house. The kitchen was blissfully warm and smelled heavenly. But I was grumpy as fuck. “Can I have your keys?” I asked Frannie, who was loading the dishwasher.
Without answering, she went over to her purse and took them out. Then she handed them to me without meeting my eyes or saying a thing.
I glanced toward the living room, but didn’t see the kids. “Where are the girls?”
“Getting dressed.” She put a detergent pod in the dishwasher, closed the door, and started it.
“Are you mad at me?” I blurted, unable to stand it anymore.
She began wiping down the counter. “What would I be mad about?”
I rolled my eyes. “Last night.”
“Last night didn’t happen, remember?”
I stared at her back for a moment, then stormed out the back door, slamming it behind me. Hard.
Her car started fine, so after I’d taken a quick shower and gotten dressed, we all piled into it for the drive to Cloverleigh. I was behind the wheel, Frannie was in the passenger seat, and the girls were squeezed in the back. The tension in the front seat was icy and thick.
“Daddy, what are we going to do at Cloverleigh?” Felicity asked. “Can we see the animals?”
“I don’t know,” I said tersely.
“Can we take a sleigh ride?” Winnie asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“But Frannie said we could.”
“We can’t take up all Frannie’s time.”
“It’s fine,” Frannie said stiffly.
“Will we have lunch there?” Millie wondered. “I’m kind of hungry.”
“I don’t know,” I snapped. “Stop with all the questions already.”
“Jeez, why are you in such a bad mood?” Millie asked.
“I’m not in a bad mood!” I roared. From my right I could feel Frannie’s eyes on me. I clenched my jaw and gripped the wheel tighter.
When we arrived at Cloverleigh, Daphne Sawyer came rushing out from behind the desk. “There you are! I was so worried about you all on these roads. Was the driving awful?”
“It wasn’t too bad,” I said. But I couldn’t seem to unclench my jaw.
She hugged Frannie. “I’m so glad to see you. And you, too, girls,” she added, smiling at my daughters. “Mr. Sawyer said you can take the sleigh out this afternoon.”
“And how about lunch up in my apartment?” asked Frannie.
The girls jumped up and down with excitement at both ideas. After thanking Daphne and Frannie, and warning the kids to behave, I went back to my office and tried to get things done, but it was tough going.
My dark mood refused to lift. I barked at DeSantis when he checked with me about his new bottling line. I skipped lunch to punish myself and my stomach growled hungrily all afternoon. I swore at the guy from the towing company when he told me they were backed up because of the snow and he wasn’t sure when they’d be able to get to my car. And all day long I kept glancing out the window, wondering if the kids were out in the sleigh with Frannie and whether she hated my guts for last night. Sure seemed like it this morning.
But I knew I hadn’t forced her to do anything she didn’t want to do. Had she faked her orgasms? Maybe I wasn’t the stud I thought I was.
The thought did not sit well with me.
Or had I hurt her feelings somehow? Slighted her in some way? Had I said something insensitive without realizing it?
Goddamn, I was fucking clueless about women.
Around four-thirty, my ex called. Of course.
I winced when I saw her name on my phone and gave the screen the finger, but I took the call. “Hello?”
“It’s me,” she said.
“I know.” I pinched the bridge of my nose with two fingers. “What do you want?”
“I’m fine, thanks. How are you?” Her voice oozed sarcasm.
“Fine.”
A heavy sigh. “I’m coming up this weekend.”
“Have you told the kids?”
“No. I want to surprise them.”
“Do you have a ticket already?”
“Not yet.”
“Do me a favor, and don’t say anything to the kids until you’re sure you’re coming,” I said. “Last month, you didn’t make it and they were devastated.”
“I won’t,” she snapped. “That’s how a surprise works, Mack. You don’t say anything beforehand. And it’s not my fault that I couldn’t come last time. I was sick.”
“Whatever. I just don’t want them disappointed again.”
“They won’t be,” she snapped. “I’ll be there Friday.”
“Fine.” I ended the call and tossed my phone onto my desk. I felt like throwing it out the window. Why the hell did she bother coming at all? She didn’t really care about them. And she’d probably spend the entire