“That’s enough. You always fill the cup way too full, Lu!”
“Better too full than too empty,” he murmured, gently stroking her head before taking the cup and placing it on the nightstand next to the photo of Laney.
Melody fell back into the pillow and sighed heavily, the way only five-year-old girls could sigh when they were about to say something of the utmost importance. “Lu… Aunt Hazel forgot to remind me to brush my teeth. But I did it anyway so my teeth won’t fall out like your hockey guys.”
This was not exactly the situation. His ‘hockey guys’ lost their teeth for completely different reasons, not poor dental hygiene. But the positive effect on Melody’s evening routine after she’d seen their toothless pictures was remarkable.
“You did well,” he said, nodding.
“Yes, I know.” She waved her hand. “Hazel says I shouldn’t tell you, but I don’t like lies. Mom always said that lying is veeerrrry bad.”
“And she was right,” he whispered and the tight feeling in his chest returned.
Melody swallowed and nodded. “Are you driving me to kindergarten tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“You’re not leaving again?”
“No.” He hesitated. “I don’t have another away game until next week.”
She sighed dramatically. “Thank goodness. Hazel always talks so much when she drives me there, and I don’t like that because then I don’t have time to tell her about my dream. Lu?”
“Yes?”
“I drew you a picture.” She sat up and pulled it out from under her pillow as if she’d been planning to show it to him all along.
There were three deformed stick figures with black hair. Two were standing on a green field, the third on a large cloud withhuge eyes. The cloud stick figure was smiling broadly, one of the meadow stick figures was tiny, and the other looked like it thought everything, including clouds and meadows, was stupid.
“That cloud over there is where Mom is looking down on us, making sure Hazel doesn’t forget to remind me to brush my teeth again,” she explained, yawning as she placed the piece of paper on his thigh. “That’s you.” She pointed to the grumpy-looking stick figure with biceps as big as his head. “The other one is me. We’re in the park, having fun.”
Lucas nodded slowly, his gaze wandering to the cloud with the eyes. Sometimes, he wished that Laney actually looked down on them and could watch her daughter lecture Hazel about brushing her teeth. Other times, he hoped she wasn’t, so she didn’t see Melody cry when she was missing her. That was heartbreaking. Also, he hoped she didn’t witness him struggling with his guilty conscience when he had to leave Melody alone with his parents or Hazel once again. Laney had specifically left custody to him, and only him, in her will.The only member of my family who can offer her a quiet life without drama.
Lucas, however, didn’t know what he was doing or what young girls needed. He learned, he tried, but his work hours were impossible, and…it was so damn hard. Melody wasn’t the only one who missed Laney.
The only thing he could do for Melody was to stop the paparazzi from chasing her and the Internet from buzzing with the story:Hawks goalie also a single dad!Nobody knew except his parents, his agent Hazel, and Fox. He paid Melody’s daycare so much damn money, it would be against their interest to alert the press. And that was how it would stay.
“It’s a beautiful picture,” he said, handing it back to her. “I like the colors.”
Melody beamed at him. “Me too. Mom too, I think. She liked green.”
He didn’t know if that was true. He’d always been bad at remembering such details: birthdays, favorite foods, and the little things that made a person who they were. Laney was the one who’d always really known people, even when her own life had always been a huge mess.
“Your mom would be proud of you,” he murmured roughly and kissed Melody gently on the head.
As he said it, he doubted she would be proud of him.
Chapter Two
Second encounter
Hey, I’m super stressed, I have an exam the day after tomorrow. I could use a half hour of distraction…
I’ll be there in forty minutes.
April
(Five weeks later)
