Tanner and Esme

Chapter 27 (Tanner): That Whole Scene

Moments of fuck.

Moments where no other word will do. 

I swear, it was like being haunted by my past. I didn't know how to make it any more clear that I didn't want this bitch anywhere around me, and I was wondering what I would have to do to get a fucking restraining order in place.

Fucking Mindy was standing in the parking lot of Rosalie's, at the back of my SUV. How the hell was this the way my perfect night with my family had to end?

I'd picked up Esme and our children from her place at five forty-five. We loaded up my SUV, Esme sitting beside me in the front seat, just like she used to, and I couldn't help but throw her quick glances every so often, smiling huge. Liora was babbling in the back seat as Jude held a one-sided conversation with his sister, pointing out places of interest to her. We were quiet, entertained by Jude's running travelogue.

At one point, I reached over and covered Esme's hand with my own, giving it a quick squeeze. When she looked up at me, I mouthed thank you. That covered a lot. Thank you for coming out with me as a family. Thank you for sitting beside me again. Thank you for smelling so fucking delicious and sweet. 

Then, surprising me, just as I was about to not push it and remove my hand from hers, Ez took her free hand and used it to cover mine. After squeezing it, she kept her hand there, resting right on top of mine. I couldn't help looking over at her and letting her see the happiness in my eyes, and I swear there was happiness shining in hers. I also couldn't help wishing the pizza place was more than five minutes from her apartment because I would have driven across state lines to keep her hand on mine. I missed the big things about being with Ez, their absence making me feel as if I were a pumpkin that had been hollowed out, but the little things like simple touches left me lonely inside. This small contact with her soft skin eased the ache momentarily.

We were seated right after we arrived at the restaurant, ordered our drinks and pizzas, and our server gave us crayons for Jude so he could color on the butcher paper that covered the table top. I handed Liora one of her little books with different textures she liked to play with and just watched Ez play tic-tac-toe with Jude. After a few games with Ez and then with me, Jude lost interest and wanted to draw a two-headed dinosaur with three tails.

While the children were occupied, Ez and I snatched a few minutes of conversation. Nothing deep, just simple things about her upcoming semester, things Jude was doing in school, Liora's latest milestones...and the whole time I felt like the emoji with heart eyes as I watched her talk or interact with our children.

We ate and laughed, ordered a salted caramel chocolate chip cookie for all of us to share for dessert, paid the bill...and walked out to fucking Mindy by my SUV.

How the hell she knew we were here wasn't hard to figure out. I'd jotted down tonight's reservation on a notepad and had left it on my kitchen island.

Rosalie's Brick Oven Pizza

Saturday 6 p.m.

Table for FOUR!!!!

Trent and Mindy had invaded my place just after I'd made the reservation and when Mindy was at the island, she must have seen it.

"Tanner," Esme said. "Why is that here?"

"No clue," I said, handing her the keys to the SUV. "Listen, I don't know what she's going to say or do, so can you get the children in the car while I get rid of her?"

"Sure. Do you want me to start the car and accidentally back over her or something?" she asked softly.

That got me smiling. Somehow, despite Mindy's unwanted, enraging, annoying presence, Ez had made me smile. It was all I could do not to grab her and kiss all that adorableness. I thought of my raincheck...