Chapter 31
Cookies – the solution to all your problems
Chloe
N atalia moans and I tighten my arm around her. “Do you need to stop?”
“Wanna go home.”
Guilt swamps me. I never should have let Natalia talk me into letting her ride the Sea Serpent Coaster again. Her getting sick all over my shoes is my penance for trying to get her to love me the way I love her.
“We’ll be there soon,” Lily says from the driver’s seat.
“Thank you for picking us up.”
“No need to thank me. I’m always there if you need me.” She turns around to smile at Natalia. “The same goes for you, kiddo. If you need anything, ring me.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Milton.”
“You can call me Lily, Grandma Lily, or Grandma.”
Lily is the best. Forcing Sophia to be my best friend in kindergarten was the best idea I ever had.
“Huh. Strange,” she says when we turn into our street.
“What is it?”
“There’s an unknown car in your driveway.”
I peer out of the window and notice there’s a car in the driveway as well as Lucas’s truck. Shouldn’t he be at the station handling whatever emergency came up?
Lily pulls to a stop in front of the house. “I’ll wait here for a few minutes.”
“There’s no need. Everything will be fine.”
“Nevertheless.”
I don’t argue. Lily will do what she wants to anyway. Besides, I need to get Natalia inside. She has more color in her face but she’s still clutching her stomach and moaning.
I slide out of the car and gather Natalia in my arms. “Almost there, kiddo.”
“I’m sorry, Clo-Clo.”
“Nothing to be sorry about. It’s not your fault you got sick.”
I open the door with my shoulder as I carry Natalia inside. It’s a good thing I have experience carrying six grocery bags into the house at one time or I’d probably drop her.
I freeze at the entrance when I realize Lucas is standing in the living room facing off with a woman.
“Chloe, Natalia?” Lucas asks. “What are you doing here?”
“Natalia wasn’t feeling well.”
He rushes forward to take Natalia from my arms but she slaps away his hands. “Mom?”
She squirms to get down and I steady her. “Mom! It is you! You’re here!” She darts across the room and throws herself at her mom.
Holly purses her lips as she pats Natalia’s back. “Hello, Natalia.”
“I’m excited you came to visit. You’re going to love Smuggler’s Hideaway,” Natalia rattles on. Her sickness completely forgotten. “They have mermaids and seals and there’s the beach. The water is cold but it’s okay once you get used to it. We can build sand castles together.”
Holly steps away from Natalia. “We can discuss what we’ll do together after I speak to your father. Now run along with your nanny while the grownups speak.”
Natalia’s shoulders slump forward in disappointment. Her bottom lip trembles. “But Mom…”
Holly scowls. “No begging. It’s unbecoming.”
Unbecoming? Is this woman serious? Her daughter, who she hasn’t seen for a year, is excited to see her and she brushes her off. And then gets annoyed when Natalia is disappointed. Nuh uh. Not on my watch.
I march forward and place a hand on Natalia’s shoulder.
“Surely, you and Lucas can speak later. After you’ve spent some time with your daughter. Natalia would love to show you her room and the medals she received at sport’s day last week.”
Holly sniffs. “The nanny is in no position to speak to me about what I should do.”
“Good thing I’m not the nanny then.”
She waves a dismissive hand at me. “Lucas’s little plaything then. It makes no difference. You have no right to be here.”
Lucas growls and wraps an arm around my waist. “This is my wife.”
Holly rolls her eyes. “I’m your wife. Not this…”
Her gaze rakes up and down my body. I’m wearing a pair of cut-off jean shorts and a t-shirt with a mermaid on it. Whereas she’s dressed to impress. Her sheath dress is molded to her skin and her high heels are at least three inches tall.
I can understand why Lucas was attracted to her. She’s gorgeous with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She also has the curves I’ve always dreamed of.
“This is my wife,” Lucas grumbles. “You’re my ex.”
I glance down at Natalia who seems to be shrinking into herself. She should be the center of attention now. Not her mother.
