Travis
"I still don't understand why I was invited." Laurel nervously toyed with her chunky necklace.
"I don't know." I knocked firmly on the dark wood of the front door. "Ronnie doesn't really know anyone around here yet, she's probably just trying to meet people."
Laurel raised an eyebrow. "She didn't seem all that eager to get to know me at the bar."
"We hadn't seen each other in three years. She was upset about running into me. That had nothing to do with you. Think of this as a fresh start. Maybe the two of you will become good friends."
She didn't disagree, but I could tell from her blank expression that she wasn't counting on it. Honestly, I'd just been trying to make her feel better. Ronnie inviting Laurel struck me as odd, too. The only reason I'd ended up bringing her along was because I was hoping she'd be a buffer so that Vinnie wouldn't end up kicking my ass.
"Hello!" Gabby cried out jubilantly as she swung the front door wide open.
"Hi," Laurel and I awkwardly responded at the same time.
"Come on in, you two."
I politely waited for Laurel to step into the house first before I followed. I'd gotten quite the shock when Gabby had opened the door. She and Laurel were dressed nearly identically. Thick necklaces. Button-down blouses. Skirts I'd expect to see in a country club. It was uncanny, really.
"Ronnie was wrestling to try to get Stella stressed. She'll be out in a minute," Gabby explained, gesturing vaguely down the hall.
Laurel asked some question about the house's decor, and I took the opportunity to slip down the hall. I could hear Ronnie's voice begging Stella to put her dress on. I let her voice guide me to an open bedroom door near the other end of the hall. I paused in the doorway, taking in the outrageous amount of glitter in the room. It was pretty safe to say Ronnie hadn't been the one to decorate.
"Need some help?" I asked, startling Ronnie so much that she jumped.
"It'd be pretty great if you'd stop sneaking up on me."
Stella darted around her mother's feet and flung herself at me. It didn't seem like Ronnie had made any attempt to explain to the kid that I was her dad, but at least she liked me. That was something I needed to talk to Ronnie about, though, because I did want Stella to know without a doubt that I was her dad. I didn't want any confusion about that.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Gabby mentioned you were having some trouble back here."
"Of course she did." Ronnie's nose wrinkled up. "Stella doesn't want to wear the dress Gabby picked for her."
Ronnie held up the dress, and I immediately understood what the problem was. It was awfully fancy for a barbecue. I could only imagine how much the sequins on it would itch, too.
"It's there a reason it has to be that exact dress? I'm sure she has some other dress she could wear, right?"
"Ugh. I tried to suggest that but Vinnie told me I wasn't allowed to mess anything up for Gabby today. He just kept lecturing me about how hard she worked to get everything perfect."
"Blame it on me," I offered. Already, I was moving towards the closet doors with Stella in tow. I slid one side open and asked her, "What do you want to wear, baby?"
Her little feet swung excitedly, kicking me in the process, but I didn't complain. Patiently, I waited until she pointed to something hanging in the very far corner of the closet. I grabbed for the hanger and tried not to gawk at the checkerboard print dress she'd selected. It took everything in me to hold in my laugh.
"Gabby is gonna freak," Ronnie mused. I noticed though that she didn't suggest picking something else.
"Why do you even own this?" I asked as I handed over both the dress and Stella.
I'd never helped a little kid get dressed before, and I didn't want to start now and embarrass myself in front of Ronnie. We seemed to be getting along okay, so I didn't want to risk rocking the boat.
"It actually was a gift from Hazel. She gave me a whole box of stuff that more or less looks like this. Gabby was too polite not to hang the new things up when I brought them home. You could totally tell she was horrified, though. So, this will be great."
I shook my head at her. She'd always been too antagonistic towards the people she didn't get along with. Honestly, I was surprised Vinnie had put up with it. He always used to be the one putting her in her place for acting like that. The fact that she was still acting so snide made it clear that Vinnie hadn't cracked down.
"Well, Stella looks perfect to me now." She'd given Ronnie no trouble putting the new dress on. She looked more like a tablecloth at a barbecue than a kid attending one, but so be it. It wasn't gonna hurt anyone. "Ready to party, Stelly-Belly?"
Ronnie pouted. "That's my nickname for her."
I reached for Ronnie, more out of instinct than anything. She let herself be pulled easily into my side. When she didn't resist, I pulled her more fully against me. My arms wrapped around her and we were hugging. It felt good. I let my head settle against the top of hers. Stella—not to be left out—wrapped an arm around each of our legs, effectively joining the embrace.
"Why are you hugging me?" Ronnie whispered.
"I figured it was just something we both needed. Thank you for sharing Stella with me, Veronica."
Ronnie seemed to melt in my arms. I'd clearly made the right call because all of the tension left her body as she inched closer to me.
"Uh, sorry to interrupt." Laurel was hovering in the hallway outside Stella's room.
All of the color seemed to drain from Ronnie's face as she pulled away from me. She seemed both embarrassed and angry, though I couldn't fathom why.
"What's up?" I asked Laurel.
"Gabby suggested I come fetch you all before her husband blows a blood vessel. Apparently, he's not thrilled with the two of you being alone back here."
"Stella's here to chaperone," I joked.
"Travis was just helping me dress Stella. That's all." Ronnie's words were loud and defensive. I shot her a confused look but she wouldn't meet my eye.
"Oh, uh, okay." Laurel glanced at me like I might have some explanation for Ronnie's defensiveness. I shrugged slightly. She'd been fine literally two minutes earlier.
Ronnie didn't even wait for the two of us. She scooped up Stella and dodged around Laurel in the hallway. She was gone before either of us had even started to move. I belatedly joined Laurel in the hallway.
"I don't think we'll be becoming good friends anytime soon," Laurel joked sarcastically as she stared in the direction Ronnie had disappeared.
"Sorry. I have no idea what her problem is."
"Really?" Laurel laughed lightly. "I have some guesses of my own."
Whatever her guesses were, she didn't get a chance to share them. Gabby's head popped up around the corner. "What would you all like to drink? We've got practically everything. Lemonade. Tea. Soda. Water."
It was only a short time later that we all found ourselves gathered around an outdoor table. Vinnie sat at one head of the table while Gabby sat at the other. I was to Vinnie's right, with Laurel on my other side. Ronnie was directly across from me, and Stella sat between her and Gabby.
It was awkward as hell.
Every time Gabby spoke, Ronnie found a reason to snap at her. Vinnie was too busy glaring at me to say a word. Stella was too fascinated by a bug crawling across the ground to pay any of us any attention. And I was scared to open my mouth for fear of making things worse. Gabby and Laurel struggled to keep things light, but it wasn't easy to do when they were the only ones talking.
"So, how long have the two of you been together?" I overheard Gabby asking.
"The two of who?" Laurel looked to me as if to make sure I'd heard the question. I'd only been half paying attention, but now I sat up higher in my seat.
"You and Travis. Aren't the two of you…"
Laurel barked out a laugh that was surprisingly unladylike. "God, no. Travis and I aren't together. I worked in the library with one of his good friends this year. And we've been hanging out this summer because he's working for the art department for me. We're not dating."
"Why on earth would you think we were dating?" I asked, completely perplexed.
"That's what Ronnie told us," Vinnie interjected.
All eyes turned to her. Except Stella's—her eyes continued to watch the fascinating bug.
"You all were literally on a date when I ran into you that first time at The Burgundy."
I stared dumbfounded at Ronnie. It was Laurel who answered, "That wasn't a date. I was trying to convince Travis to model for some art classes this summer."
All common sense fled my mind at that point. The next words out of my mouth were, "You thought I was dating Laurel? Then why the hell did you kiss me?"