Seriously. What thefuck?
Behind the bathroom door, the shower cut off, leaving the room almost eerily silent in its wake. What was he supposed to tell Ky? That their Mommy had freaked out and left and he didn’t have a clue what she’d meant when she’d said they deserved better? It had sounded a bit too much like a breakup line for his comfort, but he didn’t want to upset Kylie if, somehow, he was wrong and they hadn’t actually just been dumped.
The bathroom door opened while he was still reeling from Addison’s sudden departure, and his heart twisted in his chest at the confusion on Kylie’s face. “Where’s Mommy?”
“She…” The words stuck in his throat. “One of the other girls had an emergency so she had to go take care of it. She, um, asked us to bring her stuff back to Rawhide for her.”
Worry filled her bright eyes, and he immediately felt like an asshole for the lie. He’d been trying to reassure her and he’d just traded one worry for another.
“Who? What kind of emergency?”
Fuck. “Mommy didn’t say, she was in a rush. But I’m sure it’s okay.”
“We should call her, see if there’s anything we can do to help.”
Double fuck. “I think after last night, the best thing we can do to help is follow Mommy’s instructions.”
Every time he said “Mommy” it was like someone was stabbing him in the chest. Was she still their Mommy? Or had he ruined everything?
Looking dubious, Kylie glanced over at the hotel room door, perfect white teeth worrying at her bottom lip. “What if something’s wrong?”
He was starting to think he couldn’t have made this worse if he’d tried. “Mommy will let us know if she needs anything. Fornow, I’m going to grab a shower and then we’re going to go out to breakfast. Maybe do some sightseeing or… something.”
Amusement replaced the worry in Kylie’s eyes. “Or something?”
“I dunno.” He jerked a shoulder. “Seems silly to have come all this way for nothing.”
Wrong thing to say. Again. Tears shimmered on Kylie’s lashes and her bottom lip trembled. “It wasn’t for nothing. It was for Mommy but weruinedit. I knew we shouldn’t have gone to that stupid bar.”
At a loss, he reached for her, pulling her into his arms and squeezing tight. “We didn’t ruin anything, Ky. Once we get back to Rawhide, everything will be fine.”
It had to be.
Right?
Danny
He managed to wear Kylie out with a trip to a museum where she went as Little as he’d ever seen her in public over various dinosaurs, followed by what felt like a million different stores where he’d spent way more than he could afford on presents for her. Every time she asked about their Mommy, he distracted her with something soft and fuzzy or shiny or bookish. The bookstore had certainly been the largest hit to his wallet, and he spent most of the drive back to Rawhide thinking about different jobs he might be able to do around the Ranch to replenish his bank account while Kylie dozed in the passenger seat.
Miraculously, she stayed asleep, even when he scooped her up to carry her up to his dorm. The thought of leaving her in her own dorm, where she would wake alone at some point was tooheartbreaking to consider, so he tucked her into his bed with a note on the bedside table to call him if she woke before he got back.
He headed back down to his car and grabbed the suitcase they’d shared for the short trip, plus the bag they’d bought to pack up all Addison’s things she’d left behind. After dropping off his suitcase, he made his way over to the teachers’ apartments, his heart hammering in his chest the whole way.
Silence greeted his knock at Addison’s door, dragging on so long he thought she must not be home. He was just about to leave the bag there and text her when the door eased open, and his heart went from racing to a dead stop.
God, she was beautiful. Even without a hint of makeup, her eyes rimmed with red and somewhat swollen, she was still absolutely stunning.
“What do you want, Mr. Hollis?”
And just like that, any hope he’d had that he’d misinterpreted the situation vanished. “Can we talk?”
“There’s nothing left to say.” Her voice was dull, lifeless, nothing like the strict-but-tender tone he’d gotten so used to from her. “You were right. I wasn’t acting like a Mommy this morning because I’m not one. I tried to warn you and Kylie, I tried to tell you that I’d just end up hurting you, but you wouldn’t listen. My fault, I suppose, for believing I could be something I’m so clearly not meant to be.”
“That’s not what I meant. I just meant…” God, how had he fucked this up so colossally? “Please let me in. Let me fix this.”
“There’s nothing for you to fix, Daniel. Go home to Kylie. I’m sure you two will be able to find a real Mommy, someone who can be everything you deserve.”
“Mommy, please, I?—”
