15
Jacks was happy to return to her father. I knew this because she came bouncing through the door of Crave the next afternoon, her dad in tow. And she immediately started talking a mile a minute about all the things her mom scheduled for her to do.
Unfortunately, it sounded like Monica arranged lessons, play dates, and activities but never remained there with Jacks.
I think Jacks had fun, but she did mention that she wished she'd spent more time with her mom. And I don't think she meant staying at her mother's house in Dallas, but just time with Monica.
Brody smiled and said all the right things, but I could tell he wasn't pleased with what he was hearing.
Once Jacks wound down and the flow of words stopped, I said, "Well, I know your dad really missed you." I leaned forward. "He came by yesterday and ate most of a huge Insane Brownie Fudge Sundae with me because he was so sad. I thought he was going to cry all over it."
Her eyes widened and she looked at her father. "Really?"
His eyes promised me retribution as soon as we were alone. Somehow, I didn't think I was going to hate it.
He broke our stare down because I couldn't tear my eyes from his and looked down at Jacks. "Yeah, baby. I missed you a lot."
There was a softness in his voice that hit me right in the gut. The way he spoke to her, the way he looked at her, everything about him revealed his love for her.
I wanted that for myself. My entire life, I'd seen my father look at my mother like that. And me. Even my brother.
I realized then that I didn't want just anyone to look at me like that. I wantedBrodyto be that man.
Watching him watch his daughter—that was the moment I fell in love with Brody Murphy. True, deep, all-encompassing love. It was so much more than the adolescent adoration I'd had for him.
Jacks' laugh pierced the fog surrounding me. I blinked and realized that I'd missed whatever she'd said in reply to Brody's admission that he'd been sad while she was gone.
"You okay, Miss Cam?" Jacks asked me.
I smiled at her. "Yeah. I'm good. So did you bring your appetite for ice cream?"
"Yeah!"
They each ordered two scoops and carried them to a table. Things were too busy for me to go sit with them, but they had their heads together as they ate. Jacks looked happy to be home.
"I recognize that look," Sierra said as she sidled up to me.
"What look?"
She turned toward me. "You're in love with him."
"You can't tell that just by looking at someone."
"I can when that someone is you," she scoffed. "You look at him differently than you have any other guy before. You're...softer."
"Shut up," I muttered. "We haven't even had sex yet."
There was a choked sound behind me and I sighed. Kelly must have snuck up on us.
"What did I tell you about eavesdropping?" I asked her without turning around.
"That if I was going to do it, I had to be sneaky enough not to get caught," Kelly replied.
"Well, you're caught. Go clean something or take out the trash. The dirtier the job the better. It will teach you to be more careful next time."
Kelly had worked with me long enough to get used to my occasionally twisted sense of humor. She just laughed, rolled her eyes, and went back up to the counter to help three little girls who'd just come in with a woman that appeared as harassed as I usually felt when surrounded by three small people.
Running an ice cream shop, I spent a lot of time around kids. Most of them were fun, even when they were being a little naughty. But they're still exhausting, even when you like'em.
