As long as no one had seen Ally enter the hotel too, all good. I didn’t care what people thought of me.
“Thank you so much, Mr. Hamilton. Please come again. And give our best to Ms. Lawrence.”
I stared at the concierge for so long that my vision blurred. Then I shook my head and strode toward the door.
Maybe she knew Ally and I were friends. Sure she did. And maybe we’d be the hottest topic of gossip by lunch. Probably before then. I just hoped Ally didn’t have to deal with shit at the diner.
The drive to Oliver’s place didn’t take long. He lived about a mile away from me, also on the lake. The Hamilton family home was about a mile away on the opposite side of Oliver’s. We were like three points of a triangle of dysfunction with beautiful views of the water.
I pulled up behind Oliver’s BMW and parked in the circular drive. To torment myself some more, I checked my silent phone. No response from Ally.
Surprise, surprise.
I jogged up the steep flight of stairs to the porch and went inside without knocking. I followed my little girl’s laughter into the kitchen, already smiling. No matter what kind of shit brewed in my gut, hearing Laurie was the way to put me in a better mood.
Especially when she was covered in chocolate chip batter from making cookies with my not so stern, older-by-six-minutes brother.
“Well, look who it is, L-monster.” Oliver swung Laurie up onto his hip and carted her over to me. He was all smiles, but his eyes were a little wild.
I knew that look well.
“Daddy!” Laurie said, already extending her arms to me and leaning half out of my brother’s hold.
“Hiya, sweetie. Sorry I wasn’t here sooner.” I grinned and took her from Oliver, setting her on my hip as he had done.
Every now and then it occurred to me how similar our mannerisms were. Oliver didn’t have any children, of course. I wasn’t sure he ever would. He’d used my experience as reason to double and triple bag ever since. For all I knew, he could’ve gotten snipped, he’d been that freaked out about unplanned procreation.
But he was a damn good uncle, as evidenced by my little girl’s giggles as she recounted her night with my brother.
“We watched movies. Poor Dory. And Hank. Unca O loved Hank.” Laurie looked back at my brother for confirmation. “Didn’t you?”
“I did. So much so that I decided I need Hank bedding for my Alaska King bed. I may have to get it handmade, but such sacrifices are made for love.” Oliver ruffled Laurie’s messy blond curls. “Right, baby girl?”
“Unca O has the biggest bed ever.” Laurie held out her hands as far apart as she could, tilting precariously on my hip until I righted her. “He said it has enough room for all his favorite big ladies to come over for sleepers.”
“Sleepovers,” Oliver corrected, winking at me before he turned away to clean up the cookie mess on the counter.
I narrowed my eyes at O’s back. “That sounds fun. We should do that sometime. What do you think? You, me, and—”
“Ally! She’ll come over for a sleeper. And her friend. The one with the bouncy hair.” Laurie grinned. “Like Goldilocks.”
“Your hair isn’t too far from Goldilocks’s hair yourself, princess.” Oliver turned back to brush a kiss over Laurie’s hair while mouthing the word “no” at me.
“That sounds fun. I’m not sure Ally and Sage could make it, but we should ask them. And we’ll get lots of snacks. All your favorites. Cheetos, and caramel popcorn, and gummy worms. Wouldn’t that be fun to eat all of that in Uncle Oliver’s big special bed?”
“This is how you repay me,” Oliver muttered, shaking his head as he swept the tray of cookies into the oven.
“Yes. So much fun. And we could get a puppy too.” Laurie’s big blue eyes glowed. “Puppies love sleepers. Right, Unca O?”
“Sure. Why the heck not? Might as well get a marching band in there too.”
“I’m sure it could be arranged. I’ll get back to you.”
Oliver flipped me the bird behind Laurie’s back and I swallowed a laugh.
Half an hour later, we were eating warm chocolate chip cookies while Laurie played on a blanket in the living room. Dory was on TV again and Laurie was babbling happily as she dressed the dolls Oliver had bought her to leave at his place.
And I was shoving cookies in my mouth faster than I could speak, so hopefully I wouldn’t have to.