Chapter 10 Olivia
OLIVIA
“Oh my gosh, you’ve been to the Met Gala?” Harper asked, eyes wide with excitement.
I bit my lip to stop from laughing. The last thing I needed was to spill bright red nail polish all over Lukas’ cream colored couch. “A few times, actually. And yes, it’s just as insane as it looks on the internet. The outfits are out of this world.”
Charlie, who was examining the rhinestones I’d dotted along her toes, said, “Some are really weird, though. When I go, I’m going to make sure mine is the best.”
I shrugged. My girl didn’t hesitate to call it as she saw it. And if she had big dreams, who was I to deny her? “They can be a little… strange, yes.”
“Wow.” Harper slumped back into the cushions and stared at her feet. “That’s so cool.”
Putting the cap back on the polish, I sat back on my heels to examine my handiwork. Both girls had wanted nail designs. While I was no artist, I was surprised at how well the flowers came out on Harper’s toes, and the polka-dotted placement of Charlie’s rhinestones.
“What do you think, girls? Should we make some ice cream sundaes and settle in for a new movie?” The one they’d put on at the start of our spa day was already over. We hardly paid attention to it, considering our time had been spent laughing and giggling as I worked.
Charlie jumped from her seat, bounding into the kitchen to rifle through the ingredients we’d picked up at the store. She never needed to be told twice about sweet treats. “Uh, duh! I want to make mine the biggest ever.”
I stood, holding my hand out to help Harper up from the couch. She stared at it for a second before accepting. I wasn’t sure whether she’d take it. And when she never dropped it, dragging me into the kitchen, there was a weird twisting sensation in my stomach.
I never wanted to pry, but I was curious about Harper’s relationship with her mom.
She rarely mentioned the woman. Anytime she spoke about her past, it was always her dad.
How he taught her to braid her hair, or would get up in the morning on her birthday to cook chocolate-chip pancakes and bring them to her in bed.
While her mother’s absence was apparent, her dad’s presence was noted.
In every story, every memory in which Harper mentioned her dad, she smiled. And it wasn’t some grand “I just won the lottery” smile. It was the simple twist of her lips. The kind that portrayed comfort and stability.
I wondered if Duke saw the same thing I did. I wondered if he realized that through everything—the divorce, the cramped living spaces, the long work hours, the inevitable parental breakdown after his daughter went to bed—Harper loved him fiercely.
I hoped, for both their sakes, that he did.
By the time Harper and I made it into the kitchen, Charlie was in the middle of building her dessert monstrosity. “Oh my god, child. What are you doing?” I laughed, shielding my eyes from the mess along the counter.
She stared at a jar of maraschino cherries, brows furrowed and lip bitten in total concentration. “I’m trying to get a cherry,” she said, not taking her eyes off her prize.
“I can see that,” I said, putting my hands on my hips. “You do realize, though, that there are, like, six other cherries above the one you’re trying to get, right?”
“Yes, but this is the biggest one in the jar. And it’s the one I want.”
Harper and I both bent forward. “How do you know?”
“Because I have eyes, Mom. And this is clearly the biggest one.”
Harper just shrugged. I nudged her shoulder with my own. “That’s your friend,” I muttered.
She giggled. “Yeah, but she’s your daughter.”
I straightened up and sighed. “Have I raised a monster?”
Charlie, clearly not finding our jokes funny, met my gaze. “Sorry that I want the best for myself,” she deadpanned before going right back to what she was doing.
Thankfully, my daughter’s attitude was interrupted by a knock at the front door. “I apologize for questioning your desires, daughter. I shan’t do it again.” I pointed toward Harper. “Think you can handle that diva while I see who’s here?”
Harper giggled and gave me a thumbs up before I turned and headed toward the entryway. I could hear them mumbling to themselves and digging through the kitchen drawers as I opened the door.
Cleo stood at the threshold with what looked like a dozen freshly baked cookies, two large pizzas, and a smile. “Sorry, I’m—”
I grabbed her hand and pulled her inside, setting the food on the accent table before hugging her. “My savior. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
She laughed and returned the gesture. “Well, I couldn’t let my favorite girls go without those,” she said, gesturing toward the sweets.
While I hadn’t met Cleo until I showed up unannounced in my ex’s hometown, I’d heard about her the entirety of our marriage.
Understandably, it took her a little bit to warm up to me.
