Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 94692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94692 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 379(@250wpm)___ 316(@300wpm)
“Yup!”
“Thank you so much. I’mma keep it in my office.”
Hallie sat up straighter, with the sweetest smile on her face, and extended her gift next.
“Happy birthday, Daddy. I hope you’ll have the best day ever.”
I hid my grin by biting into a blueberry muffin. Hallie—our type A personality fighter—always wanted to give the best gift. She succeeded most of the time too, but we weren’t sure she was doing it for the right reasons. The girl was incredibly competitive.
Dylan shook his head in amusement and focused on stuffing his face.
It was a wonderful gift, though.
Ash felt up the box and shook it. “A pair of socks?”
“You’re so funny, Daddy,” Hallie laughed.
Dylan and I exchanged a look.
She was laying it on thick. Ash ate it right up. But I was starting to wonder if Hallie was gearing up to ask for something. She didn’t play the Daddy card too often.
When Ash lifted the lid—and the tissue paper—and he saw the soft case Hallie had made for our National Parks Passport, she officially had him wrapped around her finger for the rest of the year.
“Goddamn, baby girl.” He brushed his fingers over the cross-stitch patterns.
She’d bought a regular toiletry case, a flat one in cotton. And then she’d used her cross-stitching skills to make it ours. The Riley Family’s Adventures. Embroidered stick figures from an old drawing of hers of the whole family, an RV, two road signs, and a bunch of little hearts. The passport would fit perfectly in there.
And we had more adventures to look forward to.
“I can’t thank you enough for this, Hallie,” Ash murmured. “We’re putting the passport in here today. Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled brightly.
She’d been trying to nudge us back together all year. Considering my own gift to Ash, maybe she took after me…
“Does that mean it’s your turn now, honey?” Ash shot me a smirk.
“Actually, Dad’s gift wins,” Dylan chuckled.
Hallie looked miffed at that. “He’s a grown-up with a full-time career. He has all the money.”
Oof. No, I sure did not. What I did have was a credit card and lonely nights. Well, the latter was thankfully not true anymore—but the other day when I’d been up late, crying in my wineglass, I’d sure set my Visa on fire.
I’d be paying this gift off in six installments.
I dug out the envelope from under a stack of magazines on the table next to the bed.
Ash crammed more bacon into his mouth and made a gimme motion.
I suppressed a sigh. It wasn’t honestly bothering me, but he would certainly see through my original intentions with this gift. To lure him away from his new partners—or partner, as I’d figured at the time—and force him to spend time with me. Under the weak guise of it being a family trip.
Lily climbed up on my lap as Ash opened the envelope.
“Do I know what it is, Daddy?” she asked, cupping her hand around her mouth.
“No, you don’t.” I kissed her nose. “Because you can’t whisper or keep a secret.”
“Yes, I can!”
I flinched at the volume, to which everyone else laughed. Except for Ash; he was busy reading the reservation I’d made for us.
“Hold on,” he said. “We’re goin’ to Mammoth Cave National Park?”
“They don’t have mammoths,” Micah explained. “I asked.”
I grinned.
Ash turned to me.
“For three days,” I confirmed. “I know we usually rent an RV, but I figured it would be nice to try a hotel sometime. So I found that retreat—it’s family-friendly. We can drive there. It’s ten hours, so I’d imagine we split that into two days for the little ones’ sakes, and…”
“Check out the picture on the back, Dad,” Hallie urged. “You’ll see our suite.”
“Suite? We are not suite people.” Ash lifted his brows and turned the page. “But I am willing to give it a go. It’s an entire luxury lodge. Sweet Jesus, Nate. This is incredible. Is, uh…is that a hot tub in our bedroom?”
I cleared my throat and shifted in my seat. “I couldn’t very well opt out, and we need a room big enough for everyone.”
“Meanwhile, the rest of us will share the other bedroom,” Dylan drawled.
“There’s a big couch in the living room area,” I mentioned. “You’re welcome to sleep there if you want.”
“Or on the balcony,” Hallie sang.
“Or on the roof!” Micah laughed, thinking it was a game. “Where else can he sleep?”
Lily popped a grape into her mouth. “In his butt.”
That was…an option too.
“And it’s soon,” Ash said, surprised. “First weekend in June.” He glanced my way, one part happiness and affection, one part amusement. “You made this reservation…when?”
Why was that important?
“You should focus on eating your breakfast,” I replied. “You all should. You need to get ready for school soon.”
No more birthday celebrations until tonight.
“Eeeeep!” Lily sat ramrod straight, eyes wide, and pointed toward the hallway. “It’s a cat! There’s a cat here! Look at the cat!”