“Yeah, I’m here.” I tucked Clementine in my coat pocket and walked back to the kitchen. “What do you need, Caroline?”
“So, is there a birthday party this year?” she asked.
“She’s a kid. There’s a birthday party every year,” I said dryly.
“I’m going to fly into Blushing for a few hours, but I don’t want to spend it with a bunch of loud kids, you know? I’d rather just hang out with you and Harper.”
She said it like we should be so thankful to have her grace us with her presence.
I wasn’t thankful in the slightest.
I tolerated her because she was Harper’s mother.
I was annoyed that the woman who’d given birth to my daughter thought it was fine to fly into town for a few hours one day a year, and she thought Harper owed this day to her.
I was annoyed that the woman living in my backyard, haunting every filthy fantasy I’d had for weeks, had asked to spend a few hours with me, and then she’d been run off by Clementine the fucking elf.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “The party is tomorrow afternoon, here at the house. If you’re coming Saturday, that’s what we’re doing.”
“You can’t move it to Sunday?” she whined.
The fucking nerve of this woman.
“No, Caroline. It’s a party that’s been planned for weeks. It’s Harper’s day. Come or don’t come, but don’t fucking ask a six-year-old to move her party to accommodate you.”
“What is with this attitude, Charlie?” she snipped. “I thought we agreed I could come once a year.”
“Yeah. You just sort of said that’s what you were doing. But Harper is getting older, and things are changing. She doesn’t know you. And her birthday should not be about wondering if you’re coming or not.”
“Well, I’m coming.”
“Fine. Party’s at noon. I’ve got to go,” I said, grabbing my keys and ending the call.
I drove the short distance to the Blushing Bride and put my truck in park before jogging inside. Blakely was sitting at the front desk, and her eyes widened when I walked in.
“Hey, Charlie. Nice to see you,” she said.
“Yeah. You too. I just need a quick minute with Violet.” I moved toward her office, because I wasn’t waiting one more minute to call her out.
“She, um ...” I heard Blakely fumble over her words, but I ignored her and kept walking.
I rounded the corner, finding the door to Violet’s office open. She was staring at her monitor as she reached for a handful of Skittles. Her head snapped up when I moved toward her desk, and before she could speak, I tossed the damn elf on her desk. “Do you normally snoop in people’s nightstand drawers before you ... what did you call it ... ‘bang it out’?”
“Charles,” she said before her eyes moved to the monstrosity that had just landed on her desk.
I crossed my arms over my chest and waited.
“I mean, I find it interesting that you’re more disturbed by the idea of me looking in your nightstand drawer than the fact that you shoved a doll into a condom, and you keep it beside your bed.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The doll. The condom. You don’t find it alarming?” she snipped.
I ran a hand down my face. An hour ago, we were planning to have sex, but instead I was dealing with this complete insanity. “I don’t know what kind of condom you think that is, but it’s actually a balloon. And that’s not a doll, that’s Clementine.”
“This is supposed to make me feel better?” She rolled her eyes.
“If you hadn’t snooped in the first place, this wouldn’t be an issue.”
