Page 117 of The Challenge

But when we walked in the door, Effie gasped as she spotted Chloe waiting for us.

“Chloe!” Effie ran to her.

“Hey, girly! It’s so good to see you.” Chloe opened her arms wide and bent to meet her.

Effie burst into tears the moment she landed in the safe space of Chloe’s arms. I suspected it was a combination of joy over seeing Chloe again and the release of her emotions about her mom leaving. I felt my own eyes well up.

When they moved back to look at each other, Effie said, “Daddy told me he loves you.”

Chloe’s mouth curved into a smile. “Are you okay with that?”

“Yes.” Effie wiped her eyes. “Because I love you, too.”

I closed my eyes tightly, basking in the relief I felt.

“I love you, Effie.” Chloe wrapped her arms around my daughter again.

“Are you coming back to live here?” Effie asked.

“I’m gonna work something out so I can be here as much as possible,” Chloe assured her. “But no matter what, I’ll be here for Christmas, okay?”

Effie sniffled as she nodded.

I probably should’ve been wary of a woman promising my daughter anything at this point, but it felt different with Chloe. She was a woman of her word, and I believed she truly loved me—loved us. So instead of worrying about whether Chloe might change her mind, I decided to just be grateful she was here to diffuse what happened with Katerina while also offering Effie much-needed hope for the future.

I clapped my hands together. “How about I make us some waffles?”

Effie looked up at Chloe and turned to me. “I think I’m hungry now.”

“Me, too.” Chloe ruffled her hair.

I nodded at them. “Cool.”

Chloe and Effie disappeared into one of the bedrooms, and I could hear the muffled sounds of their talking as I prepared the waffle batter. I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. It felt so good to have both of my girls under the same roof again.

As we sat down to a very late dinner of waffles and bacon, Effie grilled Chloe on her plans.

“When can you move here for good?”

Chloe wiped her mouth. “I have to talk to my job and find out if they’d be willing to let me work fully from home. I don’t know if that’s going to be an option. And if they don’t, I may have to wait a bit to see if I can find something else closer to Wyoming.”

Effie tipped her head to the side. “But you used to work from home all the time. Why wouldn’t they let you if you’ve already done it?”

“Well, that was only supposed to be while my mom was sick.”

Effie stuffed a piece of waffle in her mouth. “But they like you, right?”

Chloe smiled. “They do, yes.”

“Why don’t you ask them if you can work from here and see what they say? Remember when you told me to believe in myself and that my dance teacher would be able to see that and believe in me, too?”

“I do.”

“Well, I think you should try it.” She grinned. “The worst they can say is no.”

I was struck by how clever Effie could be sometimes.

Chloe looked over at me, amused. “Way to boomerang my own advice back to me, Effie.”