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As if I can say no now. I grunt.
“You grunt a lot. It’s probably why Mom calls you Mr. Grumpy Pants. I don’t think she means your pants are grumpy. I think she means you’re a grump.”
She switches on the television. “Do you watch this show?”
I don’t know what this show is.
“Do you have a television on your touring bus? Or do you read? I can’t read while I’m in the car. I get car sick. Mom listens to podcasts. They’re boring. I usually fall asleep. How do you sleep in your touring bus?”
She increases the volume on the television. “Commercial’s over.”
To my surprise, she’s actually quiet during the show. I glance over to check on her and realize she’s fallen asleep.
There aren’t any blankets on the couch, so I grab one off of my bed and cover her with it. When I sit down next to her, she cuddles into my side.
I sigh as I gaze down at her. Cuddling with a daughter of my own is everything I ever wanted but it will never happen. Women always betray you.
Chapter 7
Put your foot in your mouth – When you say things you should know better than to say
Leia
I fly past a car parked perpendicular to the highway. Crap. Was it a cop car? I glance down at the odometer. I’m going eighty. Fifteen miles over the speed limit.
Brody’s fancy car makes it too easy to speed. I barely notice how fast I’m going. Too bad ‘I barely noticed how fast I’m going’ won’t get me out of a speeding ticket.
My hands squeeze the steering wheel. Getting a ticket will slow me down more than driving the speed limit. I force myself to lift my foot from the pedal. Five over the speed limit, I negotiate with myself.
I hate how I had to leave my daughter with Fender. A man who can barely stand the sight of me. He already thinks I’m a bad parent. And now he probably thinks even worse of me.
But what else was I supposed to do? Force Isla to ride in the car with me to Denver and back? She gets car sick. She would have been miserable.
I would have preferred to have any other person in Winter Falls care for my baby girl, but there was no one else. Not one single person answered their phone when I rang them. I’d say it was a conspiracy except I’m certain my life is not important enough to build a whole conspiracy around.
By the time I reach the town limits of Winter Falls, my hands hurt from gripping the steering wheel and my jaw is aching from how clenched it is.
I blow out a breath and slow to the speed limit. Nearly there. A few more minutes and my baby will be in my arms again.
Note to self. If I ever ask someone I barely know to babysit again, get their phone number so I can check in from time to time.
I’m barely stopped in front of my house when I fling the door open and jump out of the car. I rush to Fender’s house and knock on the door.
When he doesn’t answer in two seconds, I knock again.
The door flies open. “Quiet.”
Oh no, he didn’t. He did not tell me to quiet down. No one tells me to quiet down. Not anymore.
“You’re not the boss of me,” I hiss at him.
He points to the sofa where Isla’s sleeping.
Shit. “Sorry.”
I walk to the sofa and bend to pick my daughter up, but Fender nudges me out of the way. “I got this.”
He gathers Isla in his arms and marches to the front door. I inhale a deep breath to stop myself from crying. All I’ve ever wanted is for Isla to have a father. A father who loves her. A father who carries her to bed when she falls asleep in front of the television.
