Page 42 of The Only Shot that Mattered

Kenna grinned. “The Wicked Witch of the West. I was the lead.”

“In a musical?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yep.”

“You got pipes?”

She giggled. “I can’t hold a note to save my life. I think they chose me because I was so excited about it. It was only a third grade play, not Broadway.”

He hugged her to him. “Who cares? My baby is a star.”

She waved him off again with a shy smile. “I should call Annalise and see if Alanzo can come.”

He looked at her while she tapped on her phone, admiring her beauty. Skylar came back into the room at that moment, wearing lip gloss with a mini purse on her arm. Her expression looked smug, and Damien narrowed his eyes at her.

“You ready?” he asked suspiciously.

“I guess.”

Damien stood while Kenna talked on the phone. He walked around the couch and placed his hand on Skylar’s cheek. “Be nice, Sky. Kenna doesn’t have to do this, you know?”

She sighed. “I know. I’ll do my best.” She glanced behind him at Kenna, who was still occupied on the phone. “Are you guys, like, together?”

“Would it be okay with you if we were?” Damien asked.

Skylar shifted her stance and looked at the ground. “Will you spend all your time with her now?”

He heard the sadness in her tone and immediately moved to comfort her. Pressing her to his chest, he held her tightly as he responded. “Is that what your bad attitude has been about? You’re worried I won’t have any time for you?”

She pulled away so she could look up at him. “Youdon’thave any time for me, Daddy. I was looking forward to you retiring because I knew we would get to spend a lot more time together, but if you have a girlfriend, I can’t do that.”

Damien shook his head and grabbed Skylar’s hands, giving them a gentle squeeze. “Nobody could ever take me away from you. Do you understand me?” Skylar hesitantly nodded, as if she wasn’t fully convinced. He glanced at Kenna before focusing back on his daughter. “I promise you that’s the last thing Kenna wants to do. You trust me?”

He let go of her hand and pinched her cheek. She cracked a small smile. “Yeah, I guess.”

“Aye, don’t just guess. Say that shit with your chest.”

Skylar playfully rolled her eyes. “Yes, Daddy. I trust you.”

“That’s my girl.”

Kenna cleared her throat from across the room, drawing their attention. He could tell she had been watching their interaction but didn’t want to interrupt. She held her phone up. “Alanzo is in. We should go pick him up if you want to get there on time.”

Skylar nodded before looking back up at Damien, who nudged her in the direction of the front door in encouragement. He smiled when he watched his two favorite ladies walk ahead of him.

After seeing them off, he walked straight up to his room and fell onto his bed, praying that the night went well while also thanking God for the peace and quiet.

It didn’t take longfor Kenna to realize her dancing nerves came from spending time with Skylar, not so much going to the movies. She drummed her fingers on the steering wheel after she pulled in front of Annalise’s house. It had been dead silent during the drive, and Kenna felt like she should try to make the air around them less tense.

“Skylar—”

“We don’t have to talk,” she interrupted. “I just want to see this movie. We don’t have to make this something it’s not.” She looked down at her phone where the directions to the theater were. “Better hurry. The theater is fifteen minutes away.”

Kenna’s mouth hung slightly open as she tried to find the words to speak. Finally, she simply cleared her throat and nodded before whispering, “Okay.”

For some reason, tears burned the back of her eyes as she got out of the car. Skylar’s cool demeanor toward her caused dread to fill her. She and Damien had done a good job of ignoring theelephant in the room for the past month, but reality came and slapped her in the face.

Earlier, when she was on the phone with Annalise, she watched Skylar and Damien’s interaction. She saw the love they had for one another—two peas in a pod. She wondered how she would have felt if her father ever brought another woman around after the divorce. She probably would have acted just like Skylar.

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