Chapter 11
Penny
My eyes bore into the framed drawing on the wall. I decided to keep it as a reminder that the asshole next door doesn’t want anything to do with my daughter, not because it’s beautiful or anything.
“I still can’t believe he drew that,” Jordan says, looking at the same picture. “It looks exactly like a photograph. Like I took the picture of you and Autumn and not just you. He must have spent days or even weeks on this.”
I drain half my wine glass, glaring at the drawing. It’s been almost a week since the disastrous date when Declan stepped in, and I can’t help but internally smirk at Declan’s reaction when I told him I heard him and his sister.
He looked so guilty.
I hum at Jordan’s assessment of the picture, not wanting to talk about it anymore.
“And Autumn’s unicorn drawing. That girl is obsessed with it.” She laughs, and I internally roll my eyes.
Yeah, Autumn made me put the picture above her bed, and every night since, she tells the unicorn good night and asks it to give Declan magical dreams. She also asks if we can visit Declan every day, and I have to lie to her and tell her he’s working and can’t be bothered.
“Are you going to say anything?” Jordan looks at me expectantly.
“What? I have been.”
“No, you haven’t. You’ve been humming and grunting.”
I haven’t told her what I heard him say on the landing, so she doesn’t know why I have such a sudden disdain for the man next door.
“Penny.” She snaps her fingers in front of my face to get my attention. “Okay, what’s going on? You’re being weird. You have been for weeks now.”
I run my fingers through my now short hair and set my wine glass down on the coffee table. “I heard Declan dissing my daughter on Christmas and haven’t talked to him since.”
Her eyes go wide. “Excuse me, what? What do you mean he ‘dissed’ Autumn?”
I blow out a breath. “He was on the landing and said he doesn’t like kids and that he wasn’t going to play daddy to ‘some little girl.’ And that’s a direct quote.” I point out to her.
“He fucking said that? Oh, hell no.” She stands and heads towards the door.
I jump off the couch and grab her arm before she can turn the doorknob, stopping her in her tracks. “I gave him a piece of my mind, don’t worry.”
She looks at the door, glaring lasers at it like she’ll be able to penetrate his door and do him harm. “You might have, but I haven’t. He needs to know he can’t mess with Autumn… or you.”
“He knows,” I drop her arm, “but that shitty date I went on last week… Declan was the one to throw the guy out.”
She blinks twice. “He was? You never told me that. Why do I want to throat-punch the guy? Both Mark and Declan.”
I bark out a laugh, grab the bottle of wine off the kitchen counter, and head back to the couch.
“You’ll have to get in line. The worst part is that Declan has been texting me every day, apologizing.
He’s overcompensating and looks like an idiot.
You can’t just take back that you said you hate kids.
He thinks we can still be friends after a comment like that. ”
“I’m sorry, Penny. You guys looked like you had chemistry. I thought he was going to sweep you off your feet and fuck you into next year.”
I shake my head and chuckle, hiding the fact that at one point, that’s exactly what I wanted Declan to do; fuck me into next year.
“We were just friends, Jay. But the fact that he said he wasn’t going to play daddy to Autumn just kind of broke my heart.
I never expected anything like that from him.
Only his friendship. And he went and ruined it.
” I top off both our glasses and take a hefty swig of the two-buck chuck.
“Friendship, my ass. But,” she lifts her glass in the air to clink with mine, “forget the asshole. You can do so much better.”
I cheers her glass and we talk shit about him the rest of the night.
By the time she leaves, I feel mildly better about the whole situation.
He’s one man in a world with billions. I don’t need him as a friend or anything else for that matter.
At least that’s what I convince myself in my state of tipsiness.
I’m washing my wine glass when I hear a slight knock on the front door. I drop my head between my shoulders and blow out a breath because I’m pretty sure it’s Declan on the other side.
I dry my hands on a kitchen towel and head to the door. I know I shouldn’t open it, so instead, I lay my ear against the wood grain and say, “Go away, Declan.”
“Please, will you just talk to me?” he asks from the other side, begging.
“There’s nothing left to say.”
“Yes. There is. But it would be easier if you let me talk to you face-to-face.”
I roll my forehead on the door, contemplating my next move. I hate that he put me in this position. I hate that he said what he said. And I hate that I’m about to open the door.
I unlock and open it, coming face-to-face with the beautiful man next door. He’s wearing gray sweatpants and a black T-shirt and looks too fucking hot for his own good.
Asshole.