I couldn’t imagine how weird it must’ve been for her to find out the man she’d been in love with since she was sixteen, who had married and had a child with another woman, had been pining for her just as much as she had for him.
But now? Now, Cleo Wilde was one of my best friends. I couldn’t imagine my life without her. There wasn’t a single thing she didn’t know about me, and I her. We had spent many girls’ nights on the couch drinking way too much wine and sharing every high and every low.
She was the best bonus mom and loved my daughter as fiercely as if she were her own. Grady and I never wanted her to feel left out or that she didn’t have a say in how we raised Charlie.
I pulled back, taking her in. She wore a Black Springs Ranch sweatshirt and black leggings. Her long blonde hair was tucked behind one ear, framing her face in loose waves.
“I want one of those,” I said, dropping my gaze to the cute little horseshoe embroidered on the sleeve. Cleo’s family owned the massive ranch in Texas, and ever since her sisters had taken over the day-to-day operations, they’d come up with the best merchandising ideas.
“Oh, this?” Cleo asked. “I’ll have Lennox send one over. They just got the sample stock in. Mom is thrilled at the prospect of organizing and selling merchandise. I don’t think my dad’s retirement suits them very well.”
I snorted. That sounded about right. Her dad, Doug, was one of the busiest bodies I’d ever met, and I could imagine he was likely driving his wife and kids crazy. “Don’t blame her, honestly.”
“Me either. How’s it going?” Cleo kicked off her slides near the door. “I don’t hear screaming.”
“That’s because you saved Charlie from herself with your impeccable timing. I made the mistake of asking why she was digging toward the bottom of the cherry jar instead of using the ones on top.”
Cleo smirked. “Trying to get the biggest one?”
“Don’t tell me she learned that from you,” I groaned.
“Blame your ex,” she said, shooting me a wink as she moved past me.
Fucking Grady. I should’ve known. I grabbed the food before following her into the kitchen. “Honestly, that explains so much.”
Both girls looked up from their cherry endeavor, grinning when they took in our new guest. “Cleo! You’re here!” Charlie exclaimed, abandoning her mess. She took off running toward Cleo, nearly knocking her over as she slid to a stop. “Wait… Are those for us?”
Cleo wrapped Charlie in a hug. “Well, when your mom mentioned y’all were having a girls’ night, I couldn’t resist crashing. I hope that’s okay?”
“Well, you brought cookies and pizza, so duh.” She shrugged, digging into the box and grabbing a slice of cheese.
While Cleo and the girls got settled in the living room, I stayed behind to clean up the mess.
I couldn’t help but smile as I watched them all together.
Charlie was flipping through the movie selection, trying to find the perfect film to end the night, as she spouted off movie facts about nearly every one.
Cleo, of course, was fussing over everyone’s comfort as she always did, but instead of stress or worry in her face, I only saw genuine peace.
Harper sat between the two of them with the widest smile I’d ever seen, watching them banter back and forth playfully about which 2000’s romcom was better.
And me? I stood there, happier than I had in a long time, surrounded by mess and chaos, wishing Duke could see the way his daughter shone.
Despite the time, when we pulled up to Duke’s cabin the next day, he was waiting outside with a cup of coffee. Cleo left before we did, running to town for the hamburger buns Grady had forgotten to pick up earlier.
I glanced in the rearview mirror, watching Harper smile as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Duke met her at the door, pulling it open and helping her out. “Hey, sugar. Did you have fun?”
“Dad, we had the best time! Miss Olivia and Miss Cleo gave us mani-pedis,” she flashed him her fingers, “and they bought pizza and ice cream—”
“Don’t forget the fresh cookies!” Charlie interrupted.
“Right! The cookies. They were so good. Oh my gosh. And we watched movies until, like, midnight.”
Duke’s face was alight as his daughter chattered on and on about everything that happened last night. It was literal word vomit. I found myself laughing as I got out of my seat and walked to the truck, hefting her bag over my shoulder.
The two of them seemed so relaxed, so at ease. It was a jarring contrast to the way I’d seen them interact before. Maybe they both just needed a break. I imagine living in such a small cabin probably felt like it was impossible to get out from under the others’ space.
“Damn, that does sound pretty fun.” Duke’s eyes softened as they locked with mine over Harper’s head. “I’m a little jealous.”
