Chapter 32 #2
Henley wipes tears from his eyes as he tries to stop laughing, but he's still far too pleased with himself.
“You'll pay for that,” I say, smirking.
“Oh, I will, huh?” He comes up behind me, his hands on my waist, and I shoot him a look.
He freezes.
“What?” he asks under his breath.
“Not in front of the girls,” I say, between clenched teeth.
I try my best to look like I’m smiling, but it’s hard to smile and clench teeth at the same time.
“What? Don't touch your waist?”
“Don't touch me at all,” I continue between gritted teeth.
He looks like he wants to laugh again, but he drops his hands and holds them up.
“Okay, whatever you say, but for the record, I think they would be okay with it,” he whispers, a little too loud for my liking.
I shoot him another look and sit back down where the girls have gotten back in place. He puts the lure on our hooks and hands us our fishing poles. Cassidy has hers already, but Audrey and I are waiting for Henley to do ours, and Gracie is still playing with the lures.
“You're making me nervous with all those fish hooks,” I tell her.
“Don’t worry. Daddy tells me to be so careful too,” she says.
“He's right about that, not about the maggots, but he's right about being careful.”
She giggles. “That was terrible.” She makes a face.
“It sure was.” I lean toward the girls and whisper, “We're going to have to figure out a way to get him back.”
“What do we do?” Cassidy asks, excitement in her eyes.
“I’m not sure yet, but I think it will come to us. Let's just watch for opportunities today,” I tell them, and they all nod excitedly.
“What's going on over here? What are you guys doing?” Henley asks.
“Nothing,” we all say.
It's his turn to look suspicious as he tries to figure out what we're up to. Later that night, I realize we’re going to have to make our opportunity because the day has been flawless from start to finish.
We've caught enough fish to eat for supper.
We've swam in the pool, eaten till our bellies are full, and laughed more than I have in a long time. It’s been the best day.
When Henley gets up to turn off the grill, I lean in and whisper, “Okay, here's what I'm thinking. When we go in for the night, we could stage jump scares around the house…” I look around and they nod in agreement. “Who wants to be behind the door in the kitchen?”
“I do,” Gracie says.
“I’ll hide in the closet by the stairs and jump out when he passes,” Audrey says.
We all giggle quietly.
“I’ll be in the bedroom,” Cassidy says.
“Oh, this is all good. Okay, I'll be in the bathroom. And remember, we have to be quiet.”
They agree, and I stick my hand out in the middle of the table and they pile their hands on top.
In that moment, I get a wave of giddiness.
Henley’s girls are accepting me. I love being around them and I think they love being around me too…
even knowing I’m their dad’s girlfriend.
I want to laugh and cry and jump in the air and dance and scream out the loudest woohoo!
But instead, I just smile at them conspiratorially. “All right, it's on.”
By the time he comes back to the table, we've got our game faces on. I look at Gracie and she stands up with her plate.
“I think I'll go inside now. The bugs are starting to bother me,” she says.
I’m impressed by how convincing she sounds.
“Is the citronella candle not working?” Henley asks.
“No, I think I got a bite,” she says, grinning at me.
He looks at me to see what's so funny and when I'm just smiling, he shakes his head.
“Okay, I guess we can take it in,” he says.
Audrey and Cassidy jump up faster than I’ve seen them move all day and they head inside.
“Wow, I guess they're all ready to go in.” He looks toward the house in surprise.
“I think I will too. I kind of need to check on something I left in there earlier,” I mumble.
I pick up as much as I can carry and hustle into the house.
We each get in our places and when Henley walks in, I can hear one by one as they jump out and scare him, and he yells and cracks up each time.
I'm trying so hard not to giggle in my place behind the bathroom door.
I have to wait a while. I hear him calling me, but I don't answer.
When I hear him startled by Cassidy, it takes everything in me not to giggle out loud.
“What is going on, you guys? Is this payback for the maggots or what?”
I cover my mouth and laugh. I almost miss it when the door starts opening, but just in the nick of time, I jump out and say, ha! He jumps so high and groans, laughing.
“It's like the first time should have been my clue, but you've all gotten me every time.” He leans against the back of the bathroom door, breathing hard and laughing.
“You're just too innocent, Mr. Football Player,” I tell him.
“Or are the four of you just up to no good? My kind of no good,” he adds, putting his hands on my waist.
“Ah, ah, ah,” I say.
“No little eyes are looking,” he says.
“Not until later,” I sing.
“Oh, you’ll pay for that,” he promises.
And he makes good on that promise after the girls go home.