Chapter 42
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
DELANEY
“ C ade! Get your butt down here! You’re going to be late!” I shouted up the stairs.
I heard the thunder of footsteps and shook my head at how one kid could make so much noise.
“Why am I being punished like this?” Blake lamented as she came down the stairs, looking slightly like death, and I winced in guilt. “Coffee. Please, God. Let there be coffee.”
“Fresh pot in the kitchen,” I shouted after her as she drifted away.
Cade hurtled down the stairs, his sneakers in his hand, and sprinted into the kitchen for breakfast. I swear we used to be better at mornings than this.
I shook my head as I followed the two of them and saw Cade sliding into a chair at the kitchen table, his eyes wide in surprise.
Yeah. Trace might have gone ever so slightly overboard with breakfast.
“Bacon!” Trace started to slip some onto Cade’s plate as he shuffled around the table, picking up random plates and then putting them down again. “I didn’t know if you’d want eggs or waffles, so I made both. Then I made a fruit salad because I didn’t know if you should have some fruit because you’re a kid, and it’s good for you.”
I looked at the breakfast burritos, French toast, sausage links, and avocado toast and wondered how he’d reasoned those out but chose not to say anything.
“Dad, chill. And I’ll take a waffle.”
Trace practically had stars in his eyes at the mention of the word Dad. I was pretty sure that Cade was enjoying saying it, too, because since it had slipped out this weekend at Trace’s parent’s house, he’d taken every opportunity to say it.
“You guys are so cute.” Blake sighed as she propped her elbows on the table and dropped her chin in her hands as she watched Trace fuss around Cade.
She must have downed a coffee already to have gone from her grumpy morning self to this starry-eyed version so fast.
As I helped myself to some bacon and eggs, I watched the people I loved the most in the world around the table. This was such a normal thing to happen in the morning in most houses, but it was the first time I’d ever really had this. Even back in the city, it was rare that the three of us would sit down and all have breakfast together. We were all just too busy, and mornings were always the worst.
So much was changing, and most of it was for the better.
“Did you say you have some deliveries coming today?” Trace asked around a mouthful of sausage.
“Yeah, but the tracking says they won’t be here until mid-morning, so I have plenty of time to get Cade to school and then get back to the house.”
“First day of a new school,” Blake pointed out yet again. “You’re going to break so many hearts today, kid.”
Trace laughed and shook his head while Cade flushed that shade of red that only kids could manage.
He was still firmly in his girls are gross phase, and I, for one, was glad of it. I did, however, hope that he’d find some kids to be friends with today. Moving him at the end of the school year didn’t seem like the best idea, but Trace had pointed out that it gave him a chance to make friends to see over the break. Even Cade was excited to get started at school. I was the only one who seemed to be nervous about it.
“Do you mind dropping me at the office after we do the school run?” Trace asked.
I looked at him in surprise, and he must have realized why without me even needing to say anything.
“I’ve got a couple of things I need to tie up, and I want to make sure that Rosie is okay.”
“Yeah, no problem. You know, if she’s as good as you say she is, she’s always welcome to come and work with us as soon as we have the business moving.”
Trace perked up a bit at the suggestion. “I like that idea. Rosie is a good kid. She works hard so she can look after her little sister. I don’t want my falling out with my parents to affect that for her.”
I could see why that was important to Trace. He and his brothers had always been close when we were teenagers, and it would have hurt him to see them move away without looking back. I was surprised he’d managed to stay around his parents for as long as he had, to be honest. I knew he must have held some resentment toward them for pushing Xander and Gage away.
“Okay, how long do you think you’ll be? I need to go to the store and do a few things in town, so I could drive you home if you don’t think it will take too long. I just need to be back by eleven for the first of the deliveries.”
“I should be an hour tops.”
Blake sighed happily, and I looked at her in confusion. “You guys are the picture of domestic bliss. I feel good about my decision to move out now.”
It came so out of left field that my mouth hung open in surprise.
“Move out?”
“Yeah, you didn’t think I was going to hang around and be your third wheel for the rest of my life, did you?” Blake laughed, and I tried hard not to admit that I had kind of assumed exactly that. Not that I’d ever consider her a third wheel.
“You don’t have to move out because of me,” Trace said. “We all love having you around.”
Had I mentioned how much I loved this man recently?
“Cade and I discussed it,” Blake said, and I looked at my son in shock, who was just nodding slowly as he shoved most of a waffle into his mouth. “I need the space, and I feel like you guys are solid enough that you don’t need my support anymore. Not that I won’t be around if you need me. Especially if breakfast is going to be like this every day. Although, Trace, babe, no one likes avocado. Food that comes looking like it’s pre-chewed shouldn’t be considered food.”
