“More than enough, sweetheart.” His mouth twitched. “But I think Daddy’s got the milkshake bill from here on out.”
She jumped and took off to her room.
I shook my head and turned to busy my hands with something, anything. All I wanted was to act like this was exactly what it looked like. Us. A family, plain and easy, the three of us finally just being that. I wanted his arms around me so bad it was stupid.
Sugar wasn’t the only one who’d spent all this time wishing he was here.
“What you got going on for the day?” he asked.
I turned around. “I need to make some arrangements. Today’s my last day off before I’m back on the schedule. I could use a few more days, though. I was gone a whole week already.”
“You mentioned school too. You been carrying a lot, Skye.” He pushed off the wall. “I can handle the money side. Take whatever time you need.”
“A few days. Not more than that.” I pointed the donut at him. “I’m not giving up my job, Ducane. I love what I do. I worked too hard to get my wings to hand them over the second a man with a black card walks back into my life.”
He held his hands up, almost smiling. “Wouldn’t dream of asking you to.”
“Good.” I softened. “But a few days to get us sorted? That I’ll take.”
And I meant it. I wasn’t that scared, proud girl who walked into The Diner anymore, the one who’d have said no to everything just to prove she didn’t need anybody. I could let him carry some of it now. I just wasn’t about to let him carry all of it. Some things were still mine.
“Aight, I’m heading out. Call me if you need anything.”
He took off upstairs to say bye to Cadence, who did not sound happy about him leaving. He promised her he’d be back for ballet and milkshakes. From the top of the stairs, I heard a stuffed animal get proposed, then a LEGO set, then some kind of counteroffer.
I shook my head. That girl didn’t need a single thing. But I was never going to convince Ducane of that, not in this lifetime.
“I think I got me a lawyer on my hands,” he said, huffing out a laugh as he came back down and stopped in front of me.
“It’s gotta be hereditary.”
“Gotta be.”
He leaned down and kissed my forehead before heading for the door.
The front door clicked shut behind him.
I smiled to myself. Sugar was about to have that man wrapped around her finger by lunchtime.
The second I got in the car, I let out the breath I’d been holding since I woke up.
One night on that couch. That was all it took to start losing the fight I’d been having with myself since the beach.
The fight was simple. Part of me wanted to say fuck what Skye had done, scoop up my girls, and move forward with a clean slate. The other part couldn’t get past the years she took from me. And every hour I spent in that house, the first part kept gaining ground. Watching her with Cadence this morning. The milkshakes. How that little girl looked at her mama. Skye had been scared, plain and simple, scared enough to keep a secret I still hadn’t found a way to forgive, and I was sitting here three feet from forgiving it anyway.
Then there was Cadence. From here on out, my whole life was about to revolve around Cadence Noelle Simmons. My twin.My junior in a tutu. She deserved both of her parents, and she deserved to see them love each other while they were at it.
And that was where it got complicated. I wanted Skye. I’d never stopped wanting Skye. But wanting her and trusting her again were two different roads, and after one night home, I still didn’t know how to get from one to the other without feeling stupid.
“Sir,” Kareem said, pulling me out of it.
I looked up and caught a smile on his face.
“She’s beautiful, Ducane. Absolutely beautiful.”
“Thank you, Kareem. I still can’t believe it.”
He nodded and looked back at the road. But when his eyes returned to the mirror, I knew he had something sitting on him that would serve me best out in the open. Kareem had been more than my driver; he was family. A confidante. And a wise man.
