My brows shoot up.
He thinks she’ll eventually give in and take him back. But I could tell by the way she looked athim,that will never happen. She didn’t look at him the way she’s looking atmeright now.
The way she always looks at me.
“Anyway, you ready?” she asks.
I hold up a pink gift bag. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
I figured a gift wouldn’t hurt in this situation. She deserves more than a stupid doll, but that’s the best I could do with twenty-four hours’ notice.
“Maggie, we have company!” she shouts into the house.
Footsteps thunder down the stairs into the living room before a head of blonde curls appears and leaps into her mom’s arms.
Ash laughs, picking her up before turning to me. “Maggie, this is Gabriel.”
Ash has slipped up and called me that a few times, and every time she does it, my heart lurches in my chest. It’sprobably just a habit, but I sort of hope she’s doing it on purpose.
Maggie has on a different princess dress, and her hair might be wilder than it was the first time.
Rubbing my sweaty hands on my jeans, I try to muster a warm smile. I don’t want to screw this up.
She narrows her eyes at me. “You were here before. You ‘bout barfed on the porch.”
I snort a laugh. “Yeah. That was me.” Holding up the gift bag, I add, “I brought you something.”
“What is it?” she squeals.
Ash puts her down and her eyes go wide. “Open it and find out.”
Maggie takes the bag before racing to sit on the couch and ripping the paper out.
“I love Barbies!” she shrieks, pulling the doll from the bag. “Mommy, look! I don’t have this one!”
“Wow, that’s awesome.” Ash sits next to her. “What do you say?”
“Thank you,” she says, eyeing me as I sit on the other side of the couch.
“So, you’re in kindergarten this year?”
She nods. “I’m five and when you’re five you get to go to the big school!”
Ash grins, kissing the top of her head. “We used to drive past the school on the way to daycare every morning. She was very excited to start going.”
“Also, when I turned five, I learned my ABC’s. Know what happens then?” She wiggles her brows at me.
I look to Ash for the answer, but she’s smiling down at her daughter.
Our daughter.
“What happens when you know your ABC’s?” I laugh.
“You get to play piano!”
“That’s right. No piano lessons until you know your ABC’s, huh?” Ash brushes Maggie’s hair back from her face before lifting her gaze to me. “I teach lessons on the side sometimes, and Maggie here was dying for me to teach her. But that’s my rule, isn’t it?”
Maggie nods. “Another rule, no sticky fingers on the keys.”
