A couple of days later, as I was getting Julia dressed, my phone rang. I reached over, grabbed it from the bed, and saw it was Sal from the art gallery.
“Hi Sal,” I answered.
“Hey, Ellery. My brother is opening up a large art gallery in Chicago, and he wants you to be a part of it. He was going to call you, but I told him to hold off until I talked to you first. His art show is going to be big, and he has a lot of influential people and critics attending. This could be a big break for you as an artist. He said he wants at least five of your new paintings to showcase.”
My heart began beating with excitement as I said yes right away. The thought of painting again thrilled me.
“Thank you, Sal. Tell your brother to call me and that I’m very excited.”
“I will, Ellery, and congratulations. I know you’ll do fantastic,” he said as he hung up.
I picked up Julia and did a little happy dance with her. I hadn’t painted since before she was born, and I missed it. Connor had already left for the office, and I was dying to tell him about the phone call from Sal, so I decided that we’d stop by his office after we picked up Camden’s birthday gift. When I took Julia downstairs, Claire took her from me.
“Good morning, Ellery.” She smiled.
“Good morning, Claire. Can you keep an eye on Julia for me while I finish getting ready? We’re going to go shopping today for Camden’s birthday and then we’re going to pay a surprise visit to Connor.”
Claire smiled as she looked down at Julia. “Of course I can keep an eye on this little doll.”
“Thank you, Claire. I won’t be too long.”
***
As Denny was driving Julia and me to FAO Schwarz to meet Cassidy, his phone rang. He looked at it and then at me through the rearview mirror. I found it odd that he didn’t answer it. A few seconds later, his phone rang again.
“You better get that. It may be important,” I said.
He picked up his phone and answered it. He kept watching me through the mirror. He didn’t offer much to the conversation except a few “Okays.” This was the second time he had behaved strangely with a phone call while I was around. I was beginning to think that something was going on that he didn’t want me to know about. I decided not to ask him about it just yet.
Denny pulled up to the curb and Cassidy was waiting outside the store for us. She walked around, opened the door, and took Julia from her car seat. After I thanked Denny for his help, he said goodbye and drove away.
“I want to hear all about your date with Ben,” I said as the man dressed as a toy soldier held the door open for us.
“It was a lot of fun. Not only is he hot, but he’s funny too.”
“I think I remember him being on the funny side.” I smiled. “Connor was upset that I said he was hot.” I laughed.
“Tell Connor he has nothing to worry about.”
“I already did, but he wants to be the only hot man in my life.”
“Of course he does. He’s madly in love with you. But the weird thing is, I didn’t think he was the jealous type.”
“I quickly put his fears to rest.” I winked.
Cassidy and I walked around the store for over two hours. Julia had just woken up and she was starting to get fussy. When I stopped the stroller and took her out of it, Cassidy lightly touched my arm. I looked over at her as she stared ahead. My eyes diverted over to where she was looking, and I saw my husband standing there, next to the big piano, with a wide smile on his face.
“What are you doing here?” I smiled as I walked over to him and he took Julia from my arms.
“I was hoping to take my three favorite girls to lunch.”
“Oh, so, now I’m one of your favorite girls?” Cassidy asked him as she kissed his cheek.
“You’ve always been my favorite sister.” He winked.
“Julia and I were going to surprise you and come to the office.”
“Well, it looks like I surprised you first,” Connor said as he kissed my lips.
Cassidy walked over and stepped onto the big piano with one foot. “Connor, do you remember when we were kids?” she asked with a smile.
“I sure do. Mom and Dad used to bring us here, and the both of us would try to play a song on that.”
“Come play with me; just for fun. Like we used to,” she said as she held out her hand.
There was nothing I wanted more than to see Connor playing on the big piano, but there was no way he was going to do it. As he handed Julia to me, he took Cassidy’s hand and stepped onto the toy with her. I stood there in shock. He took two steps to the left as she took two steps to the right. I put Julia in her stroller and pulled out my phone. This was something that I never wanted to forget, I thought as I hit the video record button. As Cassidy stepped off the piano, Connor stepped a little tune. When he was finished, Cassidy stepped on and played the same tune. Both of them were smiling and laughing. It was so good to see Connor having fun and relax a bit. They were both out of breath when they finished. Cassidy walked past me and I high-fived her. As Connor walked up to me, he wrapped his arms around me tightly and swayed me back and forth.
“You looked really sexy doing that.” I smiled.
“We used to come here all the time. Sometimes when Cassidy and I would be playing on it, one of the other keys would light up that we didn’t step on, and I’d tell her that Collin was here playing with us. It sort of freaked her out.”
