Chapter 7
Penny
The coffee shop was busier than ever today, and I know it’s going to be the same tomorrow because of all the last-minute Christmas shopping.
I’m beat but motherhood doesn’t stop.
“All I want for Christmas is youuuuu!” Autumn sings at the top of her lungs.
We’re elbows deep in making Christmas cookies and have the music turned up to a ten on the volume scale. Autumn is singing while putting red and green sprinkles all over the frosting-covered sweet treats, and for every sprinkle that lands on the cookies, she puts a pinch in her mouth.
I pull out our third batch of snowman sugar cookies and set them on the stovetop to cool down.
“Can we bring Dec some cookies, mommy?”
I’m in the middle of rolling balls of chocolate chip cookies and falter at her question.
“Please, mommy,” she repeats, giving me her signature puppy dog eyes.
I can never say no to those eyes. “Uh… sure, baby. We can bring him some cookies.”
“Okay. I’m done. Let’s go,” she says and hops off her stool to put her shoes on, even though we’re only going three feet across the landing.
I guess we’re doing this right now. No time like the present.
I pull out a plate and load it with half a dozen crazily decorated snowman cookies.
“Put that one on the plate, please,” Autumn demands while pointing at the cookie she just decorated.
It looks more like a melted snowman, but I do as she asks because why the fuck not?
These aren’t gourmet creations. We literally do this so we can take them over to my parents and she can munch on them while getting a sugar high on Christmas day. Nobody else eats them.
“Let’s go, mom,” she says impatiently.
“Excuse me,” I tell her. “That’s mommy to you. Not mom.”
She rolls her eyes, and I ruffle her hair. I grab the plate of cookies, and we head to the landing to knock on Declan’s door.
Over the last week and a half, since we’ve been unbroken up, we’ve chatted here and there. It’s not exactly like it was before; we don’t talk every day, but it’s similar, familiar. My heart does this little flutter thing anytime I get a message from him, though, and quite frankly, it’s pathetic.
That’s why I’ve decided to be active on the dating app for real this time and have a date planned with a financial advisor for after the new year.
Because a new year equals a new me. I’m more than ready to put myself out there and find love because I can’t wait around for love to find me anymore.
So, I’m taking the bull by the horns and going for it.
It still doesn’t stop the little flutter my heart does at the prospect of getting to see Declan face-to-face, though. I hear rustling behind the door before it swings open, and instead of Declan, a beautiful blonde woman stands before us.
“Um, I’m sorry. We were looking for Declan, but we’ll just come back later,” I say and slowly back up towards my door.
The woman is dressed in a killer emerald green pantsuit with a black silk camisole and matching heels, and I’m standing here wearing flour-covered overalls, a ratty old band T-shirt, and Santa socks.
Never mind that my hair hasn’t been washed in four days because hers looks like she just got a blowout. I’m basically an ogre next to her.
“Who are you?” Autumn asks.
The blonde looks from me to Autumn and then smiles. She has dimples for Christ’s sake. Could she be any more beautiful?
She holds out her hand to Autumn. “I’m Kate, and you are…”
Autumn shakes her hand like a miniature adult. “I’m Autumn, and this is my mommy.” She throws her thumb over her shoulder. “We live right there.”
Kate looks at me and reaches her hand out. “You must be Penny, I’ve heard a lot about you,” she says and gives me a genuine smile.
I step forward and shake her hand, confused by how she knows about me. Surely Declan doesn’t talk about me to the women he brings home. That would be weird.
“I’m Declan’s sister.”
Oh. Oh.
Now I feel like an idiot.
I finally get my head on straight and say, “It’s nice to meet you. We were just making cookies, and Autumn wanted to give some to Declan.”
“Declan’s just in the shower. Why don’t you come on in?”
“Oh no, we wouldn’t want to impose.”
“Please, mommy?” Autumn asks with her puppy dog eyes.
I chew on my bottom lip for a second before I relent. “Just for a minute. The oven is still on.”
Kate widens the door, and we follow behind her. I take in the apartment, and it’s not what I expected. I thought since he’s a bachelor, Declan would have a dark and moody space, but that’s not the case.
A light gray couch lines his living room wall, and across from it is a really cool entertainment center reminiscent of the reception desk in his tattoo shop.
He’s got a dark blue Persian-style rug on the floor and a fiddle leaf fig tree in the corner.
His kitchen isn’t updated like mine is but it’s clean, free of any counterspace mess.
“I can take the cookies from you,” Kate offers.
I must have blanked out for a second because I flinch. “Uh, sure. Thanks,” I say and hand them over.
