Chapter 30
Note to self:
Don’t get jealous;
get even.
A finger poked my cheek, then my closed eye, and from there, my mouth. I held perfectly still, listening to the soft giggles.
“Auntie Ali,” Hallie whispered in a voice that could probably be heard three counties over. “Are you awake? Daddy said you can get me ice cream for breakfast.”
I cracked open an eye and stared up at Hallie, her hair wild around her face like she’d walked through a wind tunnel at some point last night. “Your daddy said you could have ice cream for breakfast?”
She nodded. “Uh-huh. Daddy said ice cream is made of milk and that’s what we put on cereal. Plus, it had fuut in it and Daddy said fuut is good for you. What’s your favorite fuut?”
I squinted. I should remind Abe that ice cream was not its own food group. “That was a lot of words all at once, missy.”
“What’s your favorite fuut?” she asked again.
“Fuut?”
She nodded her head, her big brown eyes watching me expectantly. “Your favorite fuut.”
What in the world was this child saying? “I-I don’t…”
“Her favorite fruit is watermelon,” a gravelly, low voice said from the direction of the couch.
“Oh, fruit. Yes, what he said. Watermelon is my favorite.” I smiled, pleased Theo knew my favorite fruit, which was a pretty weird thing to be pleased about.
“Auntie.” Hallie tugged on my arm. “Is that boy your boyfwiend?”
“Theo? Nope, not my boyfriend.”
“Could he be my boyfriend then?” she asked.
I sat up and Hallie climbed onto my lap. “What kinds of things would you do with a boyfriend?”
“He could take me to the park and make me cookies with the sprinkles on top and watch all the princess movies with me, and I could paint his nails all kinds of colors and then we could sing songs together and he would always give me all the red MMs ’cause they’re the best MMs.”
“I like your priorities,” I said, trying and failing to hold in a smile. “I think Theo would love to do all those things.”
“I’m taken,” Theo said, his voice muffled, and I thought he might be laughing. “Aunt Ali is my girlfriend.”
I threw a pillow at him.
His head shot up and he shoved his hair out of his face. It looked like it had grown three sizes overnight.
Save me, please, he mouthed.
I rolled my eyes.
With his hands pressed together, he shot me sad puppy dog eyes that made all my inside parts squeal. Why was he so damn adorable? It wasn’t fair.
“Fine. I guess he’s my boyfriend.” I can just imagine that conversation with Abe. No, not a real girlfriend. It’s pretend. We’re fake-dating to trick a four-year-old. Very mature. “But you know what? I’ll let you share him with me.”
“Sharing is what fwiends do.” Hallie grinned. “Does that mean we’re fwiends?”
“Well, of course, we are.” I ruffled her hair. “How about we get some breakfast ice cream?”
More enthusiastic nodding. She held her hand out. It was sticky and a little sweaty but so tiny. I took it and let her lead me to the kitchen.
Over my shoulder, I called out to Theo, “You coming?”
“Is my girlfriend asking?”
Hallie and I grinned at each other and answered at the same time, “Yes.”
“Can a person eat too many oranges, I wonder?” I asked.
“No. Oranges are perfect.” Theo held one up reverently. “They’re like edible sunshine.”
I bit back a laugh. “I thought black licorice was perfect.”
“Pay attention. Black licorice is the perfect snack.” He dropped the orange in the plastic sack with the others and tied it off before setting it in the cart. “Oranges are the perfect fruit.”
“Ah, of course. What an idiot I am.”
He shoulder-bumped me. “Stick with me. I’ll smarten you up.”
While Abe was in a whirlwind of washing clothes and packing, Theo announced he needed to gas up the car and check the tire pressure. Abe had given him a list of stuff to pick up at the grocery store on the way and I’d been told by Mack to go “help the poor man.” And even though I was more than confident Theo could handle it on his own, I jumped at the chance.
Because it was alone time with Theo and I was pathetically eighty-five percent in love with the guy.
Theo pulled to a stop in front of the applesauce. From his pocket, he took the list Abe had written out for us. “Applesauce pouches.”
We stared at the rows in front of us. There were a shocking number of choices, a smorgasbord of flavors—carrot applesauce, cherry applesauce, carrot-cherry applesauce.
“Who knew applesauce wasn’t just applesauce anymore?” I asked.
“Another reason oranges are superior. You won’t find them mixed with carrots in a pouch.”
“You are such a weirdo sometimes.” I found the plain old boring applesauce and tossed it into the cart.
Theo stuffed the list back in his pocket but when he pulled his hand out, a small slip of paper fluttered to the ground. I picked it up and discovered it was a phone number with the name Tammy written in curlicue letters above it.
I gasped in outrage. “She gave you her number?”
“I meant to throw it away. She slipped it to me when I checked out yesterday.” He attempted to take it from me, but I stuffed it in my pocket.
“I cannot believe she gave you her number. What a…a…Oh!” With a growl, I pushed the shopping cart faster. “She knows we’re a couple. We practically made out right in front of her.”
Theo trotted next to me. “I don’t know that we technically made out.”
Abruptly I stopped and glared at him. “Excuse me? We definitely made out. I was there. What a…a…shrew for slipping you her phone number anyway.”
“Technically, we aren’t dating either.”
“She doesn’t know that.” I began pushing the cart again, although I had no idea where we were headed. Also, I was absolutely not thinking about why Theo having this phone number in his possession annoyed me so much.
We weren’t a thing. Despite what Mae, Mack, Hallie, and a strange café owner in Texas said. Get a grip, Ramos.
“I’ll rip it up right now,” Theo said from behind me. “You just have to give it back.”
Stopping yet again in the middle of what was now the cookie aisle, I pulled out the slip of paper. “This? You want this?”
“Yes. I’ll throw it away.” His eyes gleamed with humor. Which was also annoying.
“Nope.” I stared at the number, smiling like an evil queen in a fairy tale. “I have plans for this number.”
Theo dropped his head and shook it, but I still saw the smile he tried to hide. “Ali.”
“Theo.”
“Don’t do anything crazy.”
“Pffsht, whatever.” I folded the slip of paper and stuffed it in my bra. “Now let’s finish shopping.”
Theo stepped closer and leaned in, so his mouth was an inch from my ear. His breath was warm against my skin when he spoke. “You aren’t jealous, are you?”
Ignoring the zing racing down my spine, I smacked him on the shoulder. “You wish, Theodore. You wish.”