Cade snorted out a laugh, and I had a moment where I was worried he was going to choke. He grabbed his glass of orange juice and downed it before he leaped from his chair. “Mom, did you see where my backpack was?”
“It’s by the door.”
I was so confused right now. Weren’t we going to at least discuss this?
“Lanes, I can see you starting to spiral,” Blake said gently. “I’m going to be just in town, and I’ll be around all the time. Especially when I take you up on that offer of studio space in a couple of months.”
“We should look around the barns and see which you prefer, so I can get someone in to do any work on it in the meantime.”
I looked around for the notebook I’d been using earlier and heard Blake’s chuckle as I did. We both knew exactly what I was doing. This was how I dealt with chaos when it came to my life. It all got filed away into a nice, orderly list. It was broken down into manageable pieces that became goals rather than things to be dreaded. Yes, I might be a slight control freak, but it had gotten me through life to this point, and it was a coping mechanism that made me productive, so I refused to let it go.
When the paper and pen slid across the table to me, I wasn’t even surprised that it was Trace who did it. This was a habit I’d had for a long time.
I looked down at it and realized that I didn’t have anything to write down. There was nothing about Blake leaving the house that would really change anything for me. Not practically, at least.
I looked up at my best friend and saw her watching me carefully. “I’m going to miss you.”
“Nah, I’m not going to give you a chance. You’ve got a few days to get your Blake fix. I need to sort out some furniture to be delivered to my new place and get some bits packed up here first.”
“What are you going to do about your apartment in the city?”
“I already found someone to sublet until the end of my lease, and then they’re going to take it over. I let the landlord know you’d probably be doing the same, and he said to tell you that he has a list of people who would be happy to sublet from you, or he’s happy to just break the lease now. Apparently, people are desperate to get into one of the two bedrooms.”
This was how it had always been with Blake and me. We always had each other’s back, and I couldn’t be more grateful that she’d made the decision to move to Willowbrook too. I didn’t want to lose her from my life, not because I relied on her, even though I did, but because I couldn’t imagine not seeing her face every day.
“I’ll give him a call.”
I grabbed another sausage link and took a bite as I looked around the kitchen. “Maybe we should redecorate.”
“Ooh, she’s nesting now,” Blake joked. “Be prepared for a never-ending list of jobs, Trace.”
He looked at me across the table, sipping on his coffee as he did. “Can’t wait.”
And it genuinely sounded like he couldn’t.
“I need lunch!” Cade shouted, dashing back into the kitchen with his coat, shoes, and backpack already on.
I glanced at my watch in panic and saw that we still had ten minutes before we needed to leave. This might be my fault for telling him that he was going to be late. In my defense, I thought he’d take more than six seconds to eat his breakfast.
“Already done.” Trace leaped out of his seat and went to the fridge. “I made you a turkey sandwich with all the extras.”
He passed a lunch sack to Cade that frankly looked enormous, but the excited look on his face made me hold back from checking what was inside. Maybe the extra snacks could be helpful on his first day. Anyway, Trace was clearly enjoying himself, being all domesticated and fussing around his son.
“We’ve still got ten minutes if you want to eat some more breakfast,” I pointed out, and Cade spun on the spot.
He was so excited to get to school. It was adorable.
The golden retriever energy was strong in this house today.
“I’m going to grab my new baseball glove,” Cade said and sprinted out of the kitchen instead.
“But you don’t have practice today,” I shouted after him.
“You never know.” Trace looked out the kitchen window for a minute, deep in thought. “We probably have enough space that we could set up a practice field.”
“That’s an amazing idea, Dad!” Cade ran back into the kitchen, his lunch in one hand and the glove in the other, practically bouncing on the spot in excitement.
“We’ve still got eight minutes. Let’s go check out a spot that could work.”
And they both ran out the kitchen door, each as excited as the other.
I looked at Blake in exasperation. “Surely he’s not being serious.”
We might have had the land, but did I really want an entire baseball practice pitch set up outside? Not that I really had any idea what that was.
“Admit it, you love this.” She smirked at me before shoving a piece of avocado toast into her mouth.
I knew she liked avocados!
I grinned and shrugged, reaching for a piece myself. This was pretty amazing, but maybe I’d keep that to myself for now. You know, in case I needed to put a stop to whatever crazy idea they’d come up with next.