saying you smell bad,” Levi added hastily. “Just sayin’.”
Levi remembered being a fourteen-year-old boy and how personal hygiene had been a huge pain in the ass that his mom and sisters had totally been on him about all the time. And he was eternally grateful to them for that.
Colin nodded. “Okay. Thanks.” He finished off his Coke and set the can on the counter. “Thanks for the drink.” He jumped off the stool and Levi walked him to the door. Chuck clicked along behind them, tail wagging, clearly hoping for a walk. At the door, Colin held out a fist and Levi bumped it with his own. “Later.”
“Later, dude.”
Levi headed to his shower, grinning. He’d been giving the kid hygiene advice while he was dripping sweat and probably stank like a locker room.
Sloane’s dad and stepmother were in town for the weekend. They came into the city every once in a while to see a play or a concert and do some shopping. And of course, to see her.
Sloane turned down her stepmother’s invitation to go shopping with her Saturday afternoon, as she always did, saying she had too much work to do, ignoring the faint disappointment in Viv’s voice. But she did meet them for dinner at Oscar’s, a lovely seafood place only a few blocks from the theater where they were all going to see Jersey Boys. The maitre d’ led Sloane through the bar and a curtained doorway into the restaurant where Dad and Viv already were. They had a small booth and sat together on one side of it. Sitting on the outside, Dad rose to give her a hug.
“Hey, cookie.” Dad embraced her. She hugged him back briefly, smiling. “How are you?”
“I’m good.”
Viv started to slide out of the booth to also give her a hug, but Sloane quickly slipped into the seat opposite her, giving her a bright smile. “Hi, Viv.”
Viv’s mouth pursed briefly, but then she smiled too. “Hi, Sloane. You look beautiful.”
“Thanks. So do you.”
“I love that dress. Really brings out your pretty blue eyes.”
“Thank you.”
“Is it new?”
“No, not really.”
Dad and Viv had been married over seven years now. Sloane was happy her father had found someone, but when Viv had come into the picture, it had been hard to accept. Sloane had never given up hope that they were going to find her mom. Then Dad had had her mom declared legally dead because she’d been missing so long, so he could marry Viv.
Sloane was older and more mature now—though really, she’d been mature since that day Mom had disappeared when she’d been fourteen—and she understood that her father had fallen in love with Viv and wanted to marry her. And in some ways, Sloane had been glad of that. Dad had struggled after Mom had left, for many reasons. But even so, it had been hard to accept having her mother declared dead, giving up the hope that one day they’d find her and she’d come home.
Intellectually, Sloane knew that wasn’t going to happen. But for so many years there’d been that tiny flicker of hope in her heart. That had extinguished it and it had been difficult not to blame her dad and Viv for that.
“So what are you drinking?” Sloane asked, looking at their drinks.
“Scotch for me,” Dad said. “Viv’s having wine.”
“Wine sounds good.”
“Let’s order a bottle,” Viv said.
“Good idea.” They looked over the wine menu and discussed some possibilities. Sloane remembered Levi mentioning the name of that French wine and found herself scanning the menu for it. She couldn’t even really remember it but she was curious how much it would be.
Viv and Sloane decided on a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc and ordered it, and Sloane set aside the wine menu to pick up the dinner menu.
“We haven’t seen you for so long,” Dad said, looking a little wistful. “Wish you’d come visit sometimes, cookie.”
“I know.” She made a face. “You know how it is.” She always told them how busy she was and how demanding her career was, but the truth was, she made excuses not to go home to Oakville.
“How’s work going?”
“It’s going well.” She smiled at Dad. “We’re in the middle of working on a bunch of new campaigns for Verhoeven Brewery, and I’m trying to get to know these new craft breweries they just purchased. It’s stressful, but I love it.”
Her dad liked hearing stories from her work, his pride in her accomplishments evident. That kept them going through dinner. For some reason