Page 32 of Gabriel & Skye

“Yeah, she was there with Noodle, helping with the stall. Brook was there, too.”

“Any sign she’s going to come onboard and work for us?” he asks.

“Still early days.” I shrug. “Though we could get Brook on the case.”

I’m half tempted to ask my brothers what they make of the whole Brooklyn/Eden thing, but I keep it to myself for now. He admitted what he told me today in confidence. I’m sure he doesn’t want it spread around to our siblings before he’s even worked shit out himself.

“What about you, Beau? How’s things down your neck of the woods?”

“So-so,” Beau says. He’s happy-go-lucky like Brooklyn, maybe a little more on the aloof side. Nothing much gets him down. “Can’t complain.”

“No one listens anyway,” I add as Trin settles back down to watching Paw Patrol and I look at my computer screen. “Anyway, I gotta get back to these emails, then get Trin home for her bath and start dinner.”

“I’m just passing through. I’ll see you later,” Gray says.

“Ciao.” Beau casts a wave and they walk off together down the hall.

I’m actually looking forward to relaxing tonight. It’s not often I do. Our place is set back on the Northern side of the property, about a mile from Coyote Run. Me and Trinity call our abode the homestead, or ‘the homey’ as she nicknamed it.

I built the place just before Tiffany and I got married. It’s all modern, with sleek lines and a lot of glass, but blends into the backdrop perfectly.

It’s my place in the world that makes me feel good. Even if I have reminders of Tiffany. I did some remodeling after she left, adding more cabinets to the kitchen and re-tiling the bathrooms to more my taste. I took up the carpets in the bedrooms and replaced them with hardwood floors and large rugs instead.

I also repainted the whole house and replaced the laminate bench tops for granite.

Adding a stone fireplace — which is now a feature in our main living room — was the final touch.

Changing things in the house really helped me to move on, so I didn’t see Tiffany everywhere I looked. It wasn’t like I could get rid of the house; it’s here to stay. I had to make it work in the best way I knew how, which was transformation.

The best feature are the large glass windows that stretch around the perimeter. We have views of the property that span for miles. I often like to sit on the porch and watch the sunset in the summer months. There’s nothing like a Tennessee skyline to make you feel right at home.

I watch my daughter after I finish my emails and can’t help the feeling in my heart I get when she doesn’t know I’m watching. She’s absolutely everything.

“Time to go, baby,” I say eventually.

She sticks her little head up, Bunnykins still stuck under her arm for safekeeping, and packs her iPad away.

“Don’t forget your beanbag.”

We always leave it in the car because I never know where I’m going to be when I might need it.

She grabs it and drags it to my desk.

“You were such a good little angel today. Daddy is so proud of you,” I say as she climbs up on my knee and I give her a kiss on top of her head. “Daddy’s best girl.”

“I wuv you, Daddy.”

My heart bursts with the love I have for this little girl. I can’t even contain it sometimes. “I love you too, baby. Daddy’s girl.”

“Daddy’s girl,” she repeats as I pick her up with all her stuff, and we lock up for the day and go home.

8

Skye

I’m beat after the bake sale, so I end up taking a bath in the trendy caseta after dinner. Gran and Gramps went all out when they renovated and added a bathroom with a bathtub should either of us grandkids ever come to stay.

Mom and Dad stay here when they visit, which I’m hoping will be before the summer is over so they can come and enjoy Stoney Creek, even if it’s only for a few days.

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