Page 81 of Off-Limits Daddy
“Hey, sweetheart. You working on something?”
She hovered in the doorway, clutching her tea mug like she wasn’t sure if she was interrupting. I was cross-legged on my bed, sketchbook balanced against my knees, pencil smudged between my fingers. I shrugged and smiled.
“Just messing around with ideas. You can come in.”
She stepped inside, settled on the edge of my bed like she used to when I was a kid with the flu. Her tea smelled like peppermint. Her eyes flicked to my sketchbook, then to me.
“You’ve been drawing a lot lately,” she said, voice easy but watchful.
“I guess.” I hesitated. “I’m starting to feel like myself again.”
She nodded, then took a sip from her mug. “You’ve seemed... lighter lately. Happier.”
I glanced down at the page. I’d been shading a sunflower, looping the petals with lazy lines, but now my hand had gone still.
“I’m trying to be.”
We sat in silence for a few seconds. Then she said, “I didn’t get to ask—what’s your week looking like?”
I relaxed a little. “Wrapping up at the station tomorrow.”
Her eyes brightened. “That’s wonderful, Ari.” She smiled into her tea. “I’m proud of you. You're creating again. And you’re smiling. That’s not something I take for granted.”
I looked at her then, and she was already watching me.
“What?” I asked quietly.
“I didn’t see you two together,” she said after a moment. “Not holding hands. Not kissing. Nothing like that. But I know about you and Reid.”
My heart gave a hard, uneven thump. “You—how?”
She let out a soft breath. “The day he came to see you after the hospital? The way you looked at him told me everything I needed to know. And the way he looked at you...” She reached out and brushed a curl from my forehead. “It wasn’t subtle.”
My stomach twisted. “Are you mad?”
“No, baby. Of course not.”
Her voice stayed calm, but her eyes were full.
“I’ve watched you retreat from everything that made you who you are. That boy at Westbrook hurt you in ways I’m still angry about. But lately... you’ve been coming back. You paint. You laugh. You open the windows again when it rains. You look like you belong to yourself.”
She squeezed my hand gently. “I think Reid has something to do with that. And I think you deserve to have someone in your corner who sees how special you are.”
Tears burned behind my eyes. “So you’re... okay with it?”
“I’m more than okay with it. I’m happy for you. He’s a good man. And he clearly loves you.”
I blinked hard. “We haven’t said that yet.”
Her smile was soft. “You will.”
Tears had come quick. Sharp. Unexpected.
She’d kissed my temple and whispered, “You deserve to be loved well, baby. And I think he’s doing just that.”
Footsteps scuffed down the corridor pulling me gently back to now. My chest felt light and full at the same time, like I’d swallowed helium and joy in the same breath.
Happy didn’t even begin to cover it.
