Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 576(@200wpm)___ 461(@250wpm)___ 384(@300wpm)
As soon as Peyton sees me, she slides out of the booth and rushes over. She grabs my hand and pulls me over to the table where Gavin is sitting with a glass of soda cupped between his palms. “Can we play games now that Harley is here?” Peyton is bouncing like she’s been mainlining sugar.
“I think we should let Harley have a seat first and order a drink, don’t you?” Gavin arches a brow and gives me a wry smile.
“Oh.” Peyton’s face falls for a second, before she smiles up at me. “I’m really excited. I’ve never been to Chuck E. Cheese ’cause Granny says there’s too many germs and the food isn’t healthy.” She lets go of my hand and climbs into the booth across from her dad, then pats the seat beside her. “Let’s decide what we’re going to eat! Then we can play some games!”
“Okay. I like the sound of that.” I take the spot beside Peyton, which means she and I are seated across from Gavin, who takes up most of the booth with his broad shoulders. Which I need to stop admiring.
“What do you like to drink? You can have soda, or juice, or even chocolate milk. Dad lets me have chocolate milk when we go to restaurants, or Sprite, but not anything with lots of caffeine because Dad says I already have enough energy and I don’t need the kind they keep in colas.”
I grin and glance at Gavin who seems amused by this explanation.
“It is sort of a special treat, isn’t it?” I agree.
“It’s like that movie Monster Truck, where they give the monster gas from the gas station instead of the stuff straight from the ground. It has all kinds of other stuff in it, and it gives the monster too much energy,” Gavin explains. “And then what happens?”
“The monster has a sugar crash. Have you ever seen that movie?”
“I sure have! It’s one of my favorites.”
Peyton’s eyes light up. “Mine too! I love princess movies, but that movie is so fun, and the monster is so cute. I used to watch it sometimes when I went to Granny’s after school.”
“Did you spend a lot of time with your granny?” I ask as we scan the lunch options. Peyton has a child’s menu on a place mat that she can color.
“Every school day,” Peyton tells me. “Except for Friday. Dad would always take me for pizza and chocolate milk on Fridays. I like that it’s Monday and I get my favorite foods and I get to see you and we get to play all these games!” She motions excitedly to the open floor where the carnival-style games fill the room.
“Peyton used to go to my mother-in-law’s after school and I’d pick her up after work,” Gavin explains.
“That must have been nice for you to get to spend so much time with your granny,” I say to Peyton and turn to Gavin. “And it must have given you peace of mind to know Peyton was in such good hands.” In some ways, this feels a lot like the closure I needed all those years ago. Giving Peyton’s grandparents an opportunity to be directly involved in raising her was a good reason to move.
“It was definitely helpful, and Karen loved taking care of Peyton, so it worked out well for all of us, right, kiddo?”
“Yup. And now I’ll get to spend time with Nana after school some days, and she makes the best chocolate chip cookies in the world, and she said she’d teach me how to make them too.”
“That sounds like a lot of fun!” I reply.
I settle on Sprite to drink, and we decide on a large pizza, half cheese and half with all the toppings.
Peyton wrinkles her nose. “Dad likes mushrooms on his pizza, but they feel like sponges in my mouth.”
I chuckle and wrinkle my nose. “They do feel weird in your mouth, don’t they?”
She mirrors my scrunched nose, then asks, “Do you like mushrooms on your pizza?”
“Sometimes. It depends on the pizza. You might like them one day. But you know what?”
“What?”
I love the way kids hang on every word, like you’re telling them the secret to all of life’s mysteries. And I guess in a way, we are, because we’ve had all the experiences and they’re learning little bits about the world with every new adventure. “My favorite kind of pizza is plain cheese too.”
“Really?” Peyton’s eyes go wide.
“Yup. Sometimes cheese pizza is just the way to go. I’ve made it my mission to try the cheese pizza at pretty much every place in town.”
“You have?”
“Yup. I’m basically a connoisseur of pizza.”
“What’s a conno-saur?”
“An expert,” Gavin says, rubbing his bottom lip while grinning.
“A pizza expert? Is that a job? Can I become a pizza expert?” Peyton asks.
“You have to try a lot of pizza to become an expert, but I bet you could be one. Maybe not for a job, but it’s a great hobby.” I throw a wink Gavin’s way. He’s sitting back in his seat, his heavily muscled arm stretched across the back of the booth. He grins, obviously enjoying this conversation as much as Peyton and me. See? I can do this. I can have lunch with my former charge and her father without it being super awkward or breaking out in hives. I just need to stay focused on the reason I’m here—Peyton wanted to see me.