Burning the Midnight Oil: A Single Dad Small Town Romance

Chapter 15

“Princess, can you bring those paper plates and napkins into the living room for me, please?”

“Yup!” Grabbing the stack off the counter, she runs barefoot into the living room, where Jade and Grady are setting up the movie.

Jade got home last night, and per the request of Suzy, we’re all having a pizza and movie night. Boxes in hand, I stroll into the living room, setting them on top of the coffee table side by side. Without my permission, my eyes flit over to Grady, where he’s sitting on the loveseat with his legs tucked underneath him. An olive green beanie covers his hair, and he’s dressed in a white hoodie and a black pair of athletic shorts. My pulse kicks up when his eyes lift and meet mine, something passing through them I can’t name.

Clearing my throat, I look away, breaking the eye contact as I sit down on the couch beside Suzy. Her mom is on the other side of her, and they both dish up their plates before I do the same. Grady is the last one to grab his pizza. We let Suzy choose the movie, so it’s some princess one I’ve never heard of. She ends up falling asleep toward the end of it, and I take her upstairs to put her in bed before coming back downstairs and joining the other two.

They cracked open another bottle of wine in my absence, both of them sipping from their glasses.

“How was training?” Grady asks Jade, as I sit back down.

“It was good! One of my old supervisors from when I worked there before was at the new Salt Lake office, so I was able to catch up with her, which was nice.”

“When do you start?” he asks.

“Not this Monday, but next.”

“Hell yeah, you excited?”

Jade nods. “I’m actually a lot more excited than I thought I’d be,” she murmurs. “It’s nerve-wracking going back to work after being out for so long, but I think it’ll be good for me, you know?” Glancing over at me, she meets my gaze, her eyes softening around the edges. “I’ve spent so long being a wife and a mother, and I feel like this’ll be a chance to do something that’s just for me.”

My chest tightens as I nod thoughtfully. “I think you deserve to have things that are just for you, Jade. I’m proud of you, and excited for you for this new journey.”

She smiles as her eyes get a little misty and red. “Dang, I didn’t expect to get emotional tonight,” she says with a laugh. “Thank you, Boone.” Jade fans her face for a moment before clapping her hands. “Okay, fill me in. What happened while I was gone?”

As if on cue, Grady and I lock eyes. It’s the briefest of moments, but it’s there. Thankfully, Grady thinks on his feet a heck of a lot faster than I do.

“Suzy and I found out how much Boone sucks at playing pretend,” he throws out, glancing at me with a smirk that has my chest clenching and my pulse kicking up a notch. “And dance parties. He wouldn’t partake in any of the dance parties.”

“He never does,” Jade says with a snort.

“Kind of boring,” Grady tosses back with a shrug.

“Why do you think I’ve always been the fun parent?”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I cut in. “When the hell did this become gang up on Boone?”

Jade and Grady look at each other before busting up laughing, and I can’t help but join in.

“You make it too easy.” Grady says after they’ve pulled themselves together.

Arching an eyebrow, I ask, “How do you figure?”

“You’re just too easy to pick on,” Jade supplies for him.

Standing up, I mutter, “You know what, if I’m going to be subjected to this type of abuse, I need a glass of wine too.” That earns me another round of laughter as I disappear into the kitchen to grab a glass.

When I return, they’re in the middle of a conversation. From the sounds of it, Jade is telling Grady about her training and how that went. While they’re both preoccupied, I allow myself a moment to watch Grady. The way he listens so intently to Jade as she talks, the way he looks at her. It’s clear how much he loves and respects her just by how attentive he is. I’ve noticed he does the same thing with Suzy, gives her his whole attention and enthusiasm, no matter what.

I realize just how much I’ve missed this. I’ve missed the normalcy of talking and joking around with Grady, missed being in his presence without the awkward cloud of what’s been going on with us. I miss…Grady.

Between the three of us, we polish off the rest of this bottle plus one more before calling it a night. The mood remained light and fun, and it felt really damn good to let loose like that. Lord knows going through a divorce isn’t the easiest thing to do, and pair that with still living under the same roof and trying to co-parent, and things can be a little tense. Granted, we’re lucky we can still get along for the most part through this whole process, but being carefree and a little silly tonight helped a lot. It makes me think maybe we can survive this mess after all, that maybe we truly can remain friends once everything is said and done. Which, for Suzy’s sake alone, would be incredible.

Upstairs, I take a quick shower before changing into a pair of pajamas. Conrad’s words from the other day have been replaying in my mind on a near-constant loop. I still don’t feel like I’m anywhere near ready to talk with Grady about what happened, even though I know Conrad’s right. Especially if Grady is going to remain staying here, then we can’t hold on to this unspoken tension forever. But I don’t know…it feels too raw. I just can’t.

Once I’m dressed, I head downstairs in search of something to drink before I try to call it a night. In the kitchen, I grab a bottle of water from the fridge, and that’s when I spot him. Grady. Curled up in his comforter, his Kindle in hand, the same way I’ve seen him out there in the past. With my hand still wrapped around the handle to the fridge, I watch him. I don’t know why; it doesn’t make any sense to me, but I do it.

Focused, his eyes remain trained on the device in his hand, seemingly oblivious to the outside world.

What’s he reading?

I don’t understand it, and I couldn’t explain why, but before I know it, my feet are carrying me to the back door, and I pull it open and step into the cool night, taking a seat in the chair beside his.

Grady looks up, meeting my gaze, and something passes between us without words. An understanding of sorts. Whether I like it or not, I feel a pull toward him, one that is confusing, but maybe we don’t have to decipher it.

Maybe we can just be.

Maybe on nights like this, when we’re both burning the midnight oil, we can simply take comfort in the solace we find in each other without trying to make sense of it all.

So, we sit out here together, neither of us ever saying a word. It’s…nice. It’s relaxing in a way I can’t explain. I couldn’t say how long we stay out there, but he’s the first to go inside, and after a few minutes, I do the same.

And it becomes a semi-regular thing, finding each other on the porch in the middle of the night. It’s always the same, and I’d like to believe maybe he needs it as much as I do. Like maybe he’s as confused by all of this surrounding us as I am.

Maybe one day, we’ll finally confront the elephant in the room, but for now, I’m allowing myself the chance to enjoy this for what it is.