“You sure you want to date someone with a kid?” he asked.
“Silly me, and here I am worrying about distance.” The shift in perspective reminded me just how crazy the whole idea was, but it wasn’t about Chloe. It was about John and me. Chloe just happened to be in the middle like a rose between two thorns. A blob of batter dripped out of the bowl as I stirred with vigor, gritting my teeth. I liked how things were going with Chloe. Openly dating her father would throw a curveball in her direction, most likely to leave her with a walk to first base where she’d be stranded. “Jesus,” I said under my breath.
“How much do you like him?” Bradley asked.
I stopped stirring and threw a handful of raspberries into the mix as I glanced in his direction. “Can we please change the subject?”
“Go ahead,” Bradley said. “But it sounds like you have some thinking to do. What do you have to lose?” he asked, scooting his stool back.
The griddle banged against the cupboard door. Mom took the pan from my hand and started the bacon. “Yeah, what do you have to lose?”
“Seriously?” I said. “You two have me packed already, don’t you?” I asked, watching the silent interaction between them. “You’ve already discussed this?”
Bradley shrugged. “Don’t get mad at Nana. I was the one that asked her about it after dinner last night. It’s kind of obvious.”
“It is not,” I insisted, avoiding eye contact with Bradley.
“We’re not blind, honey. It’s pretty obvious,” Mom said. “And there’s nothing wrong with you wanting to move on.”
Her voice was sweet and tender. My guard slipped away, my defenses vulnerable. Oh, how I loathed when she did that to me. Mom came closer, our eyes locked in one of those stares that suggests silent conversation with wicked banter. Mom winked. She was really just trying to help. My mind forwarded to a far off dream. Shit, they really did have me packed and ready to go.
I pointed at Bradley. “You should not pick sides. It’s not good for your inheritance, young man. I swear when they cremate me you’ll have to put me on your mantle and I will haunt you forever.” I smirked. It was our private joke. “In a good way of course,” I added.
He laughed. “Yeah, right. In a good way.”
Mom flipped each piece of bacon. “Bradley’s no fool. Now will you just get on with it and get out of your own way,” she snapped as she swatted me on the backside.
“Nice,” I uttered while cleaning up the griddle for pancakes.
The doorbell rang.
I prepared myself for the invasion of Chloe as Bradley sauntered to the front door. Her voice drifted down the hallway from the foyer and into the kitchen. She said something about mail. Bradley invited her inside.
“Hey, Maggie. Hi, Glad.”
Mom gave her a quick squeeze, then Chloe held up three envelopes. “These are yours. They ended up in our mailbox yesterday by mistake. Silly mailman.”
I handed Mom the spatula and took my mail from her. Inspecting the return label, I’d forgotten all about my book submission with the trip to Chicago, John, and the arrival of Bradley. I hadn’t been in my library in days. I hadn’t touched my cow project. I neglected to check my emails. I read the rejection letter. Figures.
“What’s the matter?” Bradley asked, coming closer.
“Nothing. Just a rejection.”
“Jection for what?” Chloe pulled out a stool and inspected the empty donut box. She nibbled at the left over peanut bits. “You guys making breakfast?”
“Yes,” I said, buttering up the pan. “Who is watching you today?” I asked, ignoring her first question.
“Some girl dad got from a friend,” Chloe answered.
“Didn’t you eat breakfast?”
“Does cereal count?”
“Yes.”
“She wouldn’t let me have anything else. She said she doesn’t do dishes,” Chloe answered with a wrinkled chin worse than Bones’.
“Does she know where you are?” Bradley sipped his coffee and stared at her. “Chloe?”
“Kind of. I told her I was going to return your mail and that I’d be right back. Dad told me to let you guys have some time together.” She looked over to Bradley. “You should stay longer so you and me can hang out, too.”
Bradley cracked a smile. “I don’t mind. It’s all good. We’re just hanging out.”
“That’s what I said,” Chloe added. “Great minds think alike. That’s what my dad says.”
Mom chuckled.
There was a knock at the door.
