AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thank you."
I arrived at my ex's house five minutes too late. She was already outside with Bella, who was jumping up and down with joy. She liked spending time with her mother, but she was so eager to return home on Sunday evening.
"Daddy, you're late."
"Yeah. I'm sorry, cricket. Had to drop the fish off with the grandfathers." I looked up at Sarah. "Weekend all right?"
"We had fun. We went shopping." She narrowed her eyes. "I heard your chef went to your grandmothers’ shop."
I leveled her with my gaze. "Yes, she did. They like Scarlett."
"I like Scarlett, too, Mommy," Bella said.
"Yes, you've told me that." That would probably explain why she was aware of Scarlett at all. "But it's different. Your grandmothers don't like anyone."
My grandmothers liked plenty of people, but they'd never hit it off with Sarah. They’d tried, but Sarah always felt superior somehow. She’d been shell-shocked that, despite our fortune, we weren’t interested in attending “high society events,” as she called them. Sarah had been into all this stuff ever since she was a debutante at twenty-one. Prior to dating her, I hadn’t even realized debutante balls were still a thing. She did charity work for the exposure—basically, anything to benefit the image of Sarah.
"See you in two weeks, okay, butterfly?" she said, hugging Bella.
"Yes, Mommy." Bella was on vacation next week, and both sets of grandparents were taking her to Disney World.
"Have a lot of fun at Disney, and don't tire your grans out. Remember, they can't keep up with you for hours a day."
"I’ll try to remember, Mommy."
After she gave her mother a hug, Bella darted toward the car.
I turned to leave, but Sarah said, "You and the chef... Is something going on there?"
I looked straight at her. "It's none of your business."
"You're right. It's not. But I was curious."
"You can always drop by the restaurant and meet the whole staff." I deliberately didn't single out Scarlett. I felt 100 percent overprotective of her, and I knew how Sarah could get.
She rolled her eyes. "Right, because I've got nothing better to do.”
“I'll drop Bella off two Fridays from now.”
“Sure.” She walked back to the house without another word.
She may not care for me anymore, but at least she loved her daughter. That was one thing that concerned me when we first found out about the pregnancy, but Sarah never wavered in wanting our child. Once Bella was here, though, she confessed that motherhood wasn’t at all what she’d imagined.
Bella had gotten in the car, but she couldn't secure herself in the child booster. I did that for her, kissing her forehead before getting into the driver's seat.
"Dad, are we having pie tonight?"
I barely stifled a laugh. She asked that every time I picked her up, almost as if afraid I would say no.
"Of course. They'll be delivered soon after we get home."
"I'm so excited."
We arrived at the same time as the delivery guy. I tipped him generously before heading inside.
I took the meat pies out and put them on the kitchen island.
"Dad, can you put me up?"
