Page 73 of One Good Puck
She laughs. I love the sound when she laughs this hard. It’s so light and melodic.
“Would you ever go back to Paris? Would that be too painful for you?” Her voice is soft and hesitant.
“No, I’d like to. It’s a beautiful city. Nicole would be pretty pissed at me if I never visited again.”
Abby’s smile is warm. “That’s really sweet. I hope you get to visit again soon.”
Chapter 29
Gavin
We finish the rest of the steak tartare and order our entrees. We’re in the middle of sipping our wine when Abby’s phone buzzes with a text. She checks her phone and smiles.
“Oh my gosh.” She holds up her phone screen and shows me a photo of Emma smiling at the camera. Her adorable face is covered in bright, glittery face paint. “Looks like Emma is having a blast at the slumber party.”
I chuckle.
She bites back her smile. “I hope that’s not annoying that I have my phone out on the table in the middle of dinner. I just like to be available in case anything happens with Emma.”
I shake my head. “I get it. I’m a parent too, so I understand completely.”
She flashes a relieved smile. “It’s so sweet how close you and Sophie are. And how much she adores you,” she says. “She told me that you surprised her and Xander by paying for their engagement party.”
“I’d do anything for Sophie. She’s my whole world.”
Emotion flashes in Abby’s eyes. “That father-daughter bond is so special. I wish my daughter could have had that.”
She clears her throat and glances off to the side before taking another sip of her wine.
“I’m sorry for what your ex has put you through, Abby. And I’m sorry he’s choosing not to be in your daughter’s life. He’s a piece of garbage for that.”
Bile rises in my throat when I think about him. I felt the same way when she first told me about him at the skating rink. What kind of man abandons his partner and his child?
Abby’s eyes widen, and she blinks at me. I suddenly regret what I said.
I clear my throat. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
She shakes her head. “No, it’s okay. I just…” She takes a breath. “Is it terrible to admit that it’s nice to hear you say that about him? That’s it’s comforting for me to know that you think he’s a bad person too?”
I shake my head. “Not terrible at all. I can’t imagine there’s anyone in this world who would think he’s a good guy after learning that he abandoned his girlfriend and daughter.”
She lets out a heavy sigh, her shoulders sagging with the movement. “I’m sure he’s been able to charm the pants off of some unsuspecting woman. He’s good at being charming.”
She eyes her wine glass for a long moment before looking back at me. “Emma used to ask about him when she was really little. Her friends all have dads, so she’d ask where her dad was.”
My chest aches at the heartbroken look on Abby’s face.
“When she was a toddler, I could gloss over it,” she says. “I told her that some kids have just moms, some kids have just dads, and some kids have both. It was simple, and sheaccepted it without question. But then she got older and got more curious. Asked more questions about her dad. And I had to break it to her that he chose to leave us…”
Her voice shakes, and her eyes are teary. She blinks quickly. I reach across the table and grab her hand in mine.
“I told her that it wasn’t her fault that he left,” Abby says. “But I’ll never forget the sadness in her eyes when she realized she’d never have a dad.”
That ache in my chest deepens. It feels like my heart is about to rip in half thinking about Emma feeling so sad…and seeing just how much it tears Abby apart to see her daughter in pain.
Gently, I squeeze Abby’s hand. “But she has you. You’re more than enough. You’re everything to your daughter. All she could ever want and need,” I tell her, just like I did when we were skating around the rink together.
She blinks quickly, the sadness in her eyes fading. Her pretty mouth curves up in a small smile. “Thank you for saying that.”
