Chapter 23
Hangover – a concept Chloe is not explaining to her fake stepdaughter
Chloe
I wake with a sudden jerk. Where am I? Why am I wearing my clothes? And why is my head hanging over the end of the bed? With a bucket on the floor in front of me?
I roll over and my stomach protests. My mouth tastes of moonshine. Moonshine?
Ah, yes. I remember. I played coward and ran from the bed I shared with Lucas and ended up drinking my sorrows away at the Rumrunner bar after winning the Bootlegger Escape Room Festival.
And the prize for being a walking, talking cliché goes to?
“Choe!” Natalia shouts before banging on my door.
I curl into the fetal position. Maybe if I make myself real small, she won’t notice I’m here and go away.
“Chloe! Dad said I couldn’t wake you until ten. It’s one minute past ten now.”
“I’m awake,” I croak.
The door flies open and she rushes inside. Note to self. Never answer a child when she’s banging on your door.
“Do you want breakfast? I already ate – Dad made pancakes – but I can have a second breakfast. Everyone knows you’re allowed to have a second breakfast on Sunday.”
I hold up my hand before she jumps on the bed. “No breakfast. And no jumping on the bed.”
She screeches to a halt. “Dad lets me jump on his bed.”
She’s totally lying. There’s no way Lucas lets her jump on his bed. I know how to handle this.
“Shall I ask him?”
“Um.” She twists her ankle and stares at the ground. “Maybe not.”
I snort and end up inhaling the scent of alcohol and sweat. My nose wrinkles. Where is that smell coming from? I sniff again and realize it’s me. I need a shower and coffee stat.
“I’m going to shower.”
“Shower? But you’re wearing your clothes. Didn’t you shower already? Or did you sleep in your clothes? Dad says I’m not allowed to sleep in my clothes.”
I force myself to sit up. “It was late when I got home last night. I was too tired to change.”
“Not an excuse according to Dad.”
“Good thing he’s not my dad then.”
“Where is your dad? Will I meet him? Does he live on the island?”
“New rule. No questions before I’ve had my first coffee.”
She sighs. “Dad’s grumpy in the morning, too.”
I’m not grumpy. I’m hungover. But I’m not about to explain why I’m feeling like crap to a twelve-year-old.
I manage to stand and weave my way toward the door. “Shower time.”
“We’ll decide what we’re doing for the day when you’re ready.” Natalia skips away.
Doing for the day? I planned to lay in bed all day. But I guess I’m going to pretend I don’t feel as if I’m dying all day. Sounds fun.
Once I’ve showered and dressed, I feel a bit better. Well enough to journey downstairs for some much needed coffee.
When I walk into the kitchen, Lucas is reading the paper at the table while Natalia works on a puzzle. My heart warms. Damn. What I wouldn’t give for this to be my Sunday morning every Sunday for the rest of my life.
But it’s not to be. I shake my head and moan. Bad idea.
Lucas chuckles. “Not feeling too great this morning?”
I glare at him. “I’m fine.”
“Your throat isn’t sore?”
“Why would my throat be sore?”
“From singing ninety-nine bottles of moonshine on the wall at the top of your voice.”
I wish I could deny it but singing is one of the tamer things I’ve done while inebriated.
Natalia giggles. “Chloe’s silly. It’s ninety-nine bottles of beer on the wall.”
“Not on Smuggler’s Hideaway, kiddo.”
“You’re dressed.” She bounces in her chair. I wish I had half of her energy. “Can we decide what to do today now?”
I wag a finger at her. “I haven’t had my coffee yet.”
Lucas motions to the coffeemaker on the kitchen counter. “There’s coffee in the pot.”
“Thank the mermaids,” I mutter before pouring myself a cup. I gulp half of it down before joining them at the table.
“I know what I want to do today!” Natalia announces with a shriek and I grimace.
Lucas nods to the two painkillers and water waiting on the table for me. I grunt in thanks before swallowing the pills. I haven’t had a hangover this bad in a long time. Whose bright idea was it to add moonshine shots to an escape room?
“What do you want to do today?” Lucas asks his daughter.
