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When they reached the door, Layla let go of Charli to grab the handle and pull it open. Amelia, however, kept a tight hold of Charli’s hand as they walked into the building.
The interior of the bowling alley wasn’t the most modern, with the carpet and décor on the walls looking like it had been last updated in the eighties. However, it was clean and didn’t have a musty smell that one might expect of an outdated building.
They climbed a short set of wide stairs to the main area of the business. Charli looked around and spotted a few others of the family there. They were gathered by the three lanes at the far end of the space.
Layla spotted them at the same time and grabbed Amelia’s hand. “C’mon. I see Peyton.”
The pair ran ahead of Charli, and as they reached the others, she noticed that Blake wasn’t there yet. It wasn’t surprising, since he’d said he needed to work until five and then planned to go home to change his clothes.
Charli greeted her family as she joined them. “Who else is still coming?”
“Well, Blake,” Janessa began. “Jackson, for sure. Maybe Wade, depending on his work. Kayleigh said she and Hudson would try to make it but might be a bit late.”
“No Gareth and Aria?”
“Gareth wasn’t sure,” Jay said. “He was going to see how Aria was feeling.”
“Also depends on what sort of day Timmy had,” Janessa added. “He’s been teething.”
Charli loved kids, but she didn’t miss those more challenging moments of early childhood. She had found teething to be such an extremely difficult time as Lyla had been so fussy, which resulted in sleep deprivation for Charli.
“Why did Amelia come with you?” Misha asked.
“Blake phoned me earlier and asked if I could take her home with me after school, since Stan had asked him to work until five.”
“That’s good that you were able to help him out,” Jay said.
Charli shrugged. “It wasn’t as if it was a hardship since we were all going to end up at the same place anyway. The girls were thrilled to have some extra time to hang out.”
She’d been more than a little surprised when she’d taken the call and heard Blake’s voice on the other end of the line. The last time she’d spoken to him had been over the phone, the day after he’d arrived back in California.
As usual, that memory had brought other memories to the surface, along with emotions she would have happily gone without recalling, if she’d been given a choice.
Though hearing his voice like that had been difficult, she’d managed to keep her calm as she’d listened to what he’d asked of her. And there was no way she could have said no. Even if she’d wanted to.
“It’s good that he felt comfortable enough to do that,” Janessa said with a bright smile. “Don’t you think?”
“Sure,” Charli agreed, though she doubted that he’d called because he was comfortable. She was fairly sure that Blake would do whatever he had to in order to make sure Amelia was taken care of. “It just made sense.”
“Hey, everyone,” Jackson greeted them enthusiastically as he joined the group, holding up his hands for high fives from the guys. “How’s it going?”
They chatted for a few minutes, then he glanced around and said, “I see Amelia, but where’s Blake?”
When everyone turned to look at Charli, Jackson’s brows rose.
“He called me at school to ask if I could take Amelia home with me and then here to the bowling alley. Stan had asked him if he’d work until five because one of the other guys was sick, and they had work they needed to get done.”
“I bet Amelia enjoyed that.”
“Yep. Both she and Layla did.”
Speaking of the pair, the girls approached them with Peyton, who said, “Can we bowl, Dad?”
“Yep. Let’s get you some shoes.”
Charli went with Jay and the kids to get their shoes. She had to get Amelia to take off one of her shoes so that she could check her size.
“Are you going to get your shoes now?” Jay asked as they waited for the bowling alley employee to bring back shoes for the kids.