“Why don’t you two continue this discussion and Natalia and I will go elsewhere to watch a movie?”
“You’re not taking my daughter anywhere!” Holly shouts.
“Okay. We’ll stay here and you two can go get a coffee. I recommend Pirates Pastries. You should try Blackbeard’s revenge cookies. They are to die for.”
Her nose wrinkles. “Cookies? I don’t eat sugar.”
Of course, she doesn’t. I bet she goes to the gym, too. She probably thinks having a gorgeous body and face means she can be a bitch.
She’s in for a rude awakening. I’ve been down this road before. I know how rotten a person can be on the inside despite their outward appearance.
“I’m trying to be nice,” I warn her.
“Nice? You stole my husband,” she screeches.
Natalia’s bottom lip trembles. She’s on the verge of tears. She shouldn’t be a witness to this discussion.
“I’m begging you to take the adult discussion elsewhere. Somewhere Natalia isn’t.”
“Begging?” She snorts. “I bet you do a lot of begging.”
“Enough,” Lucas grumbles. “You don’t disrespect my wife.”
“You never minded it when people disrespected me,” Holly claims.
“Maybe because your idea of disrespect was when a waitress didn’t rush to fulfill every one of your needs.”
“It’s literally her job.”
“I’m done.” I’m not allowing Natalia to hear any more venom come out of her mother’s mouth. “Let’s go, Natalia.”
I lead her to the door. I don’t have a plan. All I know is I won’t allow Natalia to witness this scene any longer. I should have left the second I realized her mom was here. But I thought Holly would at least pretend to be excited to see the daughter she hasn’t seen in a year. My bad.
Holly runs ahead of us and bars the door. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“We’ll go out the back door.” I whirl around.
Lucas growls before stepping beside me. “Touch her and you and I are going to have even bigger problems than we already have.”
I glance over my shoulder and notice Holly has her hand lifted as if to slap me. Unfortunately, I’m familiar with how a woman who’s about to lose her shit and slap me appears.
There’s a knock on the door before it opens and Weston enters.
“Hey, bro. Heard you might need an assist.”
Lucas nods to me and his daughter. “Can you get them out of here?”
I frown. Get us out of here? Not his ex?
He kisses my forehead. “I need to discuss some things with Holly. I’ll come get you when she’s gone.”
“Gone? I’m not leaving!” Holly shouts.
“My mom is waiting outside with the car,” Weston says.
I wrap an arm around Natalia’s shoulders. “You wanna go to Grandma Lily’s house?”
“Can we watch a movie?”
“Yep. I bet she’ll bake us some cookies if we ask real nice.”
Weston accompanies us to the door.
“Bye, Mom.” Natalia waves. “We’ll do some fun stuff when I get home from Grandma’s house.”
Holly forces a smile on her face. “We will, baby. We will.”
Not if I can help it, they won’t. This woman is toxic. I don’t want her anywhere near Natalia.
Lily rushes forward. “Natalia! Are you ready to come to my house? We can bake some cookies.”
“What kind of cookies?” she asks.
“What kind is your favorite? We can stop at the grocery store for ingredients.”
Weston shuts the door behind us. “I could go for some cookies.”
Lily frowns at him. “You can have cookies when you give me grandchildren.”
He grins. “I’d break all the women’s hearts in Smuggler’s Hideaway if I chose to settle down with one woman.”
“My son.” Lily shakes her head. “He won’t know what hit him when he falls in love.”
“Good thing I’m not planning to fall in love.”
“What kind of cookies should we bake?” I ask Natalia once we’re in Lily’s car driving toward her house. “I love chocolate chip.”
“Oatmeal raisin are my favorite.”
“Gross. Raisins shouldn’t be in cookies.”
She giggles and I sag in relief. She’s not traumatized by what happened with her mom and dad. Still, I’m going to keep an eye on her. I won’t let this girl suffer the way I did because of a crappy mom. Not on my watch.