“Looks like you have your work cut out for you.”
I smile at her. It feels easy to do now that there’s this mutual understanding between the two of us.
“Did you need something?”
She wipes her hands on her jeans. Her coat is zipped up, but I can see the hint of her pink collared shirt underneath. Her long blonde hair is still tied up in her bandanna.
“I wanted to talk to you about Poppy.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. But I was wondering if you’d want to start taking her after school a few days a week.”
“Really?”
She nods. “Yes. You want to get to know her, and with my babysitter’s schedule changing, it’d help me too.”
“You trust me with her?”
“You’re her father.”
It isn’t a rave review of trust, but at least it’s something.
“I can make things work.”
“Are you sure?” she questions. “I don’t want you to get busy and then leave her with someone else here. It would kind of defeat the purpose of you getting to know her.”
“I’ll make time for her, Presley.”
If I have to move meetings around in the afternoon, so be it. I might not always have the most flexible of schedules if I have a difficult client, but I’ll make it happen. Because like Presley said, I want a relationship with my daughter. I’m not passing her off to anyone here to help.
“She likes you, so I don’t think it’ll be too hard for you.”
I smile at the woman across from me. It seems the icy walls around her heart are slowly melting.
“And if I start to lose her, there’s always Lollipop.”
“See? You’ll do fine.” She waves a hand around in the air. “And if you leave?—”
“Right now, I’m staying.”
“You are?”
I nod. “At least for a while.”
I lean back in my chair, studying the woman in front of me. I have no doubt that it took a lot for her to come here and have this conversation with me. And while I still have no idea what my future holds in Pinecrest, I’ll be there for my daughter.
“Will starting tomorrow work? Her babysitter can drop her off after school.”
“Sounds great.”
“Do you need any help in here?” she asks, standing and looking around the office as if seeing it for the first time.
“Why would you want to help me out in here?”
Presley smirks. “You were never one to keep things organized, Kade.”
“Hey.” I point a finger at her. “This is all Verne’s doing.”
