Chapter 29

Victoria

Erin throwsher arms around me when I pick her up at my parents' house after work on Monday. I still haven't recovered from the week from hell last week, but I'm thrilled at this reception from my daughter.

"Mom! Mom! Mom! Guess what?" She's bouncing on her toes after pulling away, her hands clasped in front of her, her face lit up.

"What, sweetheart? What is it?" She's so excited, she's about to burst, and I have this sting of worry that I missed something big. That I should have some clue what this is about.

"Maddy Carlson is having a sleepover birthday party this weekend. And guess what else? It's at a hotel. We all get to stay at the Riverside Resort and watch movies and order room service and go swimming in the pool!"

Relieved that this is about an exciting birthday party invite and not something I should've known about, I laugh. "Wow. That sounds like lots of fun. What day is it?"

She scampers to where her backpack sits next to the front door, and my mom gives me an indulgent smile. "She's been talking about how much fun they'll have since she got here after school. But she got all her homework done. I think she just has her regular reading left to do, right, Erin?"

"Yup!" Erin chirps, handing me the invitation. It's fancy—thick paper with script fonts, almost like a wedding invitation, and part of me inwardly scoffs at something this extravagant for a kid's birthday party. But then I remember when Erin turned seven. I made a whole rack of princess dresses so she could invite her friends over for a dress-up princess tea party. Kids could wear their own princess dresses if they wanted to, of course, but I had multiple options for anyone who didn't have their own or just wanted something different. Because let's face it, even using cheap satin, my princess dresses were nicer than the Halloween costume ones most kids have.

Compared to that, some fancy stationery isn't that big of a deal. Plus, if they're going for a spa-type theme—which, based on Erin's nonstop chatter about it, it seems like they are—the fancy invitations make sense.

"Can I please go, Mom? Please please please please please?" She's bouncing on her toes again with her hands clasped in front of her. "She's only allowed to invite five friends, and she invited me. I'd be so embarrassed if I had to say no."

Reaching around her, I pull her into a side hug. "Of course, sweetie. It's on Friday night. We don't have anything scheduled this weekend that can't wait until next weekend or be done on Sunday. You just have to make sure you get all your homework done either before you go or after you get home."

She scoffs, flapping a hand at me. "My teacher doesn't give homework over the weekend. Unless it's a project."

I raise an eyebrow. "And don't you have a math project due soon? Like, next week?"

"Oh. Right." She waves that away. "I'll get it done, I promise. I'll have it done before Friday. You'll see."

"Sounds like a deal. We'll look at how much you have left to do when we get home and plan a schedule for the week. Do you know what you want to get Maddy for a present?" She scrunches up her face in thought and shakes her head. "Alright. We'll figure it out. Give your grandparents hugs and grab your backpack. We can talk about it over dinner."

Running to my mom, Erin wraps her arms around her, gives her a squeeze, flits over to my dad sitting in his armchair, and startles him awake from a nap with a hug.

He jolts, blinks, then reaches around to pat Erin on the back. "You leaving?"

"Yup. Mom's here. Time for us to go."

He looks past her to me, and we exchange pleasantries while Erin puts her backpack on. We all say goodbye once more, and then Erin and I leave.

I keep a lid on my own excitement at the prospect of Erin going to a sleepover birthday party this weekend until after my daughter's in bed for the night. Then I quietly slip into my own room and call Hayden.

"Hey, you," he answers, his voice full of the warmth I've grown used to over the last six weeks we've been together.

Despite his assurances that there's always something that causes delays, filming seems to be ahead of schedule. Supposedly the big scenes with all the extras were the most likely thing to get everything behind schedule, but it went off without a hitch. Well, at least nothing that caused us to fall behind.

Which means, even if something happens to delay things, it won't put them much behind, if at all. I don't like thinking about Hayden leaving sooner than planned, especially when, in my mind, I was expecting to get an extra week or two beyond the official filming schedule dates.

"Hey," I respond softly, hoping my sudden spurt of anxiety doesn't come through in my voice. If he's leaving soon, that means this'll all be over soon, and that makes me sad, despite the good news I called to share.

"How are you? How was your day? It was weird not seeing you on set today."

I hum. "It was a little weird not being on set."

"I miss you." The three simple words warm me. They're not the usual three that people want to hear, but it's too soon for those three words. And anyway, that's not what this is about.

But it still feels good to be missed. "I miss you too. But I have some good news on that front."

"You're on your way over?"

Laughing, I shake my head. "No. I can't just leave Erin here."

"You're calling to tell me to come over as soon as I can get there?"

Though I'm still smiling, that one just has me humming. "That's not a good idea," I whisper. "Erin …"

I don't even have to finish that thought before he says, "I know."

"But she has a sleepover birthday party on Friday night. She'll go with her friend after school that day, and I pick her up at eleven on Saturday morning. I'm pretty sure I'll be on set on Friday after work, but beyond that …"

"No plans?"

"Well," I laugh, "I sort of expected I'd make plans pretty easily. There's this guy I've been seeing …"

"Oh? Tell me more. What's he like?"

"Well, he's not from around here."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"A little of both." Suddenly this playful banter feels more serious. "Good, because dating around here can feel downright incestuous after a while. I've known most of the guys my age since we were in Kindergarten. It's like dating my brother. Blech."

He laughs at that. "I thought you were an only child."

"I am. That's not the point, though."

"Of course. And what's the bad part?"

"Well, he doesn't live here now, either. He's just in town for a little while for a project. So it'll all be over soon."

He's quiet for a long moment, and I hold my breath, waiting for his response. "And it's bad that he has to leave soon?" he asks very quietly at last.

"I think so."

He hums. "What were you thinking for Friday night?"

I blink at the sudden subject change. Though I guess it's not that big of a change. More like we took a little detour, and he got us back on the main track. "Um, well, I thought you could come over again like last time. Stay the night. If you want."

His lack of response to my statement that I think it's bad he has to leave soon has me feeling uncertain.

"That sounds perfect," he breathes, the warmth back in his tone. "I can't wait. Will I get to see you before then? Or are you off set all week after being here so much last week?"

"I'll be there on Wednesday and Friday."

"Great. I'll make sure Mia sends you to my trailer on Wednesday."

I laugh at that, wrinkling my nose. "That sounds like she's my pimp or something."

He laughs too. "No. Nothing like that. You're so much more …" He trails off, clears his throat, and tries again. "If it feels better for you, you can just tell her you're coming to see me when you're finished with whatever she has for you to do."

My shoulders relax, and I hadn't even realized I'd tensed up. "Yeah. That does feel better. See you Wednesday."