I love how gentle his question is despite how Natalia is shouting at the table. Mom would have punished me for being too loud. She wouldn’t have slapped me. Physical violence wasn’t her thing. A stay locked in the closet or a day of no food or water would have been more her style.
“I want to go to Mermaid Mystical Gardens !”
The idea of spending the day on rides nearly has me throwing up. No way can I handle the amusement park today.
“Not today, squirt.”
She folds her arms over her chest and pouts. “Adults always say not today when they mean never.”
Lucky for me I have the best excuse possible. I point outside. “You can’t ride rollercoasters when it’s raining.”
“You can’t?”
“Nope. It’s too dangerous.”
“But I want to go there! Piper’s been there loads of times!” She sticks out her bottom lip and it quivers. Uh oh. Meltdown is impending.
I point to the calendar on the refrigerator. “Tell you what. Find a Saturday or Sunday when both your dad and I aren’t working and we’ll go to Mermaid Mystical Gardens then.” I glare at Lucas. He better not shoot my idea down. “I know your dad is looking forward to it.”
“I can’t wait to ride the Atlantis Adventure ,” he says.
I smile. “Lame. Kraken’s Drop is more my style.”
“What’s Kraken’s Drop ?” Natalia asks.
“It’s…” Ah, shit. It’s a drop tower ride that she’s probably too short for. “Shoot. I just remembered. It’s under construction.”
“Nice save,” Lucas whispers to me and I pretend to scratch my nose with my middle finger. He bursts into laughter.
“What’s funny?” Natalia glances back and forth between the two of us. “Are you bonding?”
“You know what bonding is?” I ask.
She shrugs. “Piper’s mom said Dad and you need to bond if you want this marriage to work.”
Lucas scowls. “She said those words to you?”
“Well, um…”
“You were eavesdropping,” he concludes.
Natalia’s nose scrunches. “She was talking real loud.”
He pulls on her ponytail. “What am I going to do with you, cupcake?”
She bats her eyelashes at him. “Watch The Princess Diaries with me?”
“How many times have you seen that movie?”
“Dad,” she whines. “You can never watch The Princess Diaries too many times.”
“Are we talking about the first movie or the second one?” I ask.
“Duh. The first movie. It’s way better.”
“I don’t know. I think I prefer the second one.”
“We have both. We can watch them both.”
“And then compare which one is the best?”
“Dad.” Natalia pulls on Lucas’s sleeve. “Can we? Can we? Please!”
“The game is on today.”
Natalia rolls her eyes. “There’s always a game on.”
He pretends to think about it. “I guess I can watch the game on my tablet while you watch the movie.”
“Yes!” She throws her arms around him.
I stand. “I’ll make the popcorn.”
“I’ll get the movie.” Natalia darts to the living room and dumps a box of DVDs on the floor.
I find a bag of popcorn and throw it in the microwave. While it pops, Lucas sidles up to me.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
“For what?”
“Spending your free day watching movies with my daughter. You must have better things to do.”
Better things to do than spend the day with him and his daughter? I don’t think so. There’s no other way I want to spend my time.
I can hardly tell him how I’m falling in love with him and his daughter, though. He made himself perfectly clear. This marriage is a professional agreement. Nothing more. He wouldn’t even have sex with me until I agreed it wouldn’t change our relationship.
“What else am I going to do with this raging hangover? Go cliff diving?”
“You dive off cliffs?” He shakes his head. “Why am I not surprised?”
I don’t actually dive off cliffs but the microwave dings before I have a chance to correct his assumption.
I pour the popcorn into a bowl and gather drinks for everyone. When I enter the living room, Natalia is curled up on the sofa next to her dad under a blanket. I hand her the bowl before settling in a chair.
“What are you doing?”
“Watching a movie.”
“No, silly. Why are you sitting over there?” She pats the empty space next to her. “Come sit with me.”
I hesitate for a second. I shouldn’t get too used to having these two in my life. It’ll only hurt more when I’m no longer needed.
But, let’s face it, I’m not exactly known for making good decisions.
I move to the sofa and cuddle under the blanket with Natalia. Lucas murmurs thanks.
He doesn’t need to thank me for loving his daughter. She’s easy to love. I’m afraid her dad is easy to love, too.