“I’ll go,” I said, taking the mail with me. “Let’s go, Chloe.”
Chloe got up and skulked behind me. “You’re really not going to send me back there. She’s boring. B-O-R-I-N-G.”
“That’s not the point.”
A tall blond stood at my front door. She appeared to be nice enough.
“Hi there, I’m Maggie. Are you looking for Chloe?”
She chuckled as she shoved her phone in her pocket. When she looked up, the grin left her face. “Hi, I’m Marlow. I’m watching Chloe today.” She peered past me with authority.
Chloe stood like a Muppet beside me. She drooped from head-to-toe.
“You know what your dad said. You’re supposed to stay home today. He gave us strict instructions. You have chores and homework.”
“Oh, boy,” I said.
“I’m hungry.” Chloe stuck out her bottom lip. “Can I please just have a pancake? Will you make me pancakes if I come home? I promise I’ll do whatever I’m supposed to do, but I just want some more breakfast.”
Marlow shifted her weight as I opened the screen door to see her better. She couldn’t have been more than twenty. Her skinny physique told me she wasn’t about food. Her long blond hair was curled perfectly, but her skin was pale as alabaster china. Chloe shot me a look. Trying to stay out of trouble myself, I stood silent between the two. Marlow’s huff could have cleared a room. She inspected me and not in a friendly way.
“Come on, Chloe, we don’t have time for this,” she said.
Her prickly voice irritated me. I wondered what she did have time for.
“I don’t cook. I’m only here as a favor to my mom. Your dad is supposed to be a catch,” Marlow explained.
I pursed my lips trying to keep calm. Chloe scooted in front of me and stood with her hands on hips ready for battle.
“Well,” I said, “what do we say that Chloe stays for breakfast and then she’ll be home? And in the meantime, you can do whatever it is that she is interrupting and by the time she gets home, you will have time for her.” Marlow glanced over her shoulder. Her impatience grew so I joined her on the porch to see what was the issue. A red Subaru was parked in John’s driveway. Chloe held the screen door open behind me.
“Who are you anyway?” Marlow asked.
I didn’t care for her abrupt tone. “Chloe, can you go ask Glad how much longer until breakfast?”
Chloe nodded, her eyes unsettled.
I assumed she sensed my irritation. “Let’s just say,” I continued, “I’m someone who cares. We can do this the easy way or the hard way. You choose, Marlow. Like you, I don’t have time for this,” I said, not wavering. “Chloe can stay for breakfast. When she is done, I’ll make sure she comes home.” I paused, peering over to the red car in John’s driveway. “She will do her chores and her work.” I waited for Marlow to respond. She twirled the ends of her hair and glanced toward John’s house. “I take it you’re not from the babysitting agency.” She crinkled up her forehead. “Nice,” I muttered, wondering who set this arrangement up.
“Um, no. Like I said before, in case you didn’t hear me, I’m doing this as a favor for my mom. She thinks that kid’s dad is hot. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I took a deep breath. “When you take responsibility like babysitting, regardless of the circumstances, it is a big deal,” I lectured in a soft voice, trying to convince myself Jo
hn had no clue about the girl’s mother. First Judy hears a conversation at the library about John, and now this? “I’m going to go eat my breakfast with my family and Chloe. When she is done, I’ll bring her home and maybe that red car will be gone and the person slouching in the front seat trying to be invisible will be gone, too. Chloe will do her work, chores, whatever, sit around, give you a hard time and when her dad gets home, you will get paid and go home to resume your social life.”
Marlow rolled her eyes at me.
I arched my eyebrow. Shit. And I was trying so hard to be good. I took a deep breath.
Chloe yelled from the foyer, “Glad says breakfast is ready now.”
“It’s time for me to go. Are we straight?” I asked, stepping back reaching for the door.
Marlow rolled her eyes again. “Yeah,” she said in disgust.
The smell of bacon and pancakes tickled my nose just as Chloe popped out from behind my library doors.
“Thanks, Maggie. I knew I could count on you,” she said, hugging my waist.
