Chapter 33
Anya
“Daddy?”
Dad didn’t look up from the toy he was trying to assemble. “What’s up, Wills?”
“My friends and I were wondering something, but they said you’d say no, and I think you’ll totally say yes.”
My hand froze where I was cutting Willa’s cake. The pink rhinestone crown on her head was slipping down over her waves, and behind her stood a dozen other ten and eleven-year-olds, all looking up at my tall, imposing dad like he hung the moon.
He finally realized he had an audience and blinked. “Uhh. Okay.”
Willa punched her fist in the air. “See? I told you he’d say yes.”
I smothered my laugh behind a cough. Isabel smacked my leg from where her chair sat by the dining room table. Dad pinched the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t say yes to the question, Willa, I was saying it’s okay that you ask.”
Her shoulders slumped.
After licking some frosting off my thumb, I leaned down and whispered loudly enough for my dad to hear. “Just make sure you give him those really big puppy dog eyes and say please like you really mean it. He’ll be helpless.”
“Thanks,” he said dryly.
Willa and her friends gathered close, all widening their eyes, fluttering eyelashes and everything. My sister had her hands clutched together in front of her black ninja outfit.
“Daddy,” she said sweetly.
He licked at his bottom lip, glaring at Isabel when she snorted. “Yes, Willa?”
She blinked comically. “Can we pretty, pretty, pretty please with cherries on top and sprinkles and I promise I’ll never get in trouble ever again for the rest of my life ?—”
My dad stared down at his youngest incredulously. I clapped a hand over my mouth and leaned against the counter as Isabel and I tried to keep our laughter to a minimum.
“Abort,” I whispered loudly to Willa. “You’re going overboard. You’re losing him.”
From the table, Violet stared at us over the edge of her phone. “If this works, I’m bailing. I tried to promise I’d never get in trouble again, and I did not get what I asked for.”
Isabel reached behind Violet and gently tugged her ponytail until she was forced to look up. “You were asking for a weekend away with your boyfriend. Of course we said no.”
Dad closed his eyes and muttered something about gray hair.
Willa cut me a quick, panicked look. “Eh, umm, never mind about the trouble thing. Maybe this week I won’t get in trouble?”
I winked at her.
“Slightly more believable, but I’m still waiting for the question,” Dad said, finally having opened his eyes.
Willa sucked in a deep breath, and her words came tumbling out. “Can we please go up on the roof and try to shoot basketballs into the hoop on the driveway? We want to make a princess trick shot video on YouTube.” Her face went deadly serious. “We’ll be famous.”
The kitchen went completely silent. My mouth was slightly agape, and even Violet’s eyebrows were arched high on her forehead. Isabel had her hand covering her mouth while she stared at my dad, whose face had gone almost comically unmoving.
All the girls seemed to take a breath en masse, awaiting the fate of their YouTube fame.
“No.”
“Daddy,” Willa wailed. “Please.”
He pointed at Isabel. “She’s your daughter right now. You handle this.”
Isabel’s smile was wide as she got out of her chair and used her crutches to walk over to him. Once she was close enough, she moved one crutch aside and slid her arms around his waist. His face softened, the way it only did for her, and he gave her a gentle kiss. All the girls oohed and aahed , and when Isabel pulled away, her cheeks were only the littlest bit pink. She turned to my sister with an understanding look in her eyes.
“You know who would’ve done something like that when she was your age?”
Willa looked up, dejection all over her sweet face. “Who?”
Isabel tilted her head toward me. “Your big sister.”
“Really?” she asked skeptically.
Because I was boring and old, apparently.
“Oh yeah,” I said as all the little girls stared up at me like I was a goddess. “Except I probably wouldn't have even asked. They would’ve just found me up there.” Isabel turned and gave me a wide-eyed look. My dad cleared his throat pointedly. “But you know, don’t do that,” I continued. “It’s super dangerous, and I really don’t need any of you falling off the house. We have enough broken bones in this family right now, and it would be a real mood killer for the party.”
That seemed to be enough of a rationale for Willa’s friends, who immediately descended upon the plates of cake like they hadn’t already eaten their body weight in candy. Willa gave a heaving, dramatic sigh, staring over at my dad balefully like he’d single-handedly murdered her dreams.
I shook my head as she grabbed the biggest piece of cake and then ran off after her friends.
“She’ll forgive you eventually,” I told him, laying my head on his shoulder while he stared after her.
