Page 72 of Only for Love

Sudden tears spring in her eyes. “I wanna go to the pwark. Aunt Chwerry pwomised.”

Shit, shoot, shit. I don’t know what to do right now.

“Pwease.” Her little bottom lip pops out.

I close my eyes and rub my temples for a minute. I hear Cherry take a step, and I sigh, turning toward her. We lock eyes. She’s sorry, I’m sorry—it’s just that this moment is unplanned.

Cherry grins though I know it’s forced. “If you’d like, Emma, we can stick with the Cally-Cherry day of fun. It’s my fault we swung by. I forgot to pack her dolly. Lord knows I wasn’t going to survive the day without it.”

“Pwease, Mommy.”

I want to make sure Cally’s okay. We’ve never had this much time apart, and then she walks into a shirtless Grayson. Is she confused? Clueless? I don’t remember this chapter in any of the “how to survive teenage single motherhood” books I devoured. I’m sure scenarios like this were included, though not with all the drama. I just never thought I’d love anyone else—and I was right.

Hesitantly, I eye Cherry and give Cally a hug. “Okay. Have fun, baby.”

She squeals out of my arms and runs towards the back door. “C’mon, Aunt Chwerry!”

“Coming, honey.” My sister turns but watches me. I’ve had more time than her to process Grayson. I can tell she’s struggling with knowing the right thing to say. “Emma… you okay?”

“Yeah.”Better than okay. I’m on a high from watching Grayson fall in love with Cally.

“You have to call Ryan. He’ll find out. He’s about as good with surprises as you are.”

I cringe. “I will.”

“I will first,” Grayson says.

“Right,” Cherry shoots back, shaking her head. “Details later, Emma.” She casts a protective glance at me, shifting it to a challenging glare as she turns to Grayson. Seconds struggle by, but she relents. “Guess you two have a lot to catch up on.”

“Aunt Chwerry!”

“Coming, honey. For real this time.” She gives us one last hard look. “Bye.”

My sister leaves us standing amid tension, conflict, and her judgement. She and Cally giggle in the kitchen as the back door opens.

“Bye, Mommy,” Cally shouts then the door slaps shut.

An overwhelming silence coats the room. So much just happened in the last fifteen minutes—just as so much has happened between Grayson and me over the last twenty-four hours. I take a deep breath and collapse on the couch. Grayson drops down next to me. One heavy arm wraps around me as the other hand takes my hand. There are so many thoughts running in my head that I’m not sure where one starts and another stops. What I do know is… I fell in love today. Twice. With the same man who has always had my heart.

He squeezes my hand tight and clears his throat. “I’m… without words.”

Know the feeling. Cherry honks twice as she pulls away. My heart is still in my throat, and I’m drifting down from my adrenaline high. “Cally’s amazing, right?”

His perfect face and chiseled jaw tilt toward me, but his fierce green eyes remain on the path our daughter took on her way out. “Ems… she’s perfect.”

I just witnessed a man meet his greatest weakness—and his truest love—and embrace it without thought of complication or fear. He’s always been her father, but now I’m sure she’ll have a daddy.

“Sweet little perfection,” he mumbles.

I can’t take any more, and I bury my head into his neck. “What do we do after something like that happens?”

“I don’t know. Sit here and think…”

I nod into his strong hold. His soapy scent and abounding confidence make me calm. “That’s not how I thought a daddy-daughter introduction would go.”

He leans into me as though I’m holding him up. “You’ve thought about it?”

“Of course.” I’ve thought about our life as if he never left and was there when I delivered. I imagined that he was deployed and came back to our happy little family—as if he hadn’t abandoned us. We’d have little flags to wave and maybe paint a welcome-home poster.

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