She stopped, eyes going wide and then looked to Miss. White, who gave her a thumbs up. Amelia turned back toward the crowd and gave a little curtsey and moved back. Applause filled the room and this was my time to show Amelia that I was here for her. I gave a little hoot and holler with a loud whistle. Amelia’s gaze followed the noise right back to me and then covered where the light was shining in her eyes to see where I was. Melanie looked back, too, finding me right away, standing tall above other fathers who’d come in later.
Miss White moved on to the next child, only a little while longer before Amelia’s class finished but we had to patiently wait for each class to end before the intermission. What felt like another hour was only thirty minutes before a teacher came to the stage letting all family and friends know that they had five minutes before the first graders started.
I made my way out of the auditorium and to the hallway where there were tons of kids lined up in costumes. I looked around for the little ladybug I so wished to see but didn’t spot her right away. Miss White had her eyes on me instantly though and tried to make her way over until I saw a flash of red walk by me.
“Amelia!” I yelled out and she stopped immediately. She turned to where my voice came from, her eyes widening with surprise and happiness. The smile on her face was worth every second of driving here and standing against the back wall.
Amelia pushed by a few other students and then her speed picked up, having a full runway ahead of her straight toward me. Her little legs ran as fast as they could and I waited there with open arms, ready to catch her when she got to me.
“Amelia,” Melanie’s voice boomed and she slowed, coming to a standstill almost in front of me where Melanie now stood. Melanie reached down and grabbed for Amelia, placing her on her hip. She rested a hand on her hip, holding Amelia closer to her.
“Thank you for coming, Jack.”
“Thanks, Jack!” Amelia was all smile again after momentarily being stopped by her mother. I let my gaze travel from Amelia to Melanie, who wouldn’t meet my eyes. She was currently looking at my chest and when I took a step toward them, she took a step back. I froze where I was, not wanting to play the same game we did a week ago at my place.
“You look like you had fun up there, Amelia.”
“I did!”
“I didn’t know all of those things about ladybugs.”
“There’s more too!”
“Why don’t we let Jack get home, baby girl?” Melanie butt in on the small conversation Amelia and I were having.
“I don’t want Jack to leave, mommy.”
My eyes snapped back to Amelia who looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“It’s okay. Your mom’s right. I do have a long drive to get back home.”
Her lip jutted out in a pout and it killed me to know I was going to be leaving this little girl in seconds and that she would most likely be crying the whole way home.
“But I miss you,” Amelia’s voice whined and I watched as her mom pulled her closer, pressing her head into the crook of her neck.
“I miss you, too.” I was looking at Melanie when I said it though. Hoping that she understood that I meant for it to be both of them.
Melanie didn’t give me a look but turned from me, taking Amelia with her out of the school. They left me standing there in a sea of adults and children. None of whom I cared about. I waited a few minutes, letting the girls get a head start in the parking lot before I headed out to my car to make the drive back to Helen.
I needed to come back home and back to work but I’d finish off the week at my mom’s. Then I would start moving everything back into town that I’d begun hoarding upstate. My phone buzzed in my pocket as I reached my truck.
Thank you.
That’s all the message from Melanie said but it’s all I needed. This was the step I needed her to take. Not just reaching out to me for Amelia but for herself too and this text showed me that tonight was just the beginning. I could feel it.
Now it was time to wait.
I’d wait no matter how long it took Melanie to come around.
Twenty-One
I adjustedmy seat once again, trying to get comfortable in my own office. It’d been a week and a half since I’d been here but it felt like an eternity. I’d gotten so used to working from my parent’s house and in the comfort of a bed. Sitting up for the past three hours was killing my back in this chair.
No one had made their way into the fortress yet but I didn’t expect them too. The guys knew what was going on and that I didn’t want to talk about it because the more I talked about it, the more I either became angry or pitiful. At least, that’s what Greg said. That I either got this look like I was going to kill someone or that I’d seen a puppy get hit and was heartbroken.
I clicked around on my computer, playing with a graphic I had up, not loving the way it looked with the text the author had chosen. I tried moving it, changing the size, and changing the color but nothing worked. I went back to my stock photo collection, trying to see if there was a different image I could use instead but I knew that wasn’t the issue. It was this fancy script font that had no business being all over this graphic but the author refused to listen to me when it came to her graphics.
I was about to throw in the towel to Max because she’d sent back every single graphic and said no to them. She wanted them in this particular font and only this font. I leaned back in the chair, closing my eyes, trying to think about what might possibly look good for a romance novel with only script front in the teaser.
