“No. I mean, I’m at the shop, but the guys can handle itwithout me. Is she okay?” he asks, his voice laced with concern.
“Oh, yeah. She’s fine. Her dad—Casey was supposed to take her for the day, but he canceled. She’s kind of bummed. You don’t have to take the day off. She’ll be okay.”
“No, really, it’s fine. I’ll head that way now. I just have to clean up my shit. Do you need me to bring anything?”
“You don’t have to do that?—”
“I want to. I’ll be there in a few hours.”
Two hours later, he’s standing on my porch in a pair of light jeans, a dark blue hoodie, and the top half of his hair pulled back.Why is that so hot?
I let him in, closing the door behind us. “Hey, thank you so much. You really didn’t have to do this.”
“I told you, I don’t mind.”
“Maggie!” he sings, walking up the stairs toward her room.
I hear her squeal, and when I round the corner, she’s leaping into his arms, laughing. I start to tear up and turn quickly, wiping them away.
“So, what should we do today?”
“Let’s go to the park! Daddy always takes me to the park.”
Something flickers in his eyes for a moment, but he quickly fixes it. I would’ve missed it if I hadn’t been staring. I catch myself doing that a lot—staring at him while he’s talking to our daughter.
Then he flashes her the biggest smile. “I love the park.”
He glances back at me.
“I have a ton of stuff to catch up on today. You can take her if you want, though.”
His lips part, but he doesn’t say anything. I can’t quite read his thoughts, so I add, “You don’t have to, of course. Ican go if you’d rather. I don’t want you to think I only called you to be a babysitter.”
“No. It’s not—I’d love to. I just wasn’t expecting you to say that.” Then he picks Maggie up as he stands. “You cool with that, Mags?”
She nods, wrapping her arms around his neck. This close, the resemblance is clear. The right side of her mouth lifts a hair more than the left when she smiles, just like his. She also does this thing with her eyebrows when she’s mad that’s a dead ringer for Gabriel.
“Uh… One problem.” He grimaces. “I brought the bike.”
Maggie’s eyes widen, and she shouts, “Woo-hoo! I’m gonna ride on a motorcycle!”
“Absolutely not.” I point at her before turning to Gabriel. “You can take my car.”
He leans in and whispers, “We’ll talk her into it once I get you a small enough helmet.”
When he winks, she giggles, and I roll my eyes because it will be a cold day in hell before I let her on the back of his bike.
After doing the dishes, cleaning out Maggie’s room, and about six loads of laundry, I get busy looking at apartments online. Jess doesn’t seem to mind us living here, but we’re going to have to find our own place at some point.
I’m sitting at the table with a bowl of cereal when Jess strolls through the door.
She drops into the chair beside me. “Maggie with Casey still?”
I shake my head. “He bailed again. Gabriel took her to the park, and then they went to dinner.”
“Gabriel? Was he supposed to come today?” She picks up my spoon, taking a bite of my cereal.
“Nope, I called him because Maggie was so bummed. She cried and said she wish Gabriel was her dad.”
