Page 41 of Bittersweet

He watched Kayla, sitting on the floor in a circle with her friends, pouring them cups of coffee, and his heart just about burst open with all the love he felt for her.

Logan’s phone rang as he went to make Kayla some lunch.

“Hello, Mr. Riley. What’s the news?”

“The parole board has approved Naya for early release.”

Logan’s heart sank along with his shoulders. “When?”

“She’ll be out within the next two weeks.”

“So soon?”

“It’s typical.”

“Okay. Well, I appreciate you keeping me updated.”

“You’re welcome. Best of luck.”

Logan knew he wouldn’t lose full custody of his sweet girl, but he was unsure of how Naya being part of her life would affect her. He could barely concentrate as he made Kayla’s peanut butter and jelly sandwich and sliced some apples for her. He didn’t notice when he missed the apple and nicked his finger until he saw the blood on the cutting board.

Cussing wasn’t normal for Logan, especially around Kayla, but he let one slip as he turned on the faucet and held his finger under the running water.

Kayla’s small voice came from the other room. “Daddy, you said a baaad word.”

“Sorry, Kayla. Daddy hurt himself.”

Her little feet padded across the floor as she ran to the kitchen. Tears sprang to her eyes at the sight of Logan’s bloody finger. “Should I call 911?”

He had explained the whole 911 thing to her recently, but she was obviously too young to understand what a real emergency looked like.

Logan turned off the faucet and grabbed his finger with a piece of paper towel. “Just a tiny cut, Kay Kay.”

“I’ll get a Band-Aid.” She took off for the bathroom.

“You can’t reach them. Hold on, Kayla!” he hollered after her.

When he made it to the bathroom, she had already moved the step stool up to the sink and was attempting to climb onto the counter to reach the box of bandages in the medicine cabinet.

“Hold on there, little lady.” Logan grabbed hold of her waist and placed her feet back on solid ground. “I’ll get that.”

He found a Band-Aid and let Kayla help him put it on.

She took his finger in her hand and placed a little kiss on the bandage. “All better.”

His heart warmed. “I love you, Kayla.”

“I love you, Daddy.”

He swooped her up in his arms and held her tight. “Can we have a grown-up talk?”

Kayla nodded her head. “I’m almost a grown-up already.”

“I know you are.” He carried her to the living room couch and sat with her on his knee, chuckling at the way her little hands grabbed his cheeks and turned his face to hers.

“Talk to me, Daddy.”

It was hard to know where to begin to explain the situation to a four-year old. She knew her mom had broken the law and a police officer had taken her to jail, but he was sure she was too young to truly understand the enormity of it.

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