Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 49239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49239 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 246(@200wpm)___ 197(@250wpm)___ 164(@300wpm)
“Hey, have you guys ever been to a hockey game?”
“Are we going to a hockey game?” one of the twins asks, looking excited.
“Um...no?” Cam says, giving me a WTF look.
“Why don’t all of you come to the game Friday night as my guests? I’ll set you up in a suite.”
“We’re going to a hockey game!” the other twin cries.
The two boys get up from the table, jumping up and down with excitement. I grin at Tess, hoping to see happiness, but there’s something else in her expression.
“For real?” Zane says, carrying his plate over to the sink.
“Yeah, absolutely. Don’t eat dinner before because the suites have servers and you can order food and drinks.”
Hannah’s face reflects the joy I was hoping to see on Tess’s. “Mom, can I bring a friend since I’m the only girl?”
Tess looks at me and I nod. “Yeah, that’s no problem.”
That earns me a huge, toothy smile from the twelve-year-old.
Tess starts cleaning up, and when Cam finishes her food, I say, “Hey, I’ll help Tess clean up.”
“Perfect.” She sets her plate in the sink. “Kids, it’s two-dollar cone night at the Dairy Hut. Let’s go get ice cream.”
“No way!” One of the twins breaks into a dance again.
“I’m getting the blue ice cream,” the other one says.
Zane heads back toward the basement door. I lock eyes with Cam, hoping she’ll get my unspoken message. Help me get a few minutes alone with Tess.
“Zee, let’s go,” she says, picking up her car keys.
“I’ll just stay and work on the dryer.”
“We’ll finish when you get back,” I say. “I’m gonna help your mom clean up.”
“I can help, too,” he offers.
Damn. My chance to apologize to Tess alone is slipping away. I take out my wallet and pass him two twenties.
“Tell you what. You treat everyone to whatever ice cream they want and bring your mom her favorite.”
“Rocky road,” Hannah says.
Tess smiles, finally.
“Thanks, Dom,” Cam says. “Do you want anything?”
“No thanks.”
She gets all the kids out the door within two minutes, and then I’m standing beside Tess at her double sink, the silence getting heavy as she scrubs dishes and passes them to me to rinse and dry.
“Can we talk about it?” I finally say.
“Talk about what?” She keeps scrubbing more vigorously than necessary. “You not texting about missing Hannah’s performance, or you continuing to try to impress me by doing things for my kids, which I asked you to stop doing?”
Why do I like her wariness about me so damn much? I’ve pretty much got a thing for a cactus. Her prickliness just makes every smile I get that much more of a win.
I set the dish towel down and turn to the side so I can see her face. “I’m sorry I didn’t text you. I just straight up forgot, and that’s on me. And you should go out with me because I’m a good guy who thinks you’re pretty fucking amazing, but you said no and I’m not asking again. I think the kids will like the hockey game. That’s it. That’s my evil ulterior motive.”
She flips her hand up from the dishwater in a motion of frustration, a few soapsuds flying up. “What’s fucking amazing about me? I’m a cynical waitress with seventeen dollars in the bank. And you think I have two kids, but I basically have four. Cam and I are all each other have. Our kids have two parents—me and her.”
I move a little closer to her. The emotion in her voice makes me want to grab her waist and pull her into my arms. “All of that. All of that is fucking amazing. You keep this household running on a very tight budget and you work your ass off doing it. You show up for your kids every time. You show up for your sister. You make every overly made-up puck bunny who doesn’t care about anyone but herself look like a joke to me. Because this--” --I hold out my arms to gesture around me at her kitchen-- “--this matters. Being the one person that has never let your kids down...that fucking matters.”
I clear away the emotion welling in my throat. Though I didn’t mean to say all of that, it came out anyway. And I’m not sorry.
Tess returns to scrubbing dishes and I’m pretty sure she’s going to ignore everything I just said, but after a few seconds, she says, “Okay.”
“Okay what?” I take the plate she just washed and run it under the rinse water, confused.
“Okay, I’ll go out with you. Just don’t expect me to pay because seventeen dollars and all.”
My lips part with surprise and my blood pumps with excitement. I can’t believe that just happened. I wish I could take her out on a date immediately.
“I’d never let you pay for anything.”
She pulls the plug from the bottom of the sink and rinses her hands, then reaches for the dish towel to dry them. “Hope you find dishpan hands sexy.”