I could say the same.
???
I linger with my cleanup tasks longer than necessary to gather the nerve to voluntarily spend time with Carmen. The last two times happened unexpectedly, and my man card was traded in for one belonging to a spoiled child who didn’t get their way. I can’t lose my shit again, but she affects me in a way I can’t suppress. No surprise there. She always has, and I suspect, always will.
A better use of our time together would be finding a way past my resentment, instead of trying to live with it. Something, as Cooper so delicately pointed out, I’ve sucked at doing so far.
After tucking away the painting supplies, I travel the few steps to Carmen’s apartment and find the door open. Sadie greets me immediately, and I kneel to receive her embrace. Trixie follows, her tiny claws scraping my jeans as she tries to climb up. Reaching down, I scoop her up with my free hand, and she burrows between us.
“What took you so long? We had to put the pizza in the oven,” Sadie complains, but her usual banter adds too much charm for the scolding to have its intended effect.
“My bad. How can I make it up to you?”
She pauses, her eyes grazing the ceiling while she deliberates. “You can come to the duck race with me.”
“Sadie,” Carmen says, gliding into the room, her tone a warning.
She’s traded her General Store-logoed shirt and jeans for a fitted, cotton dress that hugs her figure like it was made for only her. The deep blue in the pattern seems to make her eyes of the same color glow brighter, and I can’t pull mine away. She would be stunning in anything, but for once, shock and the familiar pain of old wounds slicing open aren’t blinding me. I’m able to truly appreciate her, making something light, fluffy, and uninvited stir in my chest.
“Maddox already has plans tomorrow,” she clarifies, saving me from the usual nosedive my thoughts take when she’s nearby.
“You do?” Sadie turns to me, a dramatic pout on her cute face.
“I promised to help Easton. It’s his first race.”
Her forehead falls to my shoulder, and Trixie whimpers at her dip in energy. I’m in trouble.
“I’m sure I can help you both. There’s plenty of me to go around.”
Her head pops up, and so does Trixie’s. “Really?”
“Jada may not appreciate that.” Carmen’s smile is light and teasing when my gaze finds her again.
“Why not?” Sadie asks, turning to her mother.
