“It can be.”
“Not when Cassie is around. I swear that girl wakes up with more energy than the damn Energizer Bunny.”
“Oh, come on. She can’t be that bad.” Jake chuckled as he ran his thumb back and forth across my finger on my left hand.
“Not that bad? Not that bad? Your daughter wakes up at the ass crack of dawn and tries to climb into my bed to tell me all about the dream she had. Then, without taking a breath, she declares what she’d like for breakfast and the day's plans.”
“She plans her day?”
“Not just her day. She isn’t backward in coming forward telling me how our day is going to pan out.”
“And what does a day planned by Cassie look like?”
“Usually, they involve mud pits or sprinklers or something equally as messy. Then baking and, of course, a trip to the park.”
“Not many parks around here,” Jake replied, sounding miserable.
“Are you kidding? This whole place is a park. You’re going to have a hard time keeping her out of the creek.”
“Me? Why is it going to be my job to keep her out of there?”
“Because it’s your creek.”
“Technicality.”
“And she’s your daughter.”
“Right. So, she’s my daughter when she’s covered in mud and trying to dive in the creek, but she’s your daughter when…” Jake left the question hanging.
“When she’s asleep.”
“That doesn’t sound fair.” He pouted, taking the coffee mug from my hand and setting it down on the coffee table in front of us.
“Sounds perfect to me.”
“Hmm.”
Gulping down the lump in my throat, I tried to force out the words that had been haunting me for years. “Jake?”
“Yeah, sweetheart?”
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Cassie.” I choked out my apology.
I didn’t know if he’d accept it, and I had no idea if he’d ever forgive me, but the need to say it had been giving me an ulcer.
“I’m sorry I left,” he replied, his words filling my eyes with tears.
“Can you forgive me?” I asked nervously.
“Already have.”
“How?”
“Because you didn’t do it to hurt me. You did what was best for you and Cassie, and for that, I could never be angry at you. Don’t get me wrong, it sucks I missed so much, but you did an amazing job raising our daughter. We’re so lucky you’re her momma, Kellie.”
I sniffled because how could I not? For years, I’d struggled to make ends meet and worried I was making the wrong choices. To hear Jake say that, it meant the world to me.
“You mean that, don’t you?”
