6
Palmer
“What’swrongwithyourface?”
I grimaced at the way my skin heated even more, but quickly attempted to cover it with a smile. My burnt whale pancake remained untouched on the plate in front of me.
I hadn’t been expecting the sight of a shirtless Roman Ramsey barging into the kitchen like that. Not that he had anything to be embarrassed about. Roman had the epitome of what I imagineda firefighter’s body to be. He was all bulky, chiseled muscle and tight, hard abs.
Oh, my God.
I touched my flaming cheeks and shook my head. I couldn’t think of him like that. I shouldn’t be thinking about his body at all. He was…Hailey’s father. I was pretty sure he was like, forty or something anyways. Even if I wasn’t some random woman he’d literally dragged in from the side of the road, I doubt he’d appreciate the thoughts running through my head.
“I’m just a little warm,” I mumbled, cutting off the whale’s tail and popping it into my mouth.
The sweetness of the maple syrup almost covered the burnt flavor.
Hailey squinted at me with suspicion. She glanced out the window that was splattered with snow from last night. I’d gotten a notification that school had already been canceled for the day and I wondered how long it would be until the roads were clear enough for me to leave town.
“It’s pretty cold outside,” she mused, like she doubted my excuse, but she didn’t question me further as she shrugged and took another bite of her octopus.
I was proud of the cute little pancakes we’d made together. We’d gone with a sea theme since blue was Hailey’s favorite color. Besides the whale and octopus, we’d made a dolphin, jellyfish, stingray, and a blue crab with the most adorable claws. A plate with the crab sat at the empty seat at Hailey’s side. Roman hadn’t returned to the kitchen yet, and Hailey had decided the crab was the best fit for her dad.
“What should we do today?” Hailey asked, gaining back my attention.
I blinked at her. “What should we do?”
She tapped the tines of her fork on her chin as she thought. “Hmm…well, I don’t have school and there is a lot of snow, so wecould go sledding. Or we could stay inside and watch movies by the fire.”
My stomach sank. “Oh.” I shifted on my chair. “I don’t think I can stay long, Hails. I was only here because of the storm…”
Her fork clattered onto the table. “What?” Her eyes went wide, on the verge of panic. “You can’t leave! You just got here!”
I bit my lip, my heart breaking at her brimming tears. Guilt punched me square in the gut. Maybe it had been a mistake to come. I should’ve found somewhere else to park that was nowhere near the bed-and-breakfast.
I reached for her hand and squeezed. “Hey, I’m so sorry. I had so much fun with you this morning. You’re an excellent pancake chef.”
Her lip wobbled. “I don’t want you to leave,” she said softly.
I squeezed her hand harder. I wanted to tell her that we’d only just met and she really wouldn’t miss me that much, but I couldn’t. That was part of the magic of kids. They felt things so deeply and intensely. Their emotions hadn’t been dulled and beaten down by life and experience. They were pure and bright, and I didn’t ever want to minimize them.
“Hailey.”
The two of us jumped at the low, strong voice that vibrated through the kitchen.
Roman stood near the entrance, focused on his daughter. He seemed calmer than he had the previous times I’d spoken with him, less frustrated. I wondered what had changed—besides the black T-shirt he’d put on.
Hailey blinked at her father, and he jerked his chin behind him toward the stairs. “Go get dressed, Hailey.”
Hailey frowned. “But—”
“You can come back downstairs when I come get you.” Roman cut her off.
Her little nose wrinkled with disapproval as she glanced between her father and me. “I want Palmer to stay.”
Roman sighed. “Go upstairs.”
Hailey abruptly stood, pushing her chair so hard it almost fell backward. With lips pursed in a very impressive pout, she marched out of the kitchen. She glared at her father on her way, and we heard her every step as she stomped up the stairs.
