He’s grinning down at me. “Insane in the best way?”
Nodding, I laugh up at him. “Yeah. It really is.”
Zach hugs me tight, squeezing the breath out of me. “I’m so proud of you, Princess.”
“Thank you,” I whisper into his chest.
“I’m glad you talked to your sisters about it. And that they’re all so supportive of this new venture for you. I know you said you’ll have to step back from helping at Bliss, but will you continue your Princess gig?” he asks.
I shake my head. “No, I won’t be able to, which is a bummer. I enjoy it. But most of Andi’s events are on the weekends, and it just won’t work for that schedule. I have a few that I’ve already committed to through the end of the year, and we’ve agreed to letting me finish out those before I start officially. Oh,” I say, a thought coming to mind, “I have a big event in the beginning of December; it’s a meet-and-greet princess ball that is hosted in Harbor Bay. There’s a ton of other princesses that will be there,and as an attending cosplayer I get a couple complimentary tickets. Do you think the girls would want to go?”
“Chloe would lose her damn mind,” he laughs, nodding. “Bailey, too. I’m not sure Abigail would be super interested, but I can ask. That’s very sweet of you to offer, Louise.”
“Of course, just let me know and I can transfer the tickets.” Looking all the way up at him, I ask, “That reminds me, how did your talk with Abigail go?”
He sighs, blowing out his breath, making his cheeks puff out. Zach releases me and we step away from each other, but he keeps his fingers entwined with mine, rubbing the pad of his thumb across the back of my hand. “Not great. She’s big mad at me right now because I made her delete the apps off her phone, and I informed her at any point I have the right to check her phone to make sure she’s not re-downloaded them. I guess she and several girls from school all made accounts, using fake birthdates and some kind of filter to make them look older in their pictures. I had to have the talk about internet safety and human trafficking. It’s hard… how do you impress the severity of a situation without scaring them, but scaring them enough to take it seriously? How do I know what the right way to handle this is?”
“There’s not one single right way to handle it, Zach. Social media and internet safety changes so quickly. You can only do what you feel is right for you and your kids. And by the time Chloe is old enough to be using it… it will all be different again.”
“That’s not helpful,” he grumbles, but one side of his mouth tilts up in a half-hearted smile.
“You’ll be okay. They’ll be okay. I promise.” Swallowing hard, I ask quietly, “And… what about their mom? What did she say about that?”
He shrugs one of those broad as fuck shoulders, the muscles bunching beneath the FD t-shirt he has on. “Honestly, not much.She showed me the messages that Britt sent to her. She only responded a couple times. Brittanee was digging for information but not getting it from her quick enough and then got snarky like she does. Abigail barely mentioned your involvement in uh—thatsituation, but Britt latched onto it and wouldn’t let it go until Abi had given her more information.” He shakes his head, as if gauging his wording carefully. “It’s an extremely complicated situation, our current custody arrangement and how this divorce process has been. It’s hard to explain to a twelve-year-old.”
Squeezing his fingers, I whisper, “You’re doing a great job, Zach. I hope you know that.”
“It’s nice to hear every once in a while,” he laughs, rubbing his hand over the back of his neck. “Thank you, Louise.”
“I didn’t do anything. You did all the hard work. I just listened.”
“That’s exactly what I mean. You…” he sighs again, dropping his hand. “You let me fumble around and even if it’s not perfect, you still make me feel like I’m somehow not fucking everything up entirely.”
“Because you’re not. Those girls are healthy, and cared for, andhappy… Zach. That’s all any parent can want for their kids. And you’re managing itby yourself. You should give yourself more credit than you do,” I whisper gently, searching his eyes with my own. “They love you—even when they’rebig madat you,” I tease. “And they know that you love them, too.”
He stares down at me, silent, like he’s chewing over every word, digesting them slowly. He nods, finally. “Thank you.”
“Anytime, big guy,” I whisper and wink. Glancing around his arm, I say, “Joel is making kissy faces at us. Think we should give him what he’s asking for?”
Zach laughs out loud, and my attempt to lighten the mood works. He wraps one arm around my waist, pulling me sharply,making me gasp and laugh. Sliding his other hand behind my neck, he cups the back of my head and then dips me low, dropping his mouth to mine in a searing, closed mouth kiss.
There’s a roaring round of applause from the other two men, and when Zach pulls me back up, we’re both grinning like idiots.
Zach and I turn toward the two, and they both hold up their hands, all ten fingers splayed wide.
Joel crows, “And he sticks the landing, folks!”
Forty-Three
Zach
“Are you going to dress up, too, Daddy?” Chloe asks, looking up at me.
I narrow my eyes on her. “I don’t dress up.”
“But it’s more fun when you do,” she whines, stomping her little foot.
Standing in one of the aisles at the local pop-up Halloween Superstore that’s only open from September to the end of October, I cross my arms. We’ve been walking around the store for an hour already, and only one out of my three girls have chosen a Halloween costume.
