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She wiped the sleep out of her eyes and sat up. She was supposed to make breakfast this morning, but Judge was already gone from the bed and she couldn’t hear any kind of racket. Maybe he left and couldn’t wait for breakfast.
Once again, he hadn’t woken her up.
She thought again about his son and that satisfied smile she wore disappeared. While her daughter was a handful, she couldn’t imagine not having Daisy in her life. Daisy was a piece of her. Just like Ry was a piece of Judge.
He was heading up to Rochester this morning to help her. She only wished she could help him heal that wound in return. But not only was it not for her to fix, she wouldn’t even know how or where to begin.
The frustration she felt from that probably wasn’t even a fraction of the frustration Judge dealt with and had dealt with for years.
Years.
Years of not seeing his son. Of no communication. Of being totally cut from Ry’s life out of pure spite.
Jen was evil but also smart to leave Pennsylvania and move across the country. It made it easier to fuck Judge over. Because if she had stayed, he could’ve forced his rights as a father.
Seeing the way he was with Daisy made her believe he would’ve been a great father. Ry lost out on all of that. That was sad and shameful. She could only hope his ex-wife was hit with the karma bus.
Cassie would be glad to be behind the wheel.
She normally didn’t wish ill on anyone, but right now, she had two people on her shit list.
She needed to get up and check on her own child. Because if Judge had left, she wouldn’t put it past Daisy to have her butt planted in front of the TV, watching cartoons and on her way to a sugar high by eating Heather’s stash of Hershey Kisses for breakfast.
Cassie groaned at the thought of having to tie Daisy to a chair so she didn’t bounce off the walls like a ping pong ball.
Plus, she had no idea where the dogs were and if they’d even been outside yet.
After pulling on the stuff she had worn last night, she peeked into Daisy’s room, finding it empty—as she expected—and headed downstairs, listening for any kind of activity.
She heard it coming from the kitchen. Her daughter was either chatting a million miles a minute and having an in-depth conversation about her Barbie dolls to the dogs or to Judge. She hoped it was the latter so she could say goodbye before he left.
And maybe a little selfishly, she wanted one more kiss from the man. While she disliked the shaggy beard, she had a lot of appreciation for his lips amidst all that wiry hair.
With a smile, she stopped in the entryway to the kitchen where Judge and Daisy were sitting at the table. His back was to her since his chair was turned toward the kitchen window where he could monitor the dogs outside. Her daughter was in his lap and he sat patiently while she did something to his face.
Whatever she was doing, he was allowing her to do without complaint. And that right there, squeezed her heart.
“Momma sometimes braids my hair just like this,” she was saying, with her blue eyes lit up and face animated as she spoke. “I tryyyyyyy to do it with my dolls, but their hair isn’t long enough. But I don’t need my dolls anymore since I have you, Judge. Your beard isn’t as soft as the dogs. It’s scratchy. It tickles my hands. Does it tickle your face? I don’t like bein’ tickled because sometimes it makes me pee. Do you pee when you’re tickled? No! Don’t move. I’m not done yet! I neeeeeeed to make you pretty for your trip. I’m gonna miss you. Are you gonna be gone long? When are you gettin’ back? When you come back are you stayin’ with us? Can you make me pancakes next time? Are you movin’ in with us? Can Jury be my dog if you dooooo?”
She wasn’t sure if she should continue to stand there and be entertained, or to save Judge from the hands of her chatty little stylist. The poor man was being more than patient.
Suddenly Daisy sat back, cocked her head and studied Judge with a critical eye. Her little girl smiled at the big man. Then she caught Cassie standing in the doorway. “Momma! Come see how I braided Judge’s hair!”
The chair scraped back, and Judge put Daisy on her feet as he rose to his own. Cassie held her breath as he turned around. Then she held it some more so she wouldn’t burst out in laughter.
“How do I look?” he asked her, his green eyes wrinkled at the corners.
