Paint The Ice

Chapter 25

RILEY

TOMMY'S ALREADY IN BED WHEN I GET TO THE ROOM.

"Hey, what book would you like me to read?" I ask the three year old, flashing a look to Asher because I can't believe his son picked me instead of him.

"This one. Daddy reads too fast." Tommy admits and hands the book of his choice over to me. If there's anything I've learned about a toddler is that they're very honest when you ask certain questions.

Asher shrugs when I stare at him again. "It wasn't working out tonight. I'm sorry bud."

I sweep my fingers across the cover. "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff. Okay. Let's read it."

The rest of the holiday went by too quickly. We made use of the time though. Went hiking, more restaurants, and visited a lighthouse. Tourist stuff. The first thing I did on the long journey back was book an appointment for the health center. By the time we made it to Warren on Sunday night, I let Asher drop me off at Dan's diner.

My friends haven't seen the place and they insisted we catch up because I might've unintentionally ignored their messages for the entire trip with Asher's family.

I'm sitting at the huge window with a cup of hot chocolate on the table and my phone in hand scrolling, scrolling and scrolling. Finally, the bell above the door jingles and I whip my head up to see who it is. Mattie enters first, blonde hair in a messy bun followed by Kie who's wearing a leather bomber jacket. From afar, I can outline her laid baby hairs.

"Hey girl hey!" Kie's brown eyes lights up like a bulb when she sees me, head held high. "What's up?"

"There she is." Mattie flickers a hand to me as if I'm the girl of the hour. Man, I've missed my friends. I know I haven't responded to their messages this past weekend like I should but now that we're together again, I feel like nothing's changed. I guess that's our type of friendship. I love it.

"Sorry guys my bag's here." I tell them about the seat beside me. Sutton's probably going to borrow a chair from another table when she gets here.

Speaking of the devil, she pops inside the diner next. "Get a chair from over there. Yeah you're good." Kie directs our friend before she plops down across the table. "So how was thanksgiving?"

Sutton connects a chair to our table. "I like the vibe of this place. I can't believe you're just telling us about it."

"Yup. This is where Asher takes her for breakfast on Saturdays." Kie eyes me. "So spill. Thanksgiving."

"Wait! Am I going to need something sweet or sour for this?" Mattie asks, picking up the menu.

"There's nothing spicy about what I'm about to tell you guys so please lower your expectations."

Kie frowns. "Really?"

"We still wanna hear it." Sutton says, looking at her own menu.

So I tell them everything with pictures to prove it. About the ride there, the house is described in so much detail they can visualize it. I tell them about the nice water and the bath and the places we went like Sugar Creek Trail, the dock, the Van Gogh experience, thanksgiving dinner, the family time I've had that doesn't exist with my own, the lighthouse and last but not least the forest to see the northern lights.

"That looks so cool, oh my god." Sutton slides the screen to look at another picture. It's an off guard picture of Asher with the northern lights in the background.

"Her man, her man, her man." Kie giggles, peeping at the phone screen until Sutton slides the screen again and I'm not stopping her from being nosy.

Neither am I denying Kie's chant however she meant it. I trusted Asher enough to let my guard down and fall asleep in his arms over Thanksgiving weekend and that's all I need to verify. I'm not running and I don't have the urge to do so. It's strange but also not if that makes sense. "That's his Aunt Shirley and they..."I pause, stretching over the table to point out the other two adults in the frame. "are his parents."