“Daddy—”
“You know what chocolate does to you, princess.” He crouched in front of her. “I’ve got to get to work now. I love you, and be good for Sadie.”
Avery flung her arms around her dad’s shoulders. “I love you too, Daddy.”
Eastern tickled her belly, causing Avery to giggle, and something in Sadie’s chest clenched. She’d seen Avery with her mother countless times, and never had the woman made her laugh or smile the way Eastern did.
Which was good. Avery deserved to be loved and cared for, and Eastern was capable of that.
He rose and turned those beautiful blue eyes on her. “Thanks, Sadie. Call if you need anything.” He squeezed her upper arm, and yep, there was another punch of awareness through her system.
She waited for the door to close behind him before turning to Avery. “What should we do first?”
Her little face lit up. “Bake cookies, then Skip-Bo.”
“You had me at cookies.”
The next couple of hours were a mix of baking, games, cooking and eating. Sadie hadn’t laughed this much since thelast night she’d cared for Avery. The kid was like medicine for the soul.
By Avery’s bedtime, the night felt like it had gone far too quickly.
“Ten chapters,” Avery said adamantly.
Sadie shook her head. “Two.”
“Eight.”
“Three.”
“Five.”
“Four.”
The girl wrinkled her little nose before giving a quick nod. “Okay. Four.”
Sadie lifted her brows. “Really? I remember you fighting me to your last breath that it was five or nothing.”
Avery grabbed the big book before crawling into bed. “I’m a whole year older, Sadie. I’m maturing.”
Even though she meant it with humor, that one sentence hit Sadie hard in the heart. Shewasa whole year older. And so much had changed in her little world. “I’m sorry.”
Avery frowned. “For what?”
“For your mom leaving.”
Those little brows tugged together. “I prefer being with Daddy. He doesn’t drink.”
She pulled back. “Your mom never drank when I was around.”
“She drank a little bit, but not much. It was after you left that it got worse.”
A painful knot began to form in Sadie’s gut. “How much worse?”
Avery lifted a shoulder. “She slept a lot. And sometimes she forgot to buy groceries. I missed a lot of school because she was too tired to take me. My friends said I was lucky, but I didn’t feel lucky.”
The anger tore through Sadie like wildfire, stealing her breath. “Oh my God…I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”
“No one did. You weren’t the only one she stopped from seeing me. She didn’t even let Uncle Cody or Uncle Kay come over.” She looked up, a hint of tears in her eyes. “I know I was supposed to be sad when she left, but I missed you more than her. I always wished you’d come back…but I kind of hope she doesn’t.”