“Yeah, well, this could bode badly for both of us,” I whispered.
Chapter 20
Bradley finished off his first stack of pancakes just as Glad put a fresh batch on the table. “So, Mom, what was that rejection letter all about?”
“Just a cockamamie idea I had. I submitted my cow photos thinking they would be published in a children’s picture book.” I soaked up the rest of the syrup with my last bite of pancake and shoveled it in my mouth. “Evidently, I see more merit in my work than the publishing house.”
“Your cow photographs? I like them,” Chloe said.
“Me, too,” Mom added.
Bradley scratched his head. “So try another publisher. I heard it could take years to get something published.”
“You guys are just being nice,” I said, reaching for another pancake. “Great pancakes today.”
“De-lish!” Chloe said, elongating each syllable. “I’ll help with the dishes.”
I raised my eyebrows with surprise.
Bradley chuckled.
“Interesting,” I muttered. “What do you have up your sleeve now?”
Chloe scrunched up her nose. “I’m not sure what you mean about having something up my sleeve, but I just thought I should help after you saved me from Marlow. She’s not very nice.”
“You’re right about that, little girl.” I wasn’t sure what irked me more. The fact that Marlow didn’t want to watch Chloe or the fact that her scheming mother was deviously checking John out. Mom sat down across from me, her eyes inspecting my every breath, move, reaction, her smirk said, I told you so.
Chloe flipped her hair back. Her Tiffany necklace swung across her chest. I’d forgotten about Brook’s photographer, Fletcher Thompson. Maybe he’d have a lead for my cow photos. It wouldn’t hurt to contact him. He was overly flirty though and that made me uneasy. I hemmed and hawed silently as Chloe watched Bradley eat, her battery of questions amused all of us especially when she asked Bradley what it was like to live with me. Bradley took her in stride like a true champion. Finally, with a sigh, she ate her last bite of bacon and leaned back in her chair.
“You really should stay longer.” Chloe eyed Bradley. “I’m just getting to know you. You have a cool mom. You should have heard her with my babysitter. Man, she should be a lawyer or something, but I bet you know that already.”
Bradley smiled and finished the food on his plate. “Yeah, I know.” He raised his eyebrows at Chloe and gave her a thumbs-up. “She can be tough. Let’s just say I didn’t get away with much.”
I smiled, leaned back, and took a deep breath. “Well, I’d say that was another successful meal thanks to Nana.” I liked having Mom around even if we got under each other’s skin at times. I could always count on her to be there. I could always count on her to keep the moment lively.
I kept my word with Marlow. As soon as breakfast was over, I escorted Chloe back to her house. Looking forward to a quiet afternoon with Bradley I waited for Chloe to go inside. She tugged at the side door, but it was locked. The red Subaru was gone and the front door shut. “Does your dad still have a spare key in the garage?” I asked.
Chloe sped over and punched the code into the small white box on the outside of the garage. She scooted under the door as soon as it was high enough for her to slip under, her dexterity that of a cat burglar. She scooted back out before the door was halfway open. I held the side door to the house open while she maneuvered the lock. I waited in the kitchen as she ran through the house calling for Marlow, but there was no answer.
Chloe sauntered back in. “She’s not here,” she said, scratching her head. “I wonder when she’ll be back.”
I sighed. “Yeah, I don’t think she’s coming back.”
“That wasn’t very nice of her to go without leaving a note.” Chloe opened the refrigerator door. “Can I have a juice box?”
I shrugged. “I guess so. Now what? You can’t stay here by yourself. Your dad is not going to be happy about this.”
Chloe slurped the juice from a plastic pouch. “Oh well,” she said, taking a breath. “Now what?”
“What chores do you have?” I searched the counter for some kind of note from John to the babysitter.
“I’m supposed to clean my room up and do my homework.”
“Let’s go,” I said. “I’ll help you do your room then you’re going to get your homework, all of it, and come back over to my house.”
“You should charge my dad.”
