Page 18 of Starting Over with You
Fable groans in annoyance as I laugh. She smacks his bicep but cuddles in close. “Pretty boy, you can’t keep watching me on the cameras.”
“Who said?” he asks with a straight face that has me laughing even harder.
“I do,” she throws back, but he just grins.
“You really don’t want me to watch my perfect wife prance around and make me proud?”
Fable’s eyes light up as she smiles. “You’re obsessed, and I’m going nowhere. I’m yours.”
“Fucking right, I am, and that won’t ever change.” He takes her cheeks in his hands, kissing her deeply as if there is no one else in the room. I look away since all this does is remind me how fucking lonely I am, and find my daughter walking toward me.
She rolls her eyes, and I laugh. “Thanks, Fable. I paid you on my way in.”
She gives me a thumbs-up but doesn’t stop kissing her husband. I fall into step with Skyye as she looks back at them, her face in a scowl. “I swear his lips are always attached to hers.”
I chuckle at that, wrapping my arm around her shoulders. “They’re newlyweds.”
She side-eyes me. “Mom and Nyle aren’t like that.” She pauses. “But Aunt Sadie and Matt are.”
I nod. “And they’ve been married what, seventeen years now?”
“Yeah, but Jett is, like, obsessed with Fable.”
“Nothing wrong with that,” I say with a wink. “Don’t settle for less.”
She beams up at me. “Dad, be real. No man will ever live up to you, so I’ll probably be single for my whole life.”
“Thank sweet baby Jesus.”
We both laugh at that as I hug her in tighter, and we talk about practice while we make our way out of the Ice Thistle. She’s excited about landing her axel, and I love how happy this sport is making her. When we walk out the sliding doors, she looks up at me with an arched brow after seeing the fire truck in the parking lot. “Were you on a call?”
I shake my head as Wagner gives me a bored look, hanging out the side of the truck. “I’m your knight in firefighting gear. Had to bring my chariot.”
She cackles as she shakes her head. “See, Dad? What guy will do that?”
Pray God, none, but I know in my heart one will come along. I just hope he knows my baby won’t settle for anything but the best.
Most of Thistlebrook’s homes are single-story log houses. Or at least, on this side of town, they are. The other side holds the bigger, more lavish houses made of stone with iron gates; it’s where most of the community leaders and old-money townsfolk live. This side of town, my side, is where the working class lives. I think we have the better views of the mountains, which is why I’d never move. I could hit the lottery and be able to afford one of those fancy homes, but no way would I give up what I have.
Missy’s home is a bit smaller than mine but still stunningly gorgeous. It’s a three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath single-story that has a massive backyard and an awesome front porch that currently has evidence of my sister and Missy being out there. They told me they weren’t drinking, but I see a half-empty bottle of Fireball.
I swear, those two.
As I walk up with Skyye, I take in the beauty of Missy’s home. Missy used a bonus she got from work to replace all the logs on her house, so now they’re bright and shiny in the sun. She has dark green shutters with an oak door. The windows were replaced when the logs were, by me, and I love how they look. I knew when I got my floor-to-ceiling windows, she’d want the same, and I wasn’t wrong. It’s a good home, and I’m proud of how far my tormentor of a baby mama has come. She has worked hard to give Skyye everything she needs, and I’m thankful for that.
When the screen door opens, I look up to find Nyle standing in the doorway. I try not to sigh in annoyance at the sight of him, but he just annoys the shit out of me. He’s not an ugly dude. He’s okay—a good face and a trim body. He’s shorter than me, but not many people are my height. He has bright blond hair with light-blue eyes. He is the total opposite of me, which only proves how off the mark Missy and I were for each other. But I just don’t know why she chose this guy.
“Hey there, Skyye.”
My daughter smiles sweetly as she waves. “Hey, Nyle.”
He gives her a small side hug. “Sorry for not coming and getting you. Your mom has been running me ragged all day.”
Skyye gives me a look to say,He had all week to do what mom asked.
I shrug.Let him be.
She rolls her eyes and then comes to me for a hug, and I kiss her temple. She tickles my beard and flashes me a grin. “Need to shave, Dad. Your lip sweater is getting lost in the sauce.”
