Page 24 of One Good Puck
“The other day, I drew a sunrise on a notepad during a very boring faculty meeting.”
I smile. I think about when she mentioned how she planned to go to art school, but life got in the way. I wanted to ask what she meant, but I could tell from the flash of sadness in her eyes that it was something serious, so I stopped myself. I didn’t want to pry if it was painful.
“If you ever want a quiet space to sketch or draw, you’re more than welcome to use the guesthouse,” I say.
Her eyes widen. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. I hardly ever use the guest house. I was going to use it as my home office, but I changed my mind when I remembered how lazy I am during the winter,” I say. “No way am I walking out there when it’s snowing or freezing out.”
“Okay. I might take you up on that.”
I check the time on the microwave. “I should get ready for work.”
“And I should probably get started on those muffins.”
I grab her empty plate and set it in the dishwasher. She hops up, grabs ingredients from the pantry, and sets them on the counter.
“Emma’s going to love having this for breakfast.” She nods at the poached eggs, bacon, and English muffins on the counter. “She thinks poached eggs are fancy food.”
I chuckle. “Happy to cook it for you both any time you want it.”
“Thank you.”
I raise my brow at her, but she just smiles at me and shakes her head.
“I want to say it because I mean it. And because I’m all about teaching my kid manners, and what kind of mom would I be if I didn’t say thank you when it needed to be said?”
I chuckle. “Fair point. Have a good day, Abby.”
“You too.”
When I turn around and head for my bedroom upstairs, I catch Abby’s eyes on my chest once more before she quickly looks away. The whole rest of the morning, I’m grinning.
Chapter 11
Gavin
“What’s with the smile?”
I glance up at the sound of Sophie’s voice and see her walking into my office.
“What smile?” I say as I rein in my expression. I close my laptop and push it aside on my desk.
Sophie sits down in the chair in front of my desk. “I could have sworn you were smiling while typing a second ago.”
I shrug and sip my coffee. “I don’t think I was.”
“I don’t see you do that very often, smiling for no reason,” she teases.
I don’t know why I think I can pull one over on my daughter. She’s a twenty-six-year-old genius. She started medical school when she was a teenager and is the youngest team doctor in the history of the league. There’s not a damn thing in this world I can put past her.
Like the fact that I’ve been smiling on and off all morning because I’m in a good mood after having breakfastwith Abby.
“It doesn’t have anything to do with your new housemate, does it?” Sophie asks, clearly amused.
I sigh, not in the mood to have my chops busted by my observant daughter.
“I’m just giving you a hard time, Dad,” she says. “But in all seriousness, how’s it going with Abby and her daughter?”
