Page 11 of Crossed Lines

“Daddy!” Jade shouts and runs into my arms for a hug. I love that she doesn’t care how dirty I am; she always wants a hug from Daddy.

“Hey, Jadey Baby. How was your day?” I take her in from head to toe: her slicked-back princess bun, a full face of makeup, a princess dress, and her little pretend high heels.

“Awesome!”

“Really, what’d you do?” I ask.

“Well, Willow made us pancakes with lots and lots of syrup and even sprinkles!” Her eyes are so wide as she says sprinkles that I can’t help but laugh. “Then we made sand art. Don’t worry, I made you one, and we cleaned up the whole mess probably.”

“Probably?”

“Yep,” she says confidently and then continues with her day. “Then we painted our nails.” She shoves her hands in front of my face to show me the purple polish.

“Very nice.”

“Then Willow made me a turkey wrap. Did you know I liked turkey wraps?”

“I did not,” I confess.

“Me either. But I do now. Then we watched a movie. Then Willow did my hair and makeup to make me look like a princess, and we started our dance party. Do I look like a princess?”

“Definite princess vibes.”

She smiles widely, and I put her back on the ground before I look over at Willow, who is busy straightening up the living room.

“Sounds like a good day,” I say.

She nods. “I’d say day one was a success. Tomorrow, if you could leave her car seat, I think I’ll take her to the library. They have someone reading a book in the morning, and she can check out a few books to practice reading. She said she was learning sight words in kindergarten this past year.”

“Ok, yeah. That sounds great. I have a spare booster seat in the garage. I can put it in your car before I leave tomorrow.”

“Ok, awesome.” She turns to Jade. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”

Jade sticks her little lip out in a pout. “You can’t stay the night?”

Willow laughs, but my body tightens at the thought of her being here all night. There’s no way. I need as much space away from her as possible.

“No, I have to go back to my house. If we leave Sawyer alone for too long, he gets sad. We don’t want that, do we?”

Jade shakes her head.

“But I’ll be back bright and early tomorrow, and we’ll have tons of fun!”

My daughter smiles at Willow, and it feels like my heart could burst. Jade loves her already. I know that I can’t let my stupid attraction get in the way of this. I need Willow to be here for Jade, so I need to cut this out. I can be around an attractive female and not act on it. Hell, I’m around Harper almost every day. She works side by side with Brooks at the Lodge. I’d consider her attractive, but she’s one of my best friends, and I don’t feel the same pull toward her that I suddenly and strangely feel toward Willow.

Jade and Willow hug goodbye before Willow stands and directs her attention to me. I make eye contact with her just to prove to myself that I can do it without acting like a fool.

“See you in the morning?” I ask.

“Yes, sir. Same time?”

“You can come at eight tomorrow. Carson is on opening shift.”

“See you then.” She grabs her bag and gives Jade one last wave before leaving.

Once she’s gone, I focus on Jade. “So, you had a good day?”

“The best day, Daddy. We had so much fun. This is gonna be the best summer ever!”