He shifted in the plush blue velvet chair, adjusting the lapel of his robe. Carli looked away as his knees went a little too wide for her to handle, but she laughed as he said, “I can sense you dressing me with your eyes.”
“Sorry, Captain Manspreader. I’m just not used to seeing you without . . . clothes.”
“The human body is a beautiful thing. Nothing to be ashamed of here. I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. But only in a completely consensual and equitable exchange.” Troy still had some reprogramming to do before he was fully evolved, but at least he was trying.
“I’m going to take a hard pass on that, Troy.”
“Meh. Your loss.”
“Uh-huh.”
He shifted in the chair again. “So when they sugar my nethers, it won’t hurt, right? Anything with sugar seems like it should be pretty comfortable.”
Carli decided this was a voyage of discovery Troy needed to take on his own. “I’m sure you can handle it,” she said. “In all honesty, I’ve never sugared, so I don’t really know.”
“You’ve never sugared? Do you mean, like, you’re in your . . . natural state?” She’d never seen Troy blush before. The moment was worth the embarrassment.
“I’ve waxed. I’ve never sugared.”
“Ah, so this is your first time, too? I think that makes us sugar virgins. I think we’re really bonding now.”
“Uh-huh,” Carli said again. “Sure.” And while there were few things she wanted to think about less than Troy Buckman’s nethers, she was tempted to listen outside the door just to hear him yelp when he realized that sugaring wasn’t all that sweet.
This was their fourth pretaped segment this week. Yesterday they’d tried out the new Glenville ropes course, and Carli had discovered she was even more afraid of heights than she’d realized. She’d powered through, and Hannah had gotten some great footage. Thank goodness, because she was never doing that again. The day before, she and Troy had visited the new penguin exhibit at the zoo, where he wore a tuxedo so the fancy little birds, as he called them, wouldn’t make him feel underdressed. And before that, they’d visited a podiatrist to learn all about good foot health. That segment sort of veered off course when Troy kept referring to the doctor as Paul Bunion.
The past few weeks had been a whirlwind of job stuff and dog stuff and school stuff, and she’d been glad for all the things that occupied her mind and helped her not think about Ben and the fact that he’d had an overnight guest. She’d spent Thanksgiving Day with Allie Winters, hosting the Glenville Turkey Trot 5-K run, and then had dinner with Erin’s family because Mia and Tess were with their father and his “size-four whore” (as DeeDee had dubbed her). And now it was the first week of December, and she’d decided to enjoy and embrace the spa treatments. She’d earned them. Jessica had even said as much to her yesterday at the postshow wrap-up meeting.
“Viewers are really responding to you, Carli,” she’d said to the entire group. “Social media posts include words like genuine, adorable, vivacious, and sincere. One viewer even said, ‘I feel like I’ve found a new best friend who tells me where all the fun things will be happening this weekend.’ And that is exactly what we were hoping for. Well done!”
Getting a well done from Jessica Jackson was like getting a Pulitzer wrapped in an Oscar sitting on top of an Emmy. Carli felt warm all over again, sitting in the spa’s lounge, remembering how it had felt to earn Jessica’s praise. What felt even better was starting to believe she was earning Jessica’s respect, too. She desperately wanted to do a good job, and her performance was hard to measure. There wasn’t a grade that could be assigned, or a specific task to complete. Viewer feedback and new advertisers were among the few ways that the station could evaluate her success. But so far, so good.
“Dad, I need you to take me to the store.” Addie was standing in Ben’s bedroom door, wearing baggy black sweatpants and an oversize T-shirt. Her blue eyes were wide, and her tone decisive.
“The store? Addie, it’s almost eleven o’clock at night.”
She shifted from one fuzzy-socked foot to the other. “I know, but . . . I just really need you to take me to the store. It won’t take long. If you can just drive me, I can go in by myself.”
