Page 38 of Absolution

"I do."

His eyes bounce from Emmie back to me. "Nice to see you again."

"Good to see you again as well." I toss the cereal in the cart, pushing us away from him as fast as I can. Only to have him jog up to my side.

"Why do I have the feeling you don't like me?"

"I'm sorry, I thought I was clear about it."

The corner of his mouth twitches as a smile plays on his lips. "Don't hold back on my account, tell me how you really feel."

"Kinda like the look on your face as you gawked at my child?"

"I was not gawking," he runs his hand over his face. "I'm sorry. It just threw me; I didn't mean anything by it at all."

"Yeah? You should've seen my reaction when they told me I was pregnant." I quirk my brow.

His feet shift. "I bet your husband is head over heels for her, she's your mirror image."

"He's not in the picture, we lost him a few years ago."

His shoulders slump, I recognize he's trying, but this is an epic fail. "Shit! I'm sorry."

"Shit," Emmie repeats him as though she's heard the word a million times. My head spins, and I glare at him.

"Oh... I'm so sorry. I didn't mean- "

"Ya know what, I'm going to walk away now and you're not going to follow me. But if you must ruin another day for me, Christmas isn't far off, you can always come back and tell her Santa isn't real." His mouth hangs as I take my daughter and make my getaway.

"Of all the things and all the words, you pick that one to repeat?" Ugh, I swear I cold smoother him. "He was kinda cute when he realized what you said, but not cute enough that he's forgiven."

The faster I walk, the deeper the sinking feeling sets in me. I have no idea what I was ever thinking, there's no way I can have a regular relationship. Besides, it's a fact I couldn't pick a good man with a gold star rating on his forehead.

My chest conclaves because I know that isn't true, Emmie's dad was a good man, and if he were here today, he'd be so incredibly proud of her, as honored as I am to be her mother. I might fail her daily, but she'll never doubt my love for her.

"You and me, baby girl. That's all we have and everything we need." I kiss her cheek as I buckle her in her car seat. It really is just us against the world, life might be tough, but together, we'll make it.

"Let's go home and let all of this go." She jabbers as if she understands exactly what I'm saying. I hope she does, I need her to grasp how much I love her.

Emmie mutters nonstop on the way home, happy, and content with our conversation. It really doesn't matter what we were saying to one another; our hearts are connected in such a way no one will ever comprehend. My heart flutters and floats with her every laugh.

"Creed Hatcher is an old soul, Emmie. I don't understand him, and I'm not sure I'm supposed to." She laughs, cracking me with her. Listen, she's not wrong. He's as crazy as I am, and all the more reason to walk away and stay away.

Chapter Twelve

Creed

"Not that I had a plan, but if I did, this wouldn't have been the one I picked." I groan as I kick the ground, wanting it to be my own ass for even thinking this was a good idea. At some point, I need to go with my gut.

I shut the door, walking through to the kitchen. Doc trots over to me, happy I'm back. I hate making her walk more than she has to right now, so I left her with Kathryn. She's getting spoiled.

"Hey, baby."

"Did you forget her food?"

I close my eyes, sighing. "In the car, I'll run back out in a minute."

"Are you alright?"