Rocked (The Everyday Heroes World) - Julia Wolf Page 0,11
but it was a start. And it came from one conversation with my next-door neighbor. I had to make that happen again—and soon.
Four
Kat
“Didn’t you just have pancakes with your dad?”
Ellie tugged on my hand. “That was three days ago. I’m going through withdrawals.”
I let her pull me down the sidewalk, only feigning reluctance. We rarely went out to restaurants, so eating at Bertha’s was a nice break.
“How do you even know what withdrawals are?” I asked.
She glanced at me and rolled her eyes. “Mom, please. The internet exists.”
Bertha’s was packed with both seasonal tourists and locals. Ellie and I stopped at the “Please Seat Yourself” sign, scanning for an empty table.
Ellie rose up on her tiptoes. “Hey, look! There’s Devon!”
Before I could stop her, she took off in the direction of Devon Chambers, who was hunkered down by himself in a corner booth. How Ellie recognized him with a newspaper in front of his face was an eternal mystery, but she was already sliding in across from him by the time I got my feet to move.
They were chatting when I approached their table. Well, my daughter was chatting, Devon’s brow was pinched as he listened.
“Hey.” I tapped the edge of the table. “Ells, hop up. Let’s leave Devon alone to read his paper.”
He touched the back of my hand with the rough pads of his fingers. “Don’t worry about it. If I was looking for solitude, I could have stayed home. I don’t mind a little company.”
“Are you sure?” I wasn’t convinced he wanted us to sit with him. Honestly, I wasn’t convinced I wanted to sit with him.
He chuckled, the sound gritty and deep. “If I had a chair, I’d pull it out for you. Since I don’t, you’re going to have to trust me when I say I’d enjoy having the company of my two neighbors.”
Finally, I took the seat next to Ellie across from Devon. It was strange seeing someone famous so up close. I liked to think I was above being starstruck, but I was as susceptible as the next person. The Devon Chambers Band’s music had been part of the tapestry of my twenties. Hell, I’d played their music for Ellie when she was a colicky newborn, and it had instantly soothed her. Of course, that was back when they had more of a folk-rock vibe. Lately, they’d switched gears to some weird pop-electronic-hardcore fusion that did not appeal to me in the least.
Devon raised an eyebrow and gave me a crooked grin as I made eye contact with him. I wanted to give him a hard time, and yeah, I’d managed to be pretty bitchy to him so far, but there was something disarming about him.
He made me want to lay down my weapons and believe in that crooked grin.
“Glad the Murphy ladies could join me,” he said.
Ellie giggled. “I’m a Domingo lady.”
He stroked his scruff, nodding like this was intriguing. “I see. A modern family of sorts.”
“Yep. Mom and Dad aren’t a couple. They were never even married. They’re just besties,” Ellie said.
I clamped a hand over her mouth. “I don’t think Devon needs our entire family history.”
He chuckled again, and I felt the grittiness on my skin. “I mean, not the entire family history, but this bit is interesting. Besties who had a kid, huh?”
I shrugged, releasing Ellie’s mouth. “No better person to have a kid with, in my opinion.”
“Except they fight all the time,” Ellie added.
“Remember that blissful year where all you did was drool and snuggle?” I said.
“No, Mom, I don’t remember being a baby.”
Devon’s eyes flicked back and forth between us, his mouth quirking. “I heard that was last year.”
Ellie groaned and shook her head. “Not funny!”
I nudged her with my shoulder. “I don’t know, I thought it was funny.”
Devon and I exchanged grins while Ellie threw her napkin over her face.
“Tweens are very easily embarrassed. Once, I introduced myself to the boy Ells was crushing on, and she sobbed in her room for an hour,” I said.
Devon snorted a laugh. “Come on. He totally knew you were checkin’ him out because Ellie had been talking about him.”
Ellie slammed her hand down on the table. “Oh my god, exactly! I died that day!”
The three of us ordered pancakes and discussed the ways I’d humiliated my daughter over the years. According to Ellie, the list was vast, and Devon only egged her on. Nothing like being double-teamed by a twelve-year-old and a slick rock star.