It was Saturday night, and Ben had worked on the house all day. He was tired and had just gotten into bed, planning to watch the news before (hopefully) falling asleep and not being kept awake by random Carli thoughts. “That’s ridiculous, Addie. Whatever you need, we can get tomorrow. Go to bed.”
Her cheeks flushed to crimson, and her feet shifted again. She may have stomped, but the sound was muffled between her socks and the plush carpet. “Dad! When a girl says she needs to go to the store, she needs to go to the store. It’s a girl thing. I need . . . girl supplies.”
“What the hell are girl supplies? Lip gloss?”
“Oh my God, Dad. You know. Girl supplies. And there’s nothing here.”
What was she— Oh! Girl supplies! Ben finally caught on and felt like a caveman for not understanding sooner. When she said girl supplies, she wasn’t talking about lip gloss and bubble gum. She was talking about, God help him, woman stuff. This wasn’t her first period. At least he knew that much, but it hadn’t occurred to him to stock the house with any of that stuff. He wouldn’t even know what to buy.
“Ah, I see. Okay, then.” He pulled the covers off and swung his feet to the floor. The last thing he wanted to do right now was get dressed and drive over to the nearest twenty-four-hour convenience store, but this wasn’t optional. “Just write down what you need, and I’ll go pick it up.”
She shook her head, her ponytail swaying. “I’ll come with you.”
“Addie, it’s eleven o’clock. You get ready for bed, and I’ll be back as fast as I can. It shouldn’t take too long.”
Her adamant voice dropped to a murmur. “God, Dad. That’s too embarrassing. Just let me come with you.”
“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s all totally natural.” He was evolved. He could handle this.
“It’s not natural to have your dad buying you . . . tampons.” She whispered the last word, and Ben fought to keep his smile under wraps. If he laughed, she’d think he was teasing her.
He lowered his voice in return. “I won’t tell anyone they’re for you.”
“Oh. My. God. Dad, that’s even creepier. Who else would you be buying them for? God!” she said again and flounced from the room. He wasn’t sure where she was headed, but he got up and pulled on a pair of jeans. He was buttoning his shirt when she came back into his bedroom.
“Forget it. I’ve got it all under control,” she said.
“You do? How?”
“I texted Mia, and she’s going to bring me some stuff. She’ll be here in a minute.”
“Are you sure? I’m totally willing to go to the store for you, you know. I’m a very modern kind of dad, and I can totally handle this sort of thing.”
The hint of a smile twitched in the corner of her mouth, and Ben could see her struggling against it. It was the part of her that he questioned the most. Her absolute determination to avoid displays of happiness. She worked so hard to be so somber.
“Yes. I have everything under control. You can go back to bed, and please never mention this again.”
“You mean the fact that I almost went to the store to buy you maxi pads?”
“Oh my God, you’re so gross.”
“And tampons?”
“Please stop talking.”
“Because you’re menstruating?”
“I’m leaving now because you’re being a jerk,” she said, but the smile at the corner of her mouth tugged again. She nearly had his bedroom door shut before she poked her head back into his room. “You know I’m just kidding about the jerk thing, right?”
He smiled at her. “Of course you were, because I’m awesome.”
“Oh my God,” she muttered again and closed his door.
Ten minutes later the doorbe
ll rang. “I’ve got it!” Addie called, but Ben heard the front door open before Addie’s feet had hit the landing, then Ethan’s voice said, “Hey, Mia. What’s up?”
“Oh my God, Ethan. I said I’ve got this,” Addie exclaimed.
Ben stuck his head out of his bedroom door just in time to see his daughter nearly body slam her brother out of the way before grabbing the paper bag from Mia’s outstretched hand.
“Thank you so much, Mia. You saved my life.”
“Hey, no problem. I’ve been there. This should get you through a couple of days.” Mia offered up an understanding nod at Addie and a shy smile at Ethan, who was standing there looking utterly confused.
“What’s in the bag?” he asked.
“Nothing,” Addie snapped. “Mind your own business.”
