Chapter 4
FOUR
JARED
My phone rings as I step out of the shower the following afternoon after finishing some messy drills.
Grabbing a towel from the hook on the back of the bathroom door, I sling it around my hips. I pad my way across the motel room to pick up the phone.
And frown.
Incoming video call from BABY.
“Why the hell is she calling me?” There’s only one reason she’s ever called me before. “She really wants phone sex? Now?” I grumble.
I start to click ignore, when I remember.
She’s not calling to flirt. She’s calling because she’s with my daughter. And we agreed—she’d only call in an emergency.
And she’s still in my phone as “Baby” because I’d never planned on her becoming anything else.
“Fuck.” Heart thundering in my ears, my fingers shake as I answer. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
“No.” Delaney sobs, my heart stops as her flushed face and wild hair fill the screen.
She’s gorgeous. Stunning. For a moment, I almost forget why she’s calling.
“Everything is most definitely not okay.”
“What happened?” It takes all my willpower not to lose control. “Did Hannah try to slide down the banister to the basement again?”
“What?” Delaney sniffles. “Is that something she does?”
“Once.” And, once was one time more than it needed to happen. Thank God she’d walked away from the encounter with a bruised funny bone and no stitches. “Did she eat something that made her sick?”
“Hannah is fine. Or, at least she is for the moment.”
My brow furrows at her cryptic response, even as the fear inside me ebbs. “If Hannah is fine, then what the hell is the problem?”
“It’s Mr. Gold.” Her voice breaks. “He’s dead.”
“Oh.”
“Oh? OH? Hannah’s beloved pet goldfish is dead, and all you have to say is ‘Oh’?”
“Sometimes goldfish die,” I say gently.
“But—”
“And, what Hannah doesn’t realize is that this Mr. Gold isn’t her first Mr. Gold.”
There’s a long pause on the other end of the line. “Are you saying… Mr. Gold is—was—an imposter?”
“I’m saying Mr. Gold comes from a long line of goldfish who, sadly, weren’t around for a long time but a good time.”
She sucks in a breath. “Are you saying…”
“That I’ve had to swap out two other goldfish,” I finish. “That’s an affirmative.”
“Oh. Aren’t you a little concerned they keep dying?”
“Well, yeah.” Especially because we’ve had several conversations about how she needs to stop overfeeding and petting her pet. “But I’m even more concerned about breaking Hannah’s heart. She loves those damn fish.”
“Have you considered getting her a pet that’s a little more hearty? Like maybe a hedgehog.”
“Oh brother.” I roll my eyes. “Has she been going over her pet wish list with you too?”
“Your daughter has a lot of love to give. And she really seems to want to give it to animals.”
“I know she does.” I rub my hand over my heart, where a familiar dull ache settles. “I know she misses her mom.”
“Poor girl.” Delaney hesitates. “Is her mom not in the picture then?”
“Not so much as a phone call or postcard in five years.” I run my fingers through my hair and let my hand fall to the side.
“We got pregnant after only dating for a couple of months. We talked about what to do and got married. Before Hannah was one, she decided she didn’t want this life.
Marriage. Kids. So she packed her bags and moved across the country for a new job. ”
“And she doesn’t keep in touch.”
I swallow past the lump in my throat. “No. She doesn’t.”
“I’m so sorry. That had to be hard for you both.”
“It hasn’t been easy.” I take a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Still, I can’t regret that it happened.”
“Because it gave you Hannah.”
“That it did.” My lips curve up to the side. It’s nice that she understands. “While I wish she had a mom and a family that was around more, I’m doing my best.”
“You’re doing a great job.”
“Thanks. It doesn’t always feel that way.” Case in point, I had to ask the fling I met on a dating app to watch my daughter for the weekend. “But I’m trying.”
“I think that counts for a lot.” Delaney seems to hesitate a moment. “It was just my mom and me for most of my life.”
I suck in a breath. “Really?”
“Yeah. Similar story. My mom and my d… the sperm donor hadn’t been together long.
” She shakes her head, her long locks moving around her shoulders like a river cascading down a waterfall.
“My mom wanted me. He didn’t. So he took a job on an offshore oil rig.
Somewhere far enough away we never saw or heard from him again. ”
“He should have at least paid child support.” I glare. It makes me furious how easy it is for some people to walk away from their responsibilities. “Did your mom go after him for it?”
“She didn’t try. I think it was kind of a matter of pride for her. She wanted to prove that we didn’t need him to be happy.”
I can understand that well myself. The courts would have been on my side if I’d want to hold Hannah’s mom accountable. But in the end, I thought it was more important to spend my time and resources on giving my daughter the best life possible.
It sounds like Delaney’s mom had the same thought.
“It’s none of my business…” I shouldn’t even ask, but now that we’re on the subject, something inside of me needs to know. Not just for myself and Hannah. But because I need to know for Delaney too. “But was your mom right? Were you happy without him.”
“Most of the time,” she says softly. “I won’t deny, there were times it might have been nice to have another parent around. Especially when I could see how hard my mom was working. Or when I was applying to college and could have used more money in the bank.”
She gives a short laugh. “But where it mattered most, we were happy. I knew I was loved. I knew I was wanted. I knew I was enough.”
I release a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. Her answer is a balm more soothing than a bottle of aloe gel on a burn.
“That’s all I want for Hannah.”
“And you’re giving her that.” Delaney sighs. “There’s just one problem.”
“What’s that?”
“What the heck am I supposed to do about this goldfish?” Delaney gives a short laugh. “I told her I was giving him a bath.”
“A bath? Goldfish live in water.”
“I know that. I panicked. It doesn’t matter, because I don’t think she’ll buy that excuse much longer.”
“No, probably not.” I shift from one foot to the other. “Good thing for you, this isn’t my first rodeo when it comes to replacing Hannah’s goldfish.”
“Then it’s time to start talking, old man. I need your words and wisdom.”
“It’s time to commence Operation Goldfish Resurrection.” I can’t help but grin at her eager face on the screen. Delaney isn’t just “Baby” anymore. “Okay, here’s what you’re going to do…”