“No. You’ll make fun of me.”
“Doubtful,” I replied, but when she still didn’t respond, I reached out for her arm and hauled her back onto the bed. “Tell me, or I’ll tickle that spot I discovered.” I learned during a very thorough anatomy exam that Alex was extremely ticklish on the backs of her knees.
“No. Please, don’t.” She squirmed beneath me, waking up the part of me I just settled down.
“Then you know what to do.”
“Fine.” She pinched her lips together, then mumbled out something incoherent.
“What was that?” I asked, inching my fingers toward the back side of her thighs. Her hips bucked to try to get away.
“I’m going to miss you. Okay? There it is. I’m going to miss you.”
“Now, was that so hard?”
“Yes,” she hissed.
Leaning forward, I settled between her legs and pressed my lips to the tip of her nose. “I’m going to miss you, too.”
She wrapped her arms around my neck.
Slow and steady that time.
When our alarms wailed the next morning, we made sure to fit in a round of hard and fast.
We’d been sneaking around Ashfield since Autumn and Colton returned. Autumn went the extra mile, as far as making sure we felt at home at the B&B. She was a great host and catered to our every need, but we all missed Alex. She stopped by on Sunday mornings to drop off some meals for the week, but it just wasn’t the same. The girls missed her.Imissed her.
Luckily, I found a house to rent for the rest of the summer and fall until my house was finished being built. We only had a couple more days at the B&B before we could move over to the rental.
Autumn argued with me when she tried to return the payment for unused weeks, but I told her to consider it a wedding gift. She and Colton deserved some alone time.
He and I hit it off immediately. I knew little about the ins and outs of hockey, but I knew enough to enjoy a game. I hadn’t skated in years, but I promised Colton we could take a few laps on the ice when I got things settled in the rental.
My robot had been shipped back to my warehouse in California for transitioning into a full-scale model. I had hopes it would surpass my expectations and we could sell the patent. The more I stayed in Ashfield, the more I considered selling my business or becoming a silent partner. I wanted to raise my girls and spend more time with them. Focus less on the inner workings of the business and just create the robots and AI I thought would help the agricultural field.
They were growing more attached to me with every passing day since Alex left. Their fear of abandonment was unmistakable. Marisol and Rory tried to help. We even enlisted Franny, who we learned would be their kindergarten teacher in the fall. But so far, nothing was working. It didn’t help that the day after Alex moved out, the calls from Sasha ceased.
I hadn’t been surprised. That was typically what happened when she got bored. The twins acted like it was no big deal, but I knew otherwise. Having their mother cut ties with them, again, wasn’t something they could easily brush aside. Even for four-year-olds.
To cheer them up, today we were headed toward Alex’s new shop. She could finally begin her demolitions now that they fixed the piping in the building. Andrew and I helped move her belongings up to her new apartment the day before. He snuck away early, thinking he was getting out of hauling more items. He didn’t know he opened the door for us to christen her new place.
I was hoping when I moved into the rental I could convince her to spend some of her nights there with me. The small brick ranch was just on the outskirts of town. A twenty-minute drive to Sunny Brook Farms and walking distance to Alex’s apartment. I hadn’t been picky. The girls and I just needed a place for a few months. It was furnished with new mattresses—something I hadn’t even thought about. Autumn and Colton allowed me to keep my storage pod on their property until we could move into our new house.
“Does she have yummy cakes?” Molly asked from the backseat.
“No, sweetheart. It’s not ready for food yet. But she’s excited to show you the place and the designs she picked out. She even said you could help her choose some colors.”
“That sounds fun! I’m really good at picking colors. Miss Franny said my purple horse was amazing.”
“Daddy,” Eloise said just above a whisper. “Does Alex miss us?” She had the hardest time with Alex leaving the B&B. After the incident earlier in the summer, she and Alex developed a special bond. Both girls were going to start dance classes next week once we got settled in the rental. I hoped that would cheer her up a bit.
“Of course, she does. You two are her favorite twins.”
“I miss her.” She sniffled, and my heart broke for my sweet little girl.
“I know you do. She misses you, too. She tells me all the time. Maybe we can set up a time when you guys can chat with her every day on video. Kind of like your mom did.”
Sasha used to request video chats with the girls before we moved, but I put the kibosh on that when I heard her tell the girls she didn’t like their haircuts. Like bangs were the end of the world.