“What did you think of that physics quiz yesterday?” Mia asked, deftly distracting him.
“I thought it sucked ass,” Ethan answered. “But you probably crushed it, right?”
She shrugged. “Not sure, but the next assignment looks kind of rough.”
He ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “Uh-oh. If it looks rough to you, then I’m in trouble. Any chance you want to coach me through it? I could use some help.”
Ben saw her cheeks pinken, even from his view from the top of the stairs.
“Sure. Are you working on it right now?”
Ethan chuckled. “Not on a Saturday night. I’m watching a movie right now. I was thinking tomorrow? Would that work?”
Mia nodded. “Sure. I have to head over to my dad’s house around dinnertime, but I’m around all day before that.”
“Sweet. Thanks. I’ll text you.”
“Okay. Hey, do you know how to put air in car tires?” she asked.
“Doesn’t everybody?”
“Um, no, not really, and I think my tires are getting kind of flat.”
“Okay. I’ll check ’em for you tomorrow then. Even trade.”
She smiled again. “Cool. See you tomorrow. See you later, Addie,” she said almost as an afterthought as she turned to leave, and Ben found himself smiling as Addie trotted upstairs and waved the paper bag at him.
“Crisis averted. Nothing to see here,” his daughter said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. A sweet, tender gesture that meant more to him than she could comprehend. Then Ben watched as Ethan opened the front door again.
“Hey, Mia,” he called out.
“Yeah?” Her voice was distant.
“Want to watch a movie? I just started it.”
“Um . . . I should ask my mom. I’ll text you in, like, two minutes.”
Ethan nodded and shut the door, then turned to look up at Ben. “That’s okay, isn’t it, Dad? Can Mia and I watch a movie?”
That was a surprise turn of events. Mia Lancaster was about as far from Ethan’s type as Ben had ever seen, but if she could help him pass a class, he was all for it. And since Ben knew Mia was not the drinking sort, she’d be a good influence on him, too.
“Sure, if it’s okay with her mom.”
Ben smiled to himself as he went back into his room. Addie was finally starting to relax around here, and Ethan was clearly feeling right at home. Life was beginning to feel just a little bit . . . normal. His chest went whump just a moment later as he received a text from Carli.
Is Addie all set?
Ben typed his response.
I think so. I’m forbidden from asking too many questions. Is Mia coming back for a movie?
There was a long pause before Carli’s answer popped up on his phone’s screen.
I guess so. I assume that’s okay with you?
Yep.
He thought about adding something more. Something along the lines of, “Hey, you should come over, too, and you and I can have a drink.” He typed the words. Deleted them, and then typed them again. His attempts to purge her from his mind had only made it that much harder to not think about her. Maybe he was creating drama where none existed? Maybe they should explore whatever there was between them? Why fight it?
Want to come over for a nightcap?
God, could he be any cheesier? His heart rate doubled as he waited for a response. After the debacle with Patty, he’d tried going out with Alicia Newhaven, a woman he knew from . . . somewhere, but their conversation had been stilted and awkward and he’d called it a night when she’d started talking about her loom and using terms like weft and woof and heddles. And then he’d had lunch with Candice Collins, the general manager of the Wallace-Chase Arena, but it was clear she’d thought it was more of a meeting than a social excursion, judging by the fact that she’d brought her laptop with a slide presentation all about the shows they’d be hosting the next year. He hadn’t given in and fallen into the Tinder trap yet, but times were getting tough. Just one glass of wine with Carli would be relaxing and fine. And if it led to more? Better still.
Sorry. No nightcap for me.
His gut turned sour at the clipped response. That was it. Kind of abrupt. No Sorry, I can’t, because I’m tired or maybe another time. Not even an enjoy your evening. Just . . . no. And no emojis. They’d texted often enough for him to know with certainty that Carli was a rampant abuser of emojis. She must be in the middle of something, or maybe she was already in bed. It was eleven o’clock, and she was used to getting up very early. Was it strange that he knew so much about her schedule? Was it strange and stalkerish that he peeked out his own bedroom window right then to see if the light was on in hers?