“Next time, you can come too, Mr. Bennett. I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind, right?” Charlie and Harper both turned to me, eyes pleading.
“Can my dad come to the next sleepover?” Harper asked, lip jutting out.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” Duke said at the same time I stammered, “S-sure.” The man in front of me widened his eyes at that, clearly not impressed by my response, but what was I supposed to do? “I mean, we can figure something out,” I added quickly. “Not like we have to decide anything today.”
“Definitely not a sleepover,” he muttered.
Harper turned toward him, face scrunched up in confusion. “Why not, Dad? It’s on Uncle Lukas’ ranch. We go there all the time.”
“Maybe the boys could cook us dinner before we shoo them out, huh?” I glanced over at Duke’s hands—a massive mistake, honestly—and added, “Although, your nail beds could definitely use some help.” I was desperately trying to bridge the gap so as not to disappoint the girls, but also keep some semblance of distance from Duke.
The last thing I needed to think of was having a sleepover.
I doubt there would be much sleeping…
That’s what scared me the most about Duke. It wasn’t his gruff, pain-in-the-ass attitude. Or even the constant scowl that marred his face.
It was the fact that I hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him since we ran into one another at the store. If the girls hadn’t been with me last night, I would’ve had a long date with my favorite vibrator, going round for round with his name on my lips.
If I knew he was only a room over, sleeping or not… Well, neither I nor my vagina could be trusted.
Duke glanced between the three of us. Both our girls held pleading looks in their eyes, as though this was the most important and exciting decision that could ever exist.
“If I say yes, will you stop staring at me like that?” he asked his daughter.
She nodded enthusiastically. “I promise.”
He pinched his nose and sighed. “Fine, but—”
Charlie and Harper both let out hoots of victory, effectively cutting him off. When he turned to me, I just shrugged. “Kids want the damndest things.”
Duke didn’t say anything as Harper and Charlie said their goodbyes to one another. Before I could hand over her bag, Duke stopped me. “This isn’t a good idea.”
“What isn’t?” I hoped that playing the fool would help me get out of this situation.
I knew as well as he did that this little flirtation held no future.
It was a recipe for disaster. My time in Pinecrest was limited, no matter how much I didn’t want it to be.
And Duke didn’t strike me as the kind of guy who wanted to do long distance to make things work.
Not that there was anything to make work, anyway.
I was getting way too caught up in my head over the whole affair. So what if we’d flirted a little bit? Two people could be attracted to each other and choose not to act on it. In fact, it happened all the time.
“You know damn well what,” he growled.
God help me, that shouldn’t have been so hot. What was wrong with me?
“Listen… It’s not like anything has to happen. We’ll tell the girls our schedules are conflicting, and that’ll be that. No adult sleepovers to worry about.”
“I don’t like to lie to my kid, Olivia.”
“Neither do I, but have you got another solution? Because I sure as hell don’t see one.”
The muscle in his jaw ticked. I absentmindedly wondered how he had any teeth left, given how hard he ground them together. “Then I guess that’s what we’ll do,” he grumbled.
He dropped my hand and stepped back, leaving me utterly confused as to what transpired. “I’m sorry. We’ll do what now?” I asked.
Duke paused, and the pained look that crossed his face was almost enough to make me regret poking fun at him.
“Look, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Harper smile like that.
Clearly, it was good for her. And I know it may come as a shock to you, but I try to do what I can to make sure she doesn’t feel like she’s missing anything by only having one parent present. ”
“It doesn’t.” Though he said it as a rhetorical statement, I couldn’t help the words from spilling out. Because it didn’t come as a shock at all. Despite only being around him a handful of hours at best, I already knew that Duke would do whatever it took to make Harper happy.
Duke shifted on his feet, looking uncomfortable at what I’d said, but he continued. “If doing this sleepover thing will make her happy, then I’ll do it. Maybe you could teach me a thing or two about nail beds or whatever.” He waved his hand in the air awkwardly and I laughed.
“Alright. I’ll see what I can do. Hopefully, you’re not a lost cause.”
Duke grabbed the bag strap, tugging it free from my grasp. He hesitated beside me, dropping his head so his lips grazed the shell of my ear. “I may be an old dog, but I can still learn new tricks, honey.”
Then, as calm as ever, he turned and walked into his house—leaving me standing in his driveway with soaked panties and a sudden desire to see exactly what new tricks he was referring to.