“Of course she will. And tomorrow she’ll ask me if she can do plane walking. Be the youngest bungee jumper in history, and I’m gonna have to say no to that too because that girl is determined to give me a heart attack.”
I laughed. “And you thought I was bad?”
He wrapped an arm around my back and squeezed. “You were the best warm-up, gingersnap.”
Violet whistled from the table, turning her phone in my direction. “This one’s hot. Did you see it? Or am I not supposed to be showing you these?”
It was Parker and me on the sidelines.
The picture was undoubtedly sweet, if you didn’t know the reasons behind our facial expressions. Parker was kissing my cheek, and my hand rested on his waist, my eyes closed. Everything about our pose screamed intimacy. Like it was taking everything in us to show some restraint.
The caption read: brB sobbing. How do I list this in my dating profile for relationship requirements?
It was odd to think about being anyone’s relationship goals, especially knowing what was underneath all that.
All I could see as I studied the shot was my own restraint. From kissing him. From slapping him. From shaking him. From licking his freaking arms. And jaw. And neck. Because he looked so good . His hair was shorter, and I wanted to know why he’d cut it. I wanted to know everything, and I wasn’t sure it was fair for me to be asking.
“It is a hot picture,” I told her as I handed her phone back.
“You can just tell he’s good in?—”
“Do not finish that sentence,” I warned, narrowing my eyes.
Violet grinned. “Good in the end zone,” she finished lightly. “What did you think I was going to say?”
“Vi,” Dad sighed. “Please help me clean up in the kitchen.”
As they rolled up their sleeves and started tackling the mess—which was substantial after the princess mob had eaten—I watched Violet with a small shake of my head.
“I think I’m going to get gray hair from that one,” I muttered.
Isabel smiled. “Welcome to the club, kid. Let’s sit and watch them work. It’s my favorite thing to do after feeding a massive group of children.”
I joined her in one of the dining room chairs, propping my feet up with a sigh.
“Someone’s here,” Willa yelled. “I see a truck coming in the driveway.”
Closing my eyes on a groan, I nudged Isabel. “Probably Mia’s dad. He was driving a truck, I think.”
“Mia’s dad has a crush on you.”
I snorted. “Good for him.”
Even with my eyes closed, I could feel Iz watching me. “Out with it,” I told her.
“Not even a little interested?”
“Nope.” Prying my eyes open, I gave her a tiny smile. “He’s hot, and it’s not like the silver fox thing is ever a bad look. But … my heart is, unfortunately, otherwise engaged. Besides, he’s flirting with someone who, by all accounts, is married. What does that say about him?”
“Nothing good, unfortunately.” She patted my leg. “Think your heart will be engaged for a while?”
My throat was thick as I nodded. “Seeing him yesterday was … telling,” I answered carefully. “I think it’ll be stuck with that stubborn ass for a long time.”
Isabel nodded gravely. “I hate when that happens.”
“The worst.”
There was a knock on the door, and we traded a look. “Your heart might be engaged, but your legs work just fine,” Isabel said smoothly.
I rolled my eyes but got up with a groan. Of course a hot single dad would have a crush. They were my main audience these days. And as I glanced down at my stretched-out T-shirt dotted with pink frosting and leggings covered in purple glitter from craft time, I could totally see why.
Engaged for two years with no husband.
A husband who kicked me out of his house but still probably still wanted to sleep with me even if he refused to admit it.
I was a fucking catch.
There was no reason to try to fix the disaster of my hair, because that probably had frosting and glitter in it too, so when I yanked open the door, I didn’t even take the time to paste a polite smile on my face.
And my heart stopped.
It wasn’t Mia’s dad.
It wasn’t Mia’s dad at all.
Parker stood on the front porch, a nervous smile on his face, and strapped to his chest in a carrier was Leo, sucking furiously on his pacifier and wearing a onesie that looked like a tuxedo. Before I could say a word, he held up a finger, then pulled something out of a large plastic bag at his side. A big stack of white poster board.
“Who is it?” Isabel asked.
Parker gave me a nervous glance, then tried to wedge the boards into Leo’s fists like he was holding them. I covered my mouth, trying to hide my smile, trying to hold down overwhelmed sobs at the sight of the two of them.
Here. They were here.
Say it’s carol singers , the first board.
My eyes glossed over with tears, and I let out a watery laugh. “It’s carol singers,” I said over my shoulder.
“Huh?” Isabel asked.
“The fuck,” my dad muttered from the kitchen.
Violet came skidding around the corner. “Holy shit .”