“What do you want?” I ask, crossing my arms over my body protectively.
“To apologize,” he says back.
“I saw your messages. You apologized. It’s done.”
He shakes his head. “No. I need you to know that I didn’t mean what I said.” I quirk an eyebrow at him, calling out his bullshit. “Okay, I might have meant what I said, but–”
I put up my hand. “You can stop right there. I’m sorry, Declan, but there’s nothing you can say that will justify your words.”
“Mommy?” The small, groggy voice of my daughter sounds from behind me.
Shit.
I turn towards her. “Go back to bed, baby girl.”
She rubs her eyes and then they go wide with recognition. “Declan!” she yells and runs toward the hulk of a man standing in my doorway.
I try to stop her, but she moves out of my grasp. And in a surprise move I wasn’t expecting, Declan crouches down and opens his arms for her.
My daughter wraps her arms around Declan’s neck, and he wraps his arms around her tiny body. His eyes meet mine, but he closes them a moment later to soak in Autumn’s hug.
My eyes start to sting. I want to be mad at him. I am mad at him. But the devil’s advocate says he’s genuinely sorry. I just don’t know what sorry entails. Will he want to be around her? Or is he going to keep giving her the cold shoulder?
I clear my throat. “Declan has to go to bed, Autumn,” I lie to her. I can’t watch my daughter fall in love with a man who isn’t going to give her the time of day.
Autumn pulls away just enough to look at Declan face-to-face. She places her little hands on his cheeks and says, “You look tired. You need to go to sleep.” And then wraps her arms around his neck for one last squeeze before coming to my side.
“Go pick out a book. I’ll read you another one,” I tell her.
She turns to leave but stops to look back at Declan. “Does the unicorn give you magical dreams?”
His brows furrow, and he looks to me for help. I nod my head to let him know to say yes, and he does. That seems to make Autumn happy, and she leaves to go to her room.
“What did she mean by that?”
I lick my lips, contemplating whether I should tell him or not, but I do. “The drawing you did for her… she asks the unicorn to give you magical dreams every night.”
He rubs the scruff on his face and blows out a breath. He feels bad. It’s written all over his face.
“Good night, Declan,” I tell him, trying to get him out of my presence so I can think straight. Everything about him has my body wanting things it shouldn’t want, and it doesn’t help that there’s alcohol running through my veins right now.
He gives me a sad smile and nods. “Good night.” He turns to go into his apartment, but before I close the door on his form, he turns his face towards mine. “Penny…”
I pause to hear what he has to say.
“I’ll see you later. Because this,” he waves his hand between us, “this isn’t over yet.”
~ ~ ~
Declan
I fucked up. We all know this.
And that hug from Autumn solidified that fact. I don’t want Penny to avoid me anymore. I want my friend back. And she has another thing coming if she thinks I’m not going to fight for her and Autumn’s friendship.
This shit ends right here.
Or starts, depending on how you want to look at it.
~ ~ ~
Penny
Monday mornings are our busiest time at the coffee shop. Everyone wants that caffeine hit to get through the first day of the week.
Sage is at the register, handing me cup after cup, and I make every drink as fast as I can through the morning rush.
When it dies down around ten, my dad comes into the shop. “Hey, Pen. How’d it go this morning?”
“Would have been better if you showed up two hours ago,” I joke. “But we handled it. What are you doing in here?”
“I was hoping you could go over and talk to Declan for me. I want to figure out a rewards plan that could benefit both shops.”
I blink at him. “Um. Can’t you do that?”
“No can do. I have some numbers to crunch and want you to do it.”
I want to groan, and I would if we weren’t in the shop, but I try to treat my mom and dad like I would real bosses.
“Sure,” I tell him, even though every cell in my body wants to say no.
“You should go over there now. He was sitting behind the reception desk when I walked by.” He smiles and heads to the office, leaving me staring after him.
I feel like he could have done this himself, but for some reason, he pawned the task off on me.
Reluctantly, I hang up my apron and smooth away the wrinkles on my black, wide-legged linen pants. I check to make sure I don’t have any weird stains on my white, cropped band T-shirt and slowly make my way next door.
My steps are slow because I really don’t want to see Declan, but this is business, and I need to put away my pride for the sake of the coffee shop.
I still don’t know if I want to forgive Declan, but my bleeding heart thinks I should. Sometimes I hate being a nice person. I wish I could be one of those people who don’t give a shit about anything, but that’s not me. I blame my mom for this trait.