I broke our embrace and put my hand on his chest. “I bet he was here. He’s always with you in spirit.”
Connor smiled and kissed my head. “Come on; let’s go eat. I’m starving.”
While we stood in line, waiting to make our purchases, Connor took Julia from the stroller and held her up while making funny faces at her.
“Well, look at Daddy Connor,” I heard a voice from behind say.
Connor and I turned around and we saw Sarah standing there. Instantly, Connor became nervous.
“Sarah. How are you?” he asked politely.
“I’m good, Connor. It’s nice to see you again.” She smiled. “Ellery, you look wonderful.”
“Thank you, Sarah,” I replied as I watched her move closer to Julia.
Seeing her always put a sick feeling in my stomach. Just knowing how she and Connor had used each other for years, and the things they did, made me irritated, but not as bad as when I looked at Ashlyn.
“Ellery, she’s adorable, and she looks just like you.”
I smiled politely as she backed away. “It was good seeing both of you again. You’re a perfect little family, and I would be lying if I didn’t say that I was jealous. Have a good day,” she said as she walked away.
Cassidy looked at me and then looked at Connor. She didn’t say a word and neither did he. Suddenly, I blurted out, “Well, that was awkward.”
Connor put Julia in her stroller, stood behind me, and whispered in my ear, “Like it was awkward running into Kyle.”
I looked around and saw that Cassidy was making her purchase. I discreetly reached my hand back and placed it on Connor’s crotch, giving it a light squeeze. I leaned my head back and whispered, “He was my boyfriend, not my fuck buddy. There’s a difference.”
Connor placed his hand on mine as I released my light grip. “Baby, that’s not nice, and we’ll discuss it when we get home.”
“You bet we’ll discuss it when we get home; just not with words.”
“Oh God,” he whispered.
I paid for Camden’s birthday gifts and the four of us walked out of the store. As Connor pushed the stroller, I looped my arm around his and smiled.
***
While we were waiting for our food to be served, I asked Connor how he knew we were at FAO Schwarz.
“Babe, you told me last night you were going there, and when I talked to Denny, he said he’d just dropped you and Julia off.”
“But we had already been in there for over two hours. How did you know we were still in there?”
“I took my chances, Ellery. What’s with the million questions?”
I shook my head and apologized. Something wasn’t sitting right with me, and I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“Oh my God! I completely forgot to tell you, Connor!” I exclaimed.
“What?”
“The reason Julia and I were coming to see you at the office. Sal called me and his brother is opening an art gallery in Chicago, and he wants me to do a showing with five of my paintings.”
“That’s great news, Ellery.” Cassidy smiled.
“Baby, that’s wonderful. I don’t think you have five paintings done, do you?” Connor asked.
I looked down as the waitress set my club sandwich down in front of me. “No, I don’t. I need to start painting, and quick.”
“When’s the opening?” Cassidy asked.
As I gave her a perplexed look, I bit down on my bottom lip. “I don’t know. I was so excited, I forgot to ask.”
“I’m so happy for you.” Connor smiled as he leaned over and kissed me.
While eating our lunch, we talked about Camden’s party and then Cassidy had to go and say something she shouldn’t have.
“Ben’s coming to Camden’s party.”
Julia began to whine, so I reached over and took her from her stroller. I didn’t want to look at Connor because I knew he was going to be pissed.
“Don’t give me that look, Connor. I’ll have you know that he’s a very nice guy, and I like him. In fact, we’re going out tonight, with Camden.”
Connor leaned across the table. “You’re letting him into Camden’s life?”
“I like him and, from what I can tell, he likes me.”
“Does he know about Camden?”
“Of course he does! Do you think I would hide that from him?”
Putting my hand on Connor’s arm to try and diffuse the situation didn’t help. Cassidy stood up and threw some money on the table.
“I think I’d better leave before you or I say something we’ll regret. Ellery, I love you and we’ll talk later,” she said as she kissed me on the cheek.
She walked out of the restaurant, and I looked at Connor. “Are you happy now?”
Connor shook his head and rolled his eyes. “She had no reason to get upset like that,” he said.
By this point, Julia was tired and getting fussy. “I don’t want to talk about this now. I need to get Julia home for a nap.”
“Come here, baby girl,” Connor said as he took her from me. “You’ll never get mad at your daddy.”
“Just wait until she’s a teenager and wants nothing to do with you,” I said.
“Ellery, don’t say things like that,” he said with a shocked looked on his face.
I smiled as we got up from our seats and walked out of the restaurant.