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She nodded and leaned into his touch. His hands were so warm as they cupped her cheeks, making her tired. How was she already tired when they hadn’t even hit the afternoon yet? She hadn’t worked and she was already exhausted. Everything was crashing down on her from the past twenty-four hours.

“Let’s go get you a little snack, and then we can relax on the chair today.” Daddy stood, taking her hand and leading her from the room. “When we go out to buy food, we’re going to buy some things you can keep in your purse, back pocket, and put everywhere in your house, my house, my office, and around the farm so if your blood sugar drops, you’ll have something to hand. So, I need you to think about what snacks you would like to have.”

“Okay,” she whispered, following him to the kitchen. “Don’t you have work today?”

She didn’t want him to be away from work, even though she needed him. He had employees, people who were counting on him for things. She didn’t want to ruin that or have him lose business because he was helping her.

“Nope, Ezekiel has everything handled for today. I may get a text or a call once or twice, but he has everything under control. My sole attention is on you and you alone.” He smiled.

“Ugh, I was hoping they would need you. Take you away so I don’t have to be near you for one more second.” Sammi smirked and looked away as they walked into the kitchen.

But she couldn’t help but peek at Daddy staring at her like she had lost her mind. Giggling, she took a step back and looked at him.

“Are you trying to get rid of me, brat?” Daddy asked.

Sammi pointed at herself. “Me? Get rid of you? I would never, Daddy. I don’t know where you heard that.” She couldn’t help the giggles now.

Before she could even blink, Daddy had his arms wrapped around her, tickling her. She screeched and laughed, trying to get out of his hold, but he had her locked in place.

“Please, Daddy! I wasn’t serious about you leaving!” she yelled as he continued to tickle her. “Stop! Stop! I’m going to pee!”

Daddy immediately stopped and held her still. Sammi relaxed in his arms, tilting her head back to look at him.

“I love you,” she whispered before she could stop herself. Her eyes went wide as she stared at Daddy.

“I love you too,” he said before she could get away. “For a while, but I never knew how to tell you.”

She flung her arms around him, holding tight as she took a deep breath. She wasn’t expecting him to say it back. She honestly wasn’t expecting to say those it to him. Sammi had felt this way for a while, but she wanted to tell him at the right time. The perfect and special time.

“I will always love you, no matter what. You are it for me,” he whispered in her ear.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

SAMMI

Several days had passed since she Sammi’s diagnosis. Several days yet Daddy was still by her side. She didn’t expect him to leave, not after he told her he wasn’t going anywhere. But deep down, there was a part of her that thought he would. Sammi didn’t want to think that way, but she didn’t want to be here. It was a fine balance of emotions, and she was trying not to let the negative thoughts grow into something more.

Daddy hadn’t let her return to work. Part of her wondered if he was trying to come up with a way that she didn’t have to work. Sammi was going to fight that if he tried. She needed to work to have insurance to buy the medical supplies she needed and to repay her brother’s debt.

She needed the job.

Daddy had stayed with her the whole time, even overnight. She had tried to tell him he could go home, but he wasn’t having any of it. He wanted to be with her to make sure that everything was going okay for her.

Sammi couldn’t deny that it made her feel a little bit better. He knew so much more than she did, and if something were to happen, he would know what to do. What was she going to do when he left? What was she going to do when she went back to work?

She was learning new things about her health daily, but she didn’t feel comfortable doing it on her own. Would she ever?

“Are you ready to go?” Daddy asked as he stepped into the living room.

Sammi shrugged. They were going to the farm because he needed to do some things there. He had missed out on several days of work, just like she had. But Daddy’s job was more important. He was the boss, the owner of the whole operation.

“What’s wrong?” Daddy asked. “Is everything all right?”

“Everything is fine,” she replied, looking away.

With any reaction she had, Daddy was always worried something was wrong. How was she going to change that when having diabetes could kill her if she didn’t manage it well? She wasn’t the one managing it, Daddy was. Was it fair to him? Absolutely not, and she had tried to tell him that.

Did he ever listen? No. He told her he loved taking care of her, and that this was one of the ways he could. He said she needed to learn in case he wasn’t around but when he was, he would take care of her.

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