Page 74 of Unexpected Love
Every step I take to open it to my sister—it has to be her, because Chief Collins hasn’t had time to get here yet—feels like walking through molasses. For the first time in my life, I don’t want to see her.
But I do want her to see how happy and settled Charlie is.
I look back at the little girl who has both grounded me and turned my life upside down. She’s playing happily with the baby dolls that I bought for her. Her little pigtails that I brushed, and the bows I put in her hair that match the dress I picked out for her in order to impress my sister with how well I’m taking care of her daughter. She’s a chubby and happy baby, babbling incessantly to her toys.
My heart lurches.
I don’t want this to be over. I don’t want Dani to take her away, and yet I know I have no rights by law to keep her.
But I can damn sure fight for her.
The knock sounds again. Ominous and foreboding.
I brace myself and open the door.
The woman looking back at me looks nothing like the girl I remember. Her beautiful, silky blond hair is ashen and greasy. The makeup that she used to painstakingly practice for hours via YouTube tutorials is nonexistent. Her clothes are ragged and stained and hang off of her. Through the threadbare neckline, I see her collarbones standing out in stark contrast under the pale skin of her shoulders.
“Dani.” I’m otherwise speechless.
I hesitate for too long.
“Well? You gonna stand there gawking at me, or you gonna let me in?”
She still sounds like a freaking entitled teenager.
I step back and wave her in. Her eyes immediately go to Charlie, and her shoulders relax.
She takes a step toward her, but I stop her with a hand to the elbow.
“Give us a minute, yeah? Let’s talk while she’s happy and distracted.”
The very last thing I want to witness is Charlie opening her arms to this woman who abandoned her. But I know it’s coming, and I know it’s going to hurt.
Dani takes a longing look over her shoulder at her little girl but follows me into the kitchen.
“What are you doing here?” I don’t go for patient or soft or caring or any of the things Dani is used to from me. I cut right to the chase.
A flash of pain crosses her face before she rights her attitude.
“I came to get my daughter.” Her words are clipped and full of sass. I’m shaking my head before she even stops talking.
“Drop the attitude. You’re the one who left her here—alone, I might add. I think it’s time you start from the beginning and tell me everything. You owe me that much. You oweCharliethat much.”
She hitches a hip onto a stool at the island, pinching her lower lip between her fingers, obviously weighing how much she wants to tell me.
“Start with why you felt like she needed to be here. Endwith how you went to jail and then got out.” I turn away and grab a glass of water, then push it to her.
She takes a sip, studying the contents of the glass. “I just needed a break.”
“From your kid?” I can’t temper the disbelief in my tone. My god, if she doesn’t sound just like our mom.
“It’s a lot to try to raise a kid. I couldn’t go anywhere or do anything. I just wanted to take a little time and let my hair down. No responsibilities. You know?”
Is she serious right now? Like she doesn’t comprehend how she completely derailed my life with her actions. I can’t fathom words to speak.
So I don’t. Instead, I motion for her to continue.
“Anyway, Ritchie and I got back together, or I thought we did. Come to find out, he was still cheating. Only, I didn’t know about it until the night of the raid. Do you have any food? I’m starving.”
