AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She’d been wrong about so much.
Rising, she grabbed her purse and looped it over her shoulder before turning back to the computer and quickly transferring the Oedipus file to her personal email account, carbon-copying it to Gigi. She’d text her friend and see if she could give her a crash course on reading through contracts. Tess didn’t have much experience, always leaving legal matters to her father. He’d break it down, review it with their attorney, and then report back, giving her the nuts and bolts about what each krewe expected for their floats. Another weakness Tess had discovered—she didn’t know diddly poop about actual contracts.
She flipped the light switch, prepared to tell anyone who tried to stop her to go to hell.
“Hey, Tess,” the small voice came from the makeshift break area sitting outside the painting bay.
“Hey, Em.”
The little girl sat at a table, eating powdered donuts, swinging her untied sneakers back and forth beneath the table. “I’m doing my homework. Just finished spelling, and now I got a worksheet on subtraction. Yuck.”
“Yeah, subtraction stinks,” Tess said with a shrug, “but yay for finishing your spelling. Oh, and don’t forget you have to work on a Ladybug chant. We have practice tomorrow.”
Emily’s eyes lit up. “I already got one. Dad helped me make it up. Wanna hear it?”
“Sure,” Tess conceded, moving closer to Emily while eyeing the unhealthy half-filled bag of donuts. The kid ate too much sugar and preservatives.
Emily leaped from the chair and spread her arms out wide. “Fly, fly ladybug, give it all your might. Fly, fly ladybug, show ’em how we fight. Red and black dynamite, we run, kick and score. Lake End Ladybugs, hear the crowd roar!”
During the chant, the child had waved her arms, kicked her feet and performed a little wiggle with her rump. Like a giant fan, Emily’s antics cooled the ire raging inside Tess.
As she watched, trying not to giggle, something quite wonderful struck her. Here was Monique’s daughter—a piece of the woman who’d so callously used Tess for her own gain. And here was Graham’s daughter—a piece of a man who’d waited so patiently for Tess to find her way. Two parts of a whole.
Emily, with her lopsided bow, mouth ringed in powdered sugar, and shirt too tight across her middle. She was part of those two, imperfect and wonderful all at the same time. Innocent of the machinations employed by those in her life, Emily hungered for attention and acceptance.
Just a little girl who loved her daddy and wanted to please him. Not so unlike Tess herself.
Finishing her final spin, Emily struck a pose and blinked up expectantly at Tess.
Sudden tears pricked Tess’s eyes.
“Oh, man. It was terrible,” Emily said, her small head tilting down.
“Are you kidding me?” Tess said, bending down and sweeping Emily into a huge hug. “It was the best cheer I’ve heard in forever. It was perfect.”
“Really?” Emily leaned back and studied Tess’s face as if she were a police detective. “You’re not just saying that? Mom said it was pretty good, but Dad thought it rocked. He helped me with the motions, too, but he looked really weird doing them.”
Tess laughed. “I can only imagine.”
“Tess, do you like my daddy?” Emily asked, suddenly earnest. Suddenly looking older than her seven years.
“Sure I do. He’s been a pretty good assistant coach. I never have to yell at him for not having our water bottles filled,” Tess joked, not sure how much Emily understood about the relationship between a man and woman.
“No. I mean like love stuff. I think Daddy likes you. You know, he wants to kiss you.” Emily averted her gaze, suddenly finding the ancient coffeepot fascinating.
Tess straightened. “What makes you think that?”
Emily shrugged. “A few of my fish died.”
Uh, what? Tess looked at Emily with a blank expression. She had no clue. No innate mothering skill to enable her to peer into the wackiness of a child’s brain. Fish and kissing. How in the hell did that relate?
The girl made a face. “When Daddy moved here, he said he wanted to be a family. He can’t marry my mom. She’s already married to Josh. But I’d really like a baby brother, you know.”
“Uh, I’m not following the fish thing,” Tess said.
“Well, I said maybe we could get a kitten to help us be more of a family, but Daddy said no. He said we have to start with fish. So we got us some, but the yellow one and two of the blue ones with the pretty tails died.”
“Oh,” Tess said. “I’m sorry.”