There was a stampede of little feet, all the girls following the copious swearing, and their excited squeals at the arrival of Parker Wilder swelled to the highest volume I’d heard during the entire party.
My eyes stayed right on Parker’s, a breathless sort of hope bubbling up in my chest before I could stop it because the way he was looking at me …
He broke the gaze to pull the first board down.
My dad misses you, and he couldn’t go any longer without telling you.
The second board joined the first.
(He’s really impatient, but he’s working on that.)
The third fell to the floor.
You’re his best friend.
The first tear spilled over, and I dropped my hand away from my mouth. Behind me, the girls tittered uncontrollably until Isabel gently admonished them to stay quiet.
He’s always known you were perfect for him, and that was a little scary because he’s never felt that before.
Leo refused to let go of the next board, trying to pull the top one up to his mouth. When the pacifier got in the way, he spit it out.
“Leo, dude, we talked about this,” Parker said quietly, and his voice made my heart skip. He tugged, and Leo let out a loud, angry squawk, yanking on the board until he could start gnawing on the corner.
Parker’s grimace had me smiling through my tears, and when he finally got the next one free of Leo’s grasp, my smile faded.
He’s so sorry he let you leave. He shouldn’t have. He should have fought for you.
Parker’s eyes were glossy with unshed tears too, and I could hardly look away from him to read the next one.
Because you fight for the people you love. You show up and do your best, even if it’s not perfect.
There’s only one person he wants to face life with—the good and the bad and the hard—and that’s you.
He wants to see you every morning. Every night. Every moment in between.
I pinched my eyes shut, tears rolling unchecked down my cheeks. It was like a sunrise bloomed from the center of my chest—almost unbearable warmth seeping straight into my bones.
It was happiness. Relief like I’d never known.
And more than that. It was love.
Sweet love. Passionate love. Wild, wild love that didn’t simply just exist. It was returned, which was the very best kind.
Nothing in the world was better than that.
Behind me, I heard a quiet sniffle. When I opened my eyes, Parker was dashing at his cheek.
I smiled as I started to walk closer. My hands trembled as I cupped Leo’s face and gave him a sweet kiss on his forehead. I breathed in his scent and closed my eyes at the force of how much I’d missed it.
When I lifted my head, Parker looked at me with such intensity that my heart rolled in my chest. I held his gaze, unhooking Leo from the holder so I could do this properly.
“Dad?” I said, not looking back.
“Right here,” he said, voice thick with emotion.
Another tear slid down my cheek as I pulled Leo from the carrier. “Why don’t you come hold your grandson?”
Parker’s eyes flared, his jaw tightening as he slid his hands over my hips, fingers trailing lightly at the skin on my back. My dad took Leo from my hands, and Parker pulled the carrier straps off his shoulder, dumping it onto the ground with the discarded signs.
The moment he was free, his hands were on either side of my face, his thumbs brushing the tears away.
“I love you,” he told me, his eyes searching mine. “I love you, and I don’t ever want to be apart from you like that again. Like living without my heart,” he whispered. “Trust me with yours, golden girl, because you’ve already got mine.”
My eyes shut as his lips brushed my forehead, my hands clutching at his shirt while we stood there just breathing each other in.
I pulled back just far enough to look into his face. My hand cradled his jaw, my fingertips dancing along the short hairs along the back of his neck. “I love you too,” I whispered back. He shut his eyes, a sigh of relief making his shoulder slump. “Can we pretend one more thing?”
The affection in his eyes when he opened them … made my head spin. “What?”
I leaned up on the balls of my feet, my hand gripping the back of his neck. “Pretend my entire family isn’t watching right now,” I spoke against his lips.
Parker laughed, his wide, bright smile like the sun breaking open over us. “Deal,” he murmured. “But if your dad kicks my ass for this, you have to protect me.”
“Always,” I said around a smile.
His mouth was on mine in the next heartbeat.
I pressed closer, tilting my head to let him deepen the kiss, my arms winding tight around his neck, a relieved moan slipping from my mouth to his when he wrapped one arm around my waist, his other hand diving into my hair.
Behind us was a flurry of squeals and claps, and I was pretty sure I heard Violet let out a loud whistle. But it was all muted. The only thing I could really focus on was the feel of his tongue teasing mine, the steady thrum of his chest where it pressed against me, and the mind-spinning feel of the muscles in his arms as he gripped me tight.
There was strength in the way he held me. Like he’d never let me go.
And that was a good thing, because I didn’t want him to.