“Yeah, I should,” I replied with raised eyebrow. I called Bradley to tell him I’d be back after I helped straighten Chloe’s room then followed Chloe upstairs. Her room was actually organized. “Wow, you’re way neater than Bradley.” I casually inspected her things, the nooks and crannies, the bubble gum wrapper left on her desk next to an open book. I smiled, glad to see that she’d been reading. John’s presence hung in the air. He kept her safe and gave her the things she needed. Being immersed in their lives consumed me with peaceful awe. I wondered if Chloe felt this way when she came to my house. Photos of her, her mother, and her father decorated the bookshelves.
How did I fit into all of it? Was I meant to fit in?
I thought about the kids at school with stepparents, the kids I’d known with so-called uncles and live-in boyfriends and girlfriends, the kids who thought they were really brother and sister because their parents had moved in together. It was all so confusing to me, mystifying how people could morph into families without hesitation.
Chloe made her bed. Not great, but she did it. She picked up her clothes and put them down the laundry chute in the bathroom. “Is this your bathroom?” I asked, examining all the hair ties and wadded up purple pajamas in the corner.
“Yup.”
“Wow, you’re lucky to have your own bathroom. Maybe you could do something about that pile of dirty clothes. It might win you some brownie points with your dad.” I pointed to the mound of jammies in the corner. She shoved the pile down the chute then picked up around the sink. Her effort pleased me.
“I have to do a couple more things in my room,” she said, switching off the bathroom light.
I sat on Chloe’s bed while she sat on the floor sorting through a pile of papers. She slid out a plastic storage bin from under her bed, the outside covered in an array of stickers. She carefully made a neat stack after scrutinizing each paper. “Is that schoolwork?”
“Yeah, I’m saving the good ones to remind myself that I’m not always dumb. Plus, I figure it makes me look good when mom visits. If she visits.”
“You’re not dumb. I wish you wouldn’t say things like that,” I said, even though I knew the feeling and suspected we all felt inadequate from time-to-time.
“Fine.” Chloe didn’t appear to be convinced. “Let’s just say these remind me of the good days. Look, a B-plus on my math test.”
Her eyes sparkled at the accomplishment. “Very nice. Where’d you get all those st
ickers?” I fingered the one that said Sleeping Bear Dunes, remembering family vacations in the baby-blue Ford station wagon.
“These are some of the places I’ve been with my mom and my dad when they were together. Some of the places I don’t remember because I was a baby, but dad gave them to me anyway. He said I should know where I’ve gone in this world even if I don’t remember.”
“You’ve been to Paris? I see the Eiffel Tower here.”
“No. Mom’s been there with Dad. He always says that’s where I came from. Not sure what he means, but I sure would like to go and see what it’s all about.”
Chloe’s hair fell forward as she kneeled over the box to pack her stuff inside. I knew she’d figure out how she came from Paris later on in life. She was bold like a Parisian, not afraid of herself, full of life.
Chloe pointed to a big round sticker with a horse and a mountain. The word “Montana” was scrawled across the bright blue sky. “That’s my grandpa’s state. I guess I went to Montana, but Mom didn’t like it. I can’t imagine not liking horses.”
Chloe peered up at me with sad eyes. I knelt down beside her then handed her the rest of her papers to put in the box.
“I don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave you, Maggie.”
I brushed the hair out of her face with my fingers and tucked it behind her ears. Her cheeks baby soft and rosy. I don’t want you to leave me either. “I know how you feel.”
“Dad says we’re going to see Grandpa together when school gets out.”
“Sounds like fun.”
Chloe’s green eyes sparkled as sun streamed through her bedroom window. She had her daddy’s eyes. A river of sadness washed over me.
Chloe snapped the lid back on the storage container and gave it a shove, hiding it back under the bed. She got up and grabbed a hair tie off her nightstand. I watched her pull her hair back and twist the orange sparkling elastic tie around a messy ponytail. Her Tiffany necklace dangled around her neck.
“You know what would be super cool?” she asked with a toothy grin.
“What?” I said, getting up off the floor with a grimace.
Maggie's Fork in the Road (Montana Bound Series Book 2) Page 13
