“Sweetheart, we talked about this. Even if we stayed in the area, you and I would still need to move,” she said quietly.
Cammie looks up at her with tears in her eyes. “She’ll get lonely. Nana says I’m the only one who can make her happy, Mama. I don’t want to make her sad,” Cammie says quietly, and her tears start falling. I’m not sure anything can hurt more than seeing a child cry, but not sob, just having the tears slowly fall cause she’s just that sad.
“We’d still come back to visit her. I love her as much as you do,” Daphne says, and shit, I can kind of feel her sadness too. Why didn’t I realize that Daphne and Cammie probably had deep ties not only in their town, but with that asshole’s family.
“Can’t you visit Nana when you see your dad?” I ask, and the question physically hurts me. I don’t want Dane to have visitation with Cammie—even though I know there’s not much I can do about it.
Daphne turns to look at me. “She’s not talking about Dane’s mother. She doesn’t really have a relationship with them. They live in Fredericksburg, Virginia, and travel a lot. Dane’s father is a former Supreme Judge.”
Christ.These are the type of people that Daphne is used to being around. There’s no way she will ever understand my past …
“Eli?” she says softly, getting my attention. I force myself to look at her. I’m not sure how she knows, or what she sees on my face, but she reaches out and touches my face gently. It’s softer than any touch I’ve ever known. “Don’t do that. That’s not the life I ever wanted. There’s a reason my daughter barely knows those people.” I nod, feeling a little helpless and it’s an emotionthat I haven’t felt since I was a teen—and it’snotone I like. She squeezes my hand under the table. I know she’s being careful because of Cammie, but I’m finding more and more that I don’t want to be a secret from Cammie or anyone. I want her to lay her claim on me.
“So, who is this Nana Cory then? Would she think about moving?” Sabre asks, facing the problem analytically. Apparently, when Daphne is involved, that’s not my strong suit.
“Dad you can’t move half of Manchester just because your granddaughter is unhappy,” Daphne chastises with a laugh.
“She could wiv with us!” Cammie interjects, making me smile as she uses w’s instead of l’s when she talks.
“If it makes my granddaughter happy, I don’t see why I couldn’t. Besides the club just bought an apartment complex. I’m sure there’s an empty unit. It’d be close to the bakery.”
“Why did the club buy a bunch of apartments?” Daphne asks, scrunching her nose up.
“King convinced us to diversify our assets. It’s worked. The income we make is even better than back in the day when Skull was at the top of his game,” Sabre brags.
“It’s smart,” she murmurs, and I can hear admiration in her tone. To prove my mind is all fucked up, I find myself jealous of King, just because my woman thinks he’s smart—which he really is. Fuck, Daphne is not mine—at least not yet. There’s a small voice inside my head repeating two words that scare the fuck out of me.Maybe never.I push those thoughts aside and try to trample the voice. I have to so that I can survive. Apparently, fear is an emotion I’m going to have to get used to when it comes to having Daphne in my life.
“So?” Sabre prompts and Daphne looks as confused as I feel, making him sigh out loud. “Who is this, Nana Cory?”
“Oh, she’s my next-door neighbor, Ms. Grayson. She’s a widow. She’s been a great friend and support system. Her and Cammie have a very tight bond. Eli, knows her.”
“Yeah,” I answer, still kind of lost in my own thoughts, despite trying to lock them down.
“I doubt you can get her to move, Dad. She doesn’t have kids, and she lost her husband about six years ago to cancer. The house is all that’s left from her life with him.”
“If she loves kids, why didn’t she ever have any?” he asks. I have to admit I’m a little curious. Though, I guess just because you love kids, doesn’t mean you want the full-time responsibility of them.
“Her husband wasn’t able. She said a lifetime with him was worth the sacrifice, even if that lifetime was cut short.”
“She was a lucky woman,” Sabre mutters.
“How do you figure?” I ask, thinking of the hell the woman must have gone through wanting kids but not being able to have them, only to lose her husband and have to grieve alone.
“Getting a love like that is a once in a lifetime kind of thing. Death sneaks up on us. You don’t take it for granted.”
He stares at me as he says it, his haunted eyes boring into me. He’s sending me a message. How did he know? I knew he realized I cared for his daughter, but how did he guess how deep it went for me? I turn my gaze to Daphne and the weight of my feelings for her settles on my shoulders and it doesn’t feel bad. It doesn’t exactly feel good either. What it is, is hard to define, but I’m pretty sure that’s because I’m terrified that she’s going to reject me.
Christ, Sabre’s right. I need to man-up and do it soon.
Chapter 21
Daphne
The ride home is quiet.Dad and Cammie are in the back. They’re whispering like they are making some big plans. I probably should be worried, but I’m worn out. I’m full of worry. Cammie was so upset at the thought of moving away from Ms. Grayson. I love her too. I haven’t allowed myself to get too close to her. Mostly because Dane didn’t like it. Now I can see how he tried to isolate me and control my life. I’m not sure why I didn’t realize it while it was happening. I feel very weak when I look back on things. Dane may have never physically abused me, but he did use his temper to scare me. He intimidated me and constantly belittled me. I can see now I faded into the woodwork. I always dreamed of having a catering business or a bakery. He mocked the idea and said my role in the marriage was to plan parties and that’s the only catering I needed to worry about. We were supposedly a team to impress his boss and get him a partnership. Yet, when he made partner? He began sleeping with Serena. He used me and the make-believe family he sold to his boss. When, in reality, he barely spent time with Cammie or had time for me.
“You’re awful quiet tonight. Is everything okay?” Eli asks.
I turn to look at him and force a smile. “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
