Total pages in book: 117
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110694 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 443(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
I’d kill him.
“I didn’t know where to find him. But I finally found him, and now he knows about you, he wants to be a part of your life.”
Her shoulders straightened. “Is he gonna move into Hudson’s house with us?” she asked, sounding hopeful at the thought.
Branwen shook her head. “No, no, sweetie. It doesn’t work that way. I mean, no. He has his own house. One you like very much. He wants us to live there for a while so he can get to be around you. So you can do things together.”
“Wheah is his house?” she asked, those big eyes searching her mother’s face.
“Well”—Branwen looked around and held out her hands—“this is his house. Mr. Shephard—uh, Linc is your dad.”
Stevie’s head swung around, and her gaze locked on mine. I couldn’t imagine what all was going through that little head of hers, but I could see so many different things swirling in her eyes.
“Yowah my weal dad?” she asked.
Emotion I hadn’t expected clogged my throat, so I simply nodded.
“I’m gonna live in this house?”
All I could do was nod. I swallowed, trying to clear the shit that had come over me. Damn, I hadn’t been ready for that. I’d thought I was, but I wasn’t.
She looked back at her mother, and I took the moment to compose myself.
“I get to swim in his pool again?” she asked.
Branwen smiled at her. “Every day,” she replied.
“That’s bettah than going to pweschool!” she said, then turned back to me. “I got this many new swimsuits upstaywas,” she told me, holding up six fingers.
“We can buy you as many as you want,” I told her, thankful my voice didn’t fucking crack. “Your mom tells me you want a puppy. I’ll buy you whatever puppy you want. We can even go together to look at them when you decide what breed.”
Her little palms slapped down on the table. “Weally?!” she exclaimed.
“And that swing set you want? I’ll have one even bigger and better put in the backyard.”
Stevie wiggled out of her mother’s lap and ran down the length of the table toward me. I didn’t know what to do or expect. When she reached me, she climbed up into my lap with my help, then threw her arms around my neck.
“I’m weally glad yowah my weal dad. Yowah not an outlaw,” she said, then loosened her hold to look back at her mother.
Branwen was watching us, her eyes shimmering with tears. I wasn’t sure what kind of tears they were, and I didn’t think I wanted to know. She wasn’t going to ruin this for me.
“He’s not an outlaw, is he, Mommy? You was wong.”
Her lips hesitantly turned up at the sides. “I was wrong,” she responded simply.
For a moment, I studied her. Once, there had been another little girl who called me that name. I told her I was one, and because I had nicknamed her, she had done the same to me. I dropped my gaze back to the little girl in my lap. Her curls were well kept and not a messy riot, like the one from all those years ago, but they reminded me of hers.
I hadn’t thought of her in years. Thinking about her now brought a smile to my face. Back then, I’d always thought I might have been a better girl dad. She loved me more than my own kid. Levi never lit up like she did at the sight of me. When I’d felt like a failure or shit with Maggie had me in a funk, she’d come running for me out of the stables, smiling at me like I’d hung the fucking moon. Those pale blonde ringlets flying around her. That kid had saved me from losing my soul more times than I could count.
Blinking, I came out of my memories and focused on my daughter. Maybe I wouldn’t be bad at this. I’d been loved before by a little girl, and I hadn’t had to do more than bring her a daisy to put in her hair when I saw her. I could hand Stevie the world.
Thirteen
Branwen
The turmoil that had taken root inside me last night had kept me awake, staring at the chandelier above my bed. Stevie had asked thousands of questions, it seemed, when I lay down with her. She even fell asleep in the middle of one. The day had exhausted her, and I was glad she hadn’t struggled to sleep in her new room. I had needed some time alone.
The way she had just accepted the massive turn of events without issue was a relief. She had kept Linc busy by telling him everything he could ever want to know and asking him questions. As I sat there, witnessing them together, the blame grew heavier and sank slowly onto my shoulders. It came with regret that I’d been keeping this from her because it was something she obviously needed, and I hadn’t even realized it. She’d barely taken her eyes off Linc.