Page 115 of The Scars We Heal

“Well…” I hesitated.

“Dad?” Without skipping a beat, she turned to Jake.

Almost immediately after we’d moved into the main house, she started calling Jake dad. And just as we’d predicted, Adam never attempted to file for a change in custody. Everything he’d done was a sad attempt to maintain control over our lives, to manipulate and scheme the same way he had the decade we were together. After I’d stood up to him, I think he realized that he didn’t have that much weight over my decisions anymore. I hadn’t heard from him since.

Whitley was ours, and she always would be. Maybe one day when she was older, she’d want a relationship with her biological father, but that would be up to her to decide. She had the best man to help her with that decision, too.

Jake had visited his biological father, stepmom, and half-brother several times since they met in person and had built a beautiful relationship with them. They even came to our wedding.

Jake broke me out of my thoughts when he shook his head, ever the teammate. “Your mom’s in charge today, bug. Don’t ask me.”

“Look at you, being all fatherly. Ask your mother,” Colter mimicked. “Soon she’s going to turn that around on you.”

“I think we’ve still got a couple years before that happens,” I admitted. “Anything to do with cars, rodeos, and boys can be a dad question, but we’re not quite there yet. All right, let’s open one gift.”

“Yay!” She beamed up at me.

“Whose gift do you want to open first?” I asked.

She surveyed the room, tapping her lips like she wasn’t sure if she wanted to open a gift from me and Jake or one of her aunts and uncles.

“Can I open the present from you and Dad?”

I blinked back the tears burning my eyes. “Sure, bug.”

We all circled up in the living room around the tree. Whitley wanted everyone to open their presents first.

Mikey scratched the back of his head. “Might want to wait to open gifts from me until later.”

A collective groan rose from everyone.

“What did you get this year?” Isa whined. “Last year was a jump scare when you bought us all⁠—”

Before she could finish her sentence and describe the sexy card game he bought everyone, Reid clamped his hand over her mouth.

“Not in front of the children, Honeybee.”

“It’s okay. Everyone pick a gift, and we’ll open them all at the same time. How about that? That way, there’s no pressure.” Jake’s suggestion was perfect, and I nodded in agreement. “Open mine,” he whispered in my ear.

Narrowing my eyes, I lowered my voice. “I don’t know if I want to now. Don’t tell me you got me a new replacement vibrator or something.”

“It’s something better than that.”

Whitley started passing out gifts, tossing a big box in my lap with the label from Jake and handing him an envelope that was from me and her.

“Don’t tell me this is an invoice for something expensive.” He laughed.

I shook my head. “It’s something better.”

“Okay, does everyone have a gift?” I asked, and everyone nodded in response.

“All right. Go ahead, Whit.”

It had taken way too long, but Jake and I had managed to find a bigger pair of the orange cowboy boots she loved so much. She had outgrown them really quickly, and that was the biggest heartbreak of last year.

Whitley ripped open the wrapping paper and held up the box. “Shoes?” She tilted her head to the side.

“Open the box,” Jake urged.