Chapter 33
thirty-three
. . .
Archer
Melody had asked me if we could host Easter this year, and Winnie was completely on board. She’d wanted to work on the Easter egg hunt, which she was taking to a whole new level. She’d spent hours finding hiding places out in the yard.
It would only be Melody and Cutler looking for eggs later, so it wasn’t like we’d have dozens of kids looking for them. But she insisted that was even more of a reason to take the time to hide them well.
Her father had arrived a few days ago. He’d been staying with us, which was awesome, because we got to spend a lot of time with him at the house. He was a great guy, and it was easy to see how close he and Winnie were.
He adored his daughter in a way I could relate to.
Not only because I loved her, but because I adored my own daughter the same way.
I recognized it.
The way he’d assessed me the first night he arrived, the instinctual need to protect her.
But what had really impressed the hell out of me was the way that he took to Melody. He got down on the floor to play with her and brought her a giant chocolate Easter Bunny, because his daughter loved my daughter—which meant he did, too.
I refilled his coffee. Melody was hanging out at my aunt and uncle’s house with Cutler this morning so we could get things set up here.
“She’s still got dozens of eggs to hide.
” Sam chuckled from where he stood in the kitchen, glancing out the back door to the yard, where his daughter continued hiding eggs like it was an Olympic sport.
“She just cares so damn much about doing things the right way. I’d have just rolled them in the bushes and all over the grass. ”
I refilled my coffee and topped his off before we both moved to sit at the table.
“Same. Melody and Cutler won’t even know what to do now that they’ll actually have to search for the eggs. They also used to just be filled with jelly beans, but Winnie’s packed them with different candies, coins, dollar bills, erasers, key chains, and a bunch of other goodies.” I laughed.
“That’s my girl. She’s always been that way.” He shrugged as he took a sip of his coffee and then studied me for a few beats. “Thank you for being so good to her. She hasn’t been this happy in a very long time.”
“Neither have I. And there is nothing to thank me for. She’s changed my life and Melody’s life for the better.” I blew out a breath. “I think it’s easy to go through the motions and not even realize what you’re missing in life until you find it.”
I was madly in love with this woman.
I’d almost said it several times, but she was so nervous about leaving on this tour, and I didn’t want to do anything to complicate things for her.
So I tried every day to show how much I loved her with my actions, just not the actual words.
Hell, I’d only said it to one person in my life, and that hadn’t worked out.
So I didn’t want to do anything to make her feel pressured.
Her career was taking off, and she was about to leave on a three-week book tour.
I didn’t want to take away from this big moment, so I was waiting for the right time to say it.
Because I never thought I’d be saying those words to another woman.
And here I was feeling all of it.
“I understand that. I was very closed off after my wife left us when Winnie was young. I just poured myself into work and my daughter, and I didn’t have much of a life outside of that.
And I’m not complaining, because that girl out there hiding every single egg like her life counts on it…
” He paused to chuckle. “She’s my pride and joy. I’m sure you understand that.”
“I do.”
“So I came here, all ready to intimidate the shit out of you, throw out a couple threats to keep you in line.” A sinister grin spread across his face. “But, I’ve been pleasantly surprised that I don’t feel the need to do that.”
I snorted. “I get it. I’m sure it’s been hard with you living so far away and not knowing what was going on here.”
“Yes. I mean, I trust my daughter, in every way but her personal life. The only guy she’s been with before now was a real asshole. When she agreed to marry him so young, it was the only time Winnie and I have ever truly fought. We didn’t speak for over a week, and then I came to my senses.”
“So Jaden won you over back then?” I asked.
“Hell no. He was a selfish prick, and I had his number.” He clasped his hands together.
“But you’ll learn this very soon, Archer.
If you don’t want to alienate your child, you have to let them make mistakes.
It’s the most difficult thing to do as a parent.
Never liked him, and unfortunately, he lived up to my expectations.
But I had to let her figure it out herself. ”
“That’s got to be rough.” I blew out a breath. “I think he’s finally moved on now. He hasn’t reached out in a while.”
