Brody’s smile falters. “You’re into her, huh?”
“What do you mean?”
“Like…this isn’t just a fling for you. Fuck, man.” He pats me on the shoulder. “That’s great.”
I push his hand away. “I don’t need your fucking encouragement.”
“No, I’m being serious,” Brody says. “Jaylyn and I always wondered if you’d find someone that would help you move on after Sarah,” he says, referencing his wife.
“Yeah, well…”
She has, I think to myself.
For the first time in five years, I’m thinking about the future—and not just the one where I watch Ellis grow up alone—but one where I have someone by my side through it all.
Brody slaps me on the shoulder before heading for the door. “I hope it all works out for you, man. Truly.”
Yeah, you and me both.
After everyone clears out from the debriefing room, I head back to my desk to catch up on some paperwork, fighting to ignore the bomb my friends planted over the weekend.
All I would have to do is press a few keys, and the database would tell me everything I could ever want to know about the woman that I’m falling for more with each passing day.
But is it necessary?
Like I told my friends, I don’t feel like she is hiding anything from me, but then I think about Elliot and how blindsided he was by Tori. I don’t want to fucking end up like that too. If I got fucked over by this woman, I know for certain that I would never entertain a relationship again. My heart and head couldn’t go through something like that again.
Staring at the blinking cursor on the screen, it taunts me with the truth—the whole truth, not just what Vienna has told me.
But do I honestly think that something is missing?
No.
The answer comes to me so quickly that I exit out of the database system and exhale the breath I was holding.
For once I’m going to trust my gut because the thing I know for certain is that the only thing that has been missing from my life—is her.
***
“Daddy, why do you look so grumpy?” Ellis asks as she and Vienna paint rocks at my dining room table.
I’m standing in my kitchen, cleaning up the dishes from the meal I just made for the three of us, but I haven’t said much since Vienna arrived.
I’m afraid that if I do, I might blurt something out that she might not be ready to hear, but my mind can’t stop fixating on.
I’m fucking in love with this woman.
Every time she’s in my house and with me and my daughter, all I can think about is how I want this for the rest of my life.
And as soon as I came to this realization about an hour ago, I couldn’t focus on anything else.
“Just have a lot on my mind, Ellis,” I say as Vienna glances up at me too. And fuck, the sight of the two of them together is everything I feel like I’ve been missing—someone who cares for my daughter as much as they do for me.
“You should come paint rocks with us,” Ellis continues as she smears red paint all over her rock. “I’m making a ladybug.”
“And you’re getting more paint on your hands than the rock,” Vienna tells her. “Maybe you should wash your hands before you continue.”
“Okay.” Ellis hops down from her chair and runs down the hall to her bathroom.