He texted another quick note.
Okay. Another time then. G’nite.
He waited for a response, but the light in her room turned off, and he wondered how long it was going to take him to fall asleep now that he was actively thinking about the fact that she was over there in her bed with her dark hair curling against the pink pillows. He knew she had pink pillows and pink walls because he’d changed out a light fixture for her last month, right after she’d had the room painted. He’d noticed then that the family picture above the bed, the one with her jughead of an ex-husband and their kids, was no longer there, replaced by a painting of a big flower. When Ben closed his eyes, he could barely picture his own room, but Carli’s was imprinted in his memory. Maybe he should get his extension ladder out and go break in through her window . . .
Chapter 25
There was always a bit of a reentry period when Mia and Tess came home from Steve’s, and Carli had learned to give them some space before asking how their time with him had been, but today they were both oddly quiet and, quite frankly, more than a little pissy. Tess had snapped at Mia about leaving her shoes in front of the door, and Mia had snapped back about a sweatshirt Tess had borrowed without asking. They weren’t immune to the typical sister bickering, but Carli’s maternal instincts were telling her it was something bigger than the usual squabble.
“So . . . how was it at Dad’s? Did you do anything fun?” she asked once they’d sat down for dinner.
Mia glanced over at Tess, who suddenly seemed very interested in the rice pilaf on her plate.
“Dad’s was fine,” Mia finally said. “We didn’t do much together. He was kind of busy, and we both had a lot of homework.”
“He decorated the tree without us,” Tess blurted out.
“The tree?” Carli said.
“Yes. He and Jade went out and got a Christmas tree and decorated the whole thing without even asking me and Mia about it. It was decorated when we got there.”
Like most families, decorating for the holiday, especially trimming the tree, had always been a big event, and although Carli had anticipated this first Christmas apart would be new and strange and that parts of it would be difficult, this was a twist she hadn’t seen coming.
“Do you think maybe he did that because he wanted to surprise you?”
Mia scoffed. “He said that’s why, after he realized we were upset, but I don’t buy it. He and Jade are having a Christmas party this weekend, and I think he wanted his place decorated for that
, so they put up all kinds of stuff. His whole condo is decorated, but it just looks weird and ugly. It’s all like glittery twigs and wreaths made from feathers. And all the balls on the tree are white. Who the heck wants an all-white Christmas tree? It’s like Jade can only handle monochrome décor.”
Carli’s heart squeezed inside her chest, and she felt a little light-headed. Just the verbiage alone was enough to give her vertigo. Steve and Jade were now a they. They had decorated. Not two separate individuals, but a couple. A unit. A unit that didn’t include his children, who were visibly upset about it. And why wouldn’t they be? Christmas was all about family, and Jade was not family. She was just some woman in his life.
“Well, I guess the good news is we won’t have to sit around in that gross, ugly décor over Christmas break,” Tess said, flicking at the pilaf with her fork, indicating she thought it was exactly the opposite of good news.
“What do you mean?” Carli asked, heart squeezing tighter still.
Tess glanced over at Mia, and the long pause hung heavy in the air, until Mia finally said, “Dad’s not going to be home over Christmas. He and Jade are going to Aruba.”
That one really knocked the wind out of Carli. She’d thought his ability to shock her or hurt her feelings was past. But this one got to her.
“They’re going to . . . Aruba? For Christmas?” Every word stuck in her mouth like bitter taffy that she was struggling to spit out—because Aruba was the one place where she and Steve had always talked about going, but they never managed to make it happen because he was always working or because he thought it would cost too much. Now he was going? With Jade?
Mia nodded, her eyes clouding with emotions that Carli couldn’t name. Probably because her own eyes fogged with a disbelief/rage/wounded-heart mixture that made her blink fast and all but hyperventilate.
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