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13
RIVER WINFREY
Leighton didn’t believe me. I couldn’t see it in her eyes because she hid her face after the incident with Laura, but I could hear it in her voice.
I’m not Brad, and I can’t have her believing that I’m like that asshole.
Thirty-two days.
More than a month away from my baby girl. Leighton has gone to great measures to make sure that I’ve seen Scarlett every day via FaceTime, but it isn’t the same as being there with them.
She’s growing so fast, and I’m missing it.
She’s reaching milestones, and I’m missing them.
She’s forming bonds, and I’m not one of them.
But Leighton is.
Scarlett and Leighton are becoming deeply attached to one another… like mother and daughter. I don’t mind. Scarlett needs strong connections, but as her daddy, she and I should share the most special relationship.
I ended my FaceTime with Scarlett and Leighton last night and booked the first flight I could get home. That’s how important it is to me that Leighton understands about the incident on the bus.
I left my band and the bus outside of Atlanta to move on to the next city without me. I told Doug that I’d be back for the show in Memphis on Saturday night, and I will be, but he’s still pissed off.
I just don’t give a damn. I have to see Leighton and Scarlett.
I miss the fuck out of them.
I didn’t tell Leighton that I was coming home. She believes I’m on a tour bus departing from Atlanta to Memphis. I want to surprise her, but I also don’t want to give her a heart attack because she hears me and thinks that I’m an intruder in the house.
River: Where are you?
Leighton: Nursery. Rocking Scarlett to sleep for her nap.
River: Don’t be scared.
Leighton: Don’t be scared of what?
River: I’m in the house.
Leighton is looking at her phone, her brow wrinkled, when I stop in the doorway of Scarlett’s nursery. “I’m home.”
She looks up, her mouth agape. “River…”
I walk across the room and look down at Scarlett, already asleep in her arms. “I had hoped that she’d be awake.”
“I would have kept her up if I’d known you were coming home.”
“I wanted to surprise you.”
“Well, you succeeded.” Leighton scoots forward and holds Scarlett out for me to take. “Here. I know that you’re dying to get your hands on her.”
I take Scarlett from Leighton and cradle her in my arms. She squirms for a moment before settling. It’s impossible to not notice how her body stretches across my arm more than it did the last time I held her. “I can’t believe how much bigger she is.”
“She’s had a big growth spurt while you’ve been away.”
I see that.
