I’m in my office trying to read an email for the fourth time when I hear the front door open downstairs and Penelope’s voice float down the hall.
“Daddy?”
“He’s in his office, sweetie,” Dana chirps.
I close my laptop and scrub a hand over my face before I stand.
Penelope barrels into the room a second later, ditching her backpack in front of my desk.“Hi,” she grins, climbing straight into my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck.
“Hey, bug.” I kiss the top of her head, wrapping my arm around her tiny body and holding her tight. “You have a good day?”
“Mhm. Mrs. Jensen let us play with clay today.”
“Yeah? What’d you make?”
She grins up at me. “I can show you. It’s in my backpack.”
“You got to bring it home?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I’d love to see it.”
Dana appears in the doorway, leans against it with her hip. She takes one look at me and her mouth tightens almost invisibly.
She’s too polite to sayyou look like hellin front of my daughter. But I can tell she’s thinking it.
“I put the rest of her stuff on the counter,” she says.“She’s got a project due on Monday. There’s a binder with a sheet explaining it, it’s easy.”
“Okay. Thanks, Dana.”
Penelope slides off my lap. “Can I watch Bluey?”
“Sure. I've got a few more emails to respond to, and then I’m all yours.”
She beams and grabs her bag before zooming straight past Dana to the living room. Dana doesn’t move.I already know what that means.
“No,” I say.
One brow lifts. “I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t have to.”
She sighs exasperatedly. “Grayson.”
“Penelope’s here.” I point through the wall toward the living room.“She’s what matters. I don’t want her overhearing my life shit and spiraling.”
“She’s about to watch Bluey. She’s not paying attention.” Dana crosses her arms over her chest, worrying her lower lip with her teeth. “Talk to me. Please.”
I almost laugh, but instead, I sink back into my chair and look at the half-dead plant on the windowsill.“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“That’s bullshit.”
My jaw tenses. “Probably.”
She studies me for a second. “Do you remember what Cole was like when he was drinking?”
That pulls my eyes back to hers. My spine stiffens instantly. “Of course I do.”
