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“Colwyn?” she called, turning in her chair to face me.
Had her calling me Daddy just been a slip-up?
“Yes, little one?”
She held her plate out to me. I smiled at her. “Good girl. What do we do when we’re finished eating?” I asked her.
She got up from the table and dumped her napkin and paper plate in the trash. Then she yawned and rubbed her eyes, making my heart skip a beat in my chest. God, she was so fucking adorable.
“Nap time?” I asked softly, walking over to her.
She nodded. I gently scooped her up into my arms, cradling her to my chest. She was so light—always had been. I’d even taken her to a doctor since she was so skinny, worried she was malnourished or something, but the doctor assured me it was just her body type and as long as she was eating three solid meals a day, I had nothing to be concerned about.
I gently laid her on her bed. After her break-up with her douchebag ex, I’d taken her to Savannah, and we’d redone her room. She didn’t stay in this room when she wasn’t in her little headspace; she had a normal bedroom for that.
She had a sheer purple princess canopy above her bed. Her sheets were purple, and I’d purchased a comforter that had her favorite Disney character, Scar, on it. Don’t ask me why she loved Scar, but she did.
My sweet girl had a thing for the villains.
I tucked her in and placed her favorite stuffed animal in her arms—a stuffed Scar. I’d searched high and low for one of these, and the moment I found it, I ordered it—didn’t even give a fuck about the cost of it. And even if she wasn’t in little headspace and slept in her other room, she still slept with the thing.
“Daddy?” she mumbled, drawing my eyes down to her.
There was that name again.
This girl was killing me slowly.
“Yes, sweet girl?” I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed to run my hand over her hair.
“I love you,” she mumbled, already falling asleep.
A small smile tilted my lips. I pressed my lips to the top of her head. “I love you, too, little one.”
* * *
I slowly rippedmy eyes open, the sound of Raleigh’s phone going off jerking me out of my power nap. With a muttered curse, I snatched it up, her store manager’s name on the screen.
Well, fuck.
“Yes?” I asked when I answered.
“Colwyn?” she asked.
I snorted. “The one and only. What’s going on?” The only reason she called was if something was wrong. She was a very competent manager—one of the best I’d ever come across. She was the reason Raleighcouldbe so hands-off with the shop.
“We’re going to need to hire another hand,” she told me. If I answered, she knew not to ask for Raleigh; it automatically meant Raleigh wasn’t available. She understood Raleigh being a little, and she didn’t bat an eye the first time she experienced Raleigh getting overwhelmed. She’d just called me and did her best to console my sweet girl until I could get there.
I heaved a heavy sigh. “What happened?”
Meghan huffed. “New girl got caught trying to take money out the drawer. After watching the cameras, I had her arrested for theft. It was very discreet—no one noticed, so no one will come hounding Raleigh.” I sent up a mental thank you. “Just thought you should know we’re just a tiny bit short staffed now.”
“I’ll get it handled,” I told her. “Thank you.”
“No problem, Colwyn.”
I hung up the phone and set it back down on the coffee table before leaning my head against the back of the couch. Raleigh wasn’t going to be happy to hear about this when she came out of her little headspace, but I knew she’d take care of it. Because despite everything, my sweet girl was a woman who took care of her shit. And I couldn’t be prouder of her for it.
* * *