“Can I get you two something to drink? I saw some orange juice in the fridge.”
“No, thank you,” I tell her while Autumn says, “Yes, please.”
Kate checks to see if it’s okay with me and I nod. She pulls out a small bottle of orange juice, and Autumn thanks her and then takes it to the wooden coffee table in the living room. Kate moves to stand next to me while we watch Autumn settle in like she owns the place.
“You had the same facial expression on your face as Declan did when I unexpectedly showed up on his doorstep,” Kate says.
My gaze snaps to hers, and I chuckle. “Yeah, it’s been a long day and I just… wasn’t expecting anyone else to answer the door besides Declan.”
I hear a door open a second later and have a straight view down the hallway. I watch Declan’s rippling back as he heads into his bedroom with only a towel around his waist.
I swallow hard, and Kate lets out a chuckle that has me turning red.
She just saw me checking out her brother.
Shit.
I clear my throat and ask, “So you surprised him for the holidays?”
She nods her head. “I did. I live in Florida and work for our dad. I gave myself a few days off because I knew he wasn’t going to do anything for Christmas this year.”
“Hey, sis, what do you want to ea–” Declan pauses from drying his hair with his towel as he catches sight of me.
His gaze then moves to Autumn, who rushes up to him. “Dec, we brought you cookies!” she exclaims as she wraps her arms around his legs.
“Give him some space, Autumn. Boundaries,” I remind her. I’ve been trying to be better about teaching her that we can’t just fling ourselves at every Tom, Dick, and Harry. She’s so trusting, and I don’t want her to think everyone is okay with it.
She listens to me and pulls back. “I’m sorry. But we brought you cookies for Christmas. I made them myself.”
Kate is chuckling beside me, and Declan just nods.
He looks back at me, and his eyes trail my body from head to toe. His expression is neutral, and I can’t tell what he’s thinking. I know I look a mess and shove my hands in my pockets so I don’t fidget in front of him.
This is the first time I’ve seen him since the night of his opening, and he looks just like I remember: hot. And the fact that he’s wearing gray sweatpants that skim the floor and a white T-shirt makes him even hotter.
It’s probably because guys with tattoos are thirst traps. Nothing more.
Lies.
“We should get going. Autumn just wanted to give them to you and say hi,” I tell him.
“Uh, sure. Thank you.”
“Don’t eat them all at once. You’ll get an upset tummy,” Autumn suggests, and Declan’s gaze moves back to her.
The corner of his mouth lifts, and for a second, I think he’s going to give her one of his dimpled smiles. No such luck, though.
I have no idea why he’s so reserved around Autumn, but it’s almost like he doesn’t want to like her. Like he’s actively trying to keep his distance.
I shrug off the thought and tell Autumn we have to go.
“Bye, Dec,” she says one last time before hugging his legs and skipping toward me.
“It was nice to meet you, Kate,” I tell her. She doesn’t hesitate to wrap me in a warm hug.
“Merry Christmas,” she says back.
I look over my shoulder at Declan as we reach the door and give him a small smile and wave.
Kate is the one to shut the door behind me, and before I can let out the breath I was holding, I hear her say, “You are so fucked.”
~ ~ ~
Declan
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Let’s order some food,” I suggest and pull out my phone.
“I know you’re not blind. That girl… or should I say, woman, is like some kind of natural beauty unicorn. And her kid is fucking adorable.”
“Why does everyone keep talking about her kid?”
“Maybe because she’s a package deal. If you’re going to date the hot neighbor, you have to woo her kid, too. Autumn seems smitten with you.”
Yeah, and I have no idea why. For some reason, the tiny human likes me, not that I’ve given her any reason to.
“Me and kids don’t mix.” I shrug because it’s true. “And I’m not dating the hot neighbor.”
“So you admit she’s hot?” Kate asks, her eyebrows dancing up and down.
I roll my eyes because, of course, Penny is hot. No. Not hot. Drop-dead gorgeous.
“And since when do you not like kids?” Kate adds.
I rub the bridge of my nose in frustration. “It’s not that I don’t like kids per se, but I don’t do relationships with women who have kids or want kids.”
“I still don’t understand,” she says. I know she’s confused, and I don’t blame her. But we’ve never really talked about this stuff before and for good reason.
Kate is almost a decade younger than me, and when she was born, I fell in love with the pudgy little potato the moment I saw her. I tried my best to shield her from all the shit our parents were going through when we were young, but I know I failed. And for that, I won’t ever forgive myself.
“I don’t want to talk about this right now. Can we drop it?”