She never did.
Maverick grabbed her overnight bag and took it back to her, and Sam never mentioned her mother.Not that I asked.It wasn’t the child’s job to get in the middle of adult drama.She had enough on her own plate navigating hormones, school, and adolescence.
By Friday morning, I was convinced that things between Danica and me were well and truly over.
And I was sick to my stomach over it.
I just had no idea how tofixthings.If that was something she even wanted.
The security system was one that rivaled a Swiss bank now, and Cameron, Jagger, and Maverick helped me build a gate in a day.The vet said Midnight was perfectly healthy, and the farrier didn’t think he needed shoes.So besides my broken heart, everything on the property was back to normal and well-working order.
Portia grunted at me and pressed her trotter on my socked foot as I prepped my morning coffee.
“Si,si,” I said.“I will get your breakfast in a moment.”She could be impatient sometimes.
I was just putting down her oatmeal and blueberries when there was an alert on the security screen.Someone was at the gate.I checked the camera footage, and my heart stopped.
It was Danica.
I immediately granted her access and, with my heart now beating again—and wildly, went to the porch to greet her.
Portia was so curious to see who our new guest was that she actually abandoned her breakfast—completely out of character for her—and accompanied me.
Danica’s SUV came to a stop, and she hopped out, slamming the door and marching up to me, anger in her green eyes.
She’d never looked more beautiful.
“What did I do?”she demanded, standing on the ground while I stood four steps above her on the porch.Her hands landed on her hips, as she shook her head, waiting for my response.“Hmm?What did I do?”
“I … I don’t understand.”
“Come down here so I don’t feel like some peasant asking for the king’s permission.”
Fair enough.
I met her on the gravel.“I … I don’t understand,” I repeated.Portia was now grunting and wagging her tail around Danica, waiting for her customary greeting of ear and butt scratches.
Danica gave my pig a small greeting, then stood up again and locked her piercing eyes on me.“You haven’t messaged me.You haven’t come by.The day Midnight was taken, I knew emotions were high, and so was your anxiety.So I gave you space.I gave you space to process and figure out your feelings.But that wasMonday.Today is Friday.Is this your way of ending things with me?”
I blinked at her.“I … no.I … I thought you ended things with me.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because I was a coward.”
“How were you a coward?”
“I shut down.My anxiety took over, and Clint McEvoy had to take charge.I accused you of being a distraction and the reason I didn’t hear the break-in.I said you weren’t important.”
“Yeah.You did.And that hurt.”
I glanced at the ground.
“But I know that I wasn’t a distraction.It wasn’t my fault, and Iamimportant.”She glanced skyward, as if asking the clouds for some patience, before focusing back on me.“I am an adult, you know.I’m able to understand when people say things they don’t mean because they’re upset, scared, or overwhelmed.I’ve done it too.All I needed from you was an apology.An acknowledgment of the fact that you didn’t mean or believe the things you said.”
“I am an adult too,” I argued.“But when something terrible happened, I froze.You don’t deserve someone like that.”
The way her head tilted and her eyes narrowed said she didn’t believe that for a second.“Get the fuck over yourself, Barone.”