“Well, she’s got this book release coming up, and trust me when I tell you, he’ll be watching.
He’ll come out of the woodwork because he thinks he’s owed something.
He guilted her into marrying him because he had zero drive and no plan, and he made her feel bad about wanting things for herself,” he hissed.
“And he feels like she owes him now, which is crazy, considering she gave him most of her advance for the first two books she published. But what he doesn’t realize is that I made sure we got her a good divorce attorney, and he doesn’t have a chance in hell of coming after her future earnings. That was worth every penny.”
I nodded. “What kind of man tries to take money from a woman he loves?”
“A selfish one. He was always a spoiled kid. Came from a great family, and didn’t take advantage of all the opportunities he had. Instead, he sponged off of Winnie until she couldn’t take it anymore.”
“That’s fucked up,” I said, shaking my head with disgust.
“I do appreciate you encouraging her to go off and chase her dreams.” Sam’s voice was laced with emotion now.
“She’s been made to feel guilty for years when it came to doing things for herself.
She’s a caregiver by nature. Hell, I had to constantly remind her that I was the parent and she was the kid when she was young,” he said with a big smile on his face.
“I want her to do whatever makes her happy. I’ve officially fired her as my nanny,” I said with a smirk. “Felt kind of weird to be dating my employee.”
A deep chuckle rumbled from his chest. “Yeah, she mentioned that. But she takes her relationship with you and with Melody very seriously, and she’s loyal as hell, so leaving you for a few weeks is difficult for her.
I think some of that is deep-rooted, because her mom left her at such a young age, so she often thinks doing things for herself means she’s disappointing the people she loves. ”
Fuck. I never thought of that. She kept bringing up how anxious she was, and I didn’t realize where it was coming from.
“That makes sense now. I keep telling her that we’ll be fine. And if I could miss work and pull Melody out of school for a few weeks, we’d be going with her. But I know she needs to chase her dreams, and wherever that leads her, I will support her. I promise you that.”
I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that a small part of me worried that there were bigger things than me out there for Winnie. Hell, I’d been with a woman in the past who’d walked away from both me and her baby girl for her career.
I didn’t judge her for it. But that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt like hell at the same time.
But I would never be okay with pressuring or guilting someone into choosing me over their dreams.
Part of me was just hoping that at the end of this, Winnie would still choose to be with me.
But in the back of my mind, I knew her career was taking off, and she might just want to be free once she got a taste of all that success.
And I’d support her either way. Winnie had already spent years living her life for someone who didn’t believe in her.
I would not be that man.
I would never clip her wings.
It didn’t mean a little part of me didn’t wish like hell that I could keep her right here forever. I loved her too damn much to do that.
So I was preparing for the possibility that this tour could lead to other things that she wanted to pursue.
Her UK publisher was already pushing for her to come there for a book tour.
And I’d encouraged her to take every opportunity she wanted to.
“I don’t doubt that, Archer,” he said after a pause, bringing me out of my thoughts.
“I can see it in the way you look at her. And even when she shares her anxiety with me, she tells me how much you support her. She didn’t have that in her past relationship, so I’m very glad to see that she has it now. ”
“She does. I give you my word that won’t change.
” This was why I’d hold back on all these big feelings that were consuming me.
Because telling Winnie that I loved her right before she left would only make things more complicated for her.
My job was to make sure that she knew we’d be fine on our own.
I wouldn’t be a needy asshole.
“I appreciate it,” he said, extending a hand and shaking mine from across the table.
“Are you seriously shaking hands after being here for three days?” Winnie’s laughter filled the space around us as she came back inside the house. “What’s with the formality?”
“Just two men having a good chat,” Sam said.
We both chuckled as she came to settle on my lap. I nuzzled my nose into her neck. “Did the egg lady get every single egg hidden?”
She turned in my arms and flicked my shoulder. “Hey, who wants to do an egg hunt when they aren’t even hidden well?”
“Most people,” her father grunted from across the table. “Kids just want the treats. They don’t want to have to use a compass to find a quarter or a sticker.”