AllFreeNovel
Share Us
How did I ever love this man? How did I ever find him attractive? I mean—my God. Idefinitelyneed to have my head examined.
It’s been ten days since Des was at my barbershop, and I’ve hardly heard from him other than a couple of cagey texts. I suppose I deserve that, don’t I? I asked for space.
Now, I’m learning that Colin bought both of the condos Maude and Arthur were trying to sell, which means Des doesn’t even have a home anymore.
Everything is totally fine. Everything is great. Everything is going to be okay.
“When do you move in?” Bailey takes a bite of her pizza.
“I close on both properties tomorrow,” Colin replies. “I’ll move in right away. It’s furnished, so all I’ll have to do is unpack my suitcase.”
Which means Des has already moved out, and he didn’t tell me—because I asked him for space. Because I’m so terrified of intimacy and of being abandoned that I pushed him away, like a coward.
Bailey squints. “So you’re really staying in Heart’s Cove?”
Colin puts his fork down. He meets Bailey’s eyes. “Yeah. How do you feel about that?”
“Um,” my daughter says, picking a mushroom off her pizza and flicking it to the side of her plate. “I feel okay, I guess. Why are you staying? Don’t you have work to do?”
“I’m going to be working from home. And I’m staying because I want to know you better. I missed you growing up.”
Oh, barf. That’s such a lie. He didn’t even think about her, and now he wants an award for showing up after a decade. Missed her, my ass.
Deep breaths, Mia. He’s doing his best. Bailey deserves to know her father. Everything is totally fine. Everything is great. Everything is going to be okay.
Thankfully, Bailey is not an idiot. She doesn’t look convinced. She just takes another bite, chewing thoughtfully.
Maybe this was a mistake. I should have set better boundaries, told Colin I wasn’t comfortable with him staying in town. But it’s not like I can control what he does—if he wants to buy a couple of condos, who am I to stop him? Icanput limits on how much time he spends with Bailey. I can make sure she’s comfortable. If at any point she decides she doesn’t want to spend time with her father, I can stop all of this, investment properties or no.
“You know,” Colin says, flicking his gaze to mine, “you could move into one of the condos. It would be better for Bailey if you lived somewhere a little safer. We could even look at getting you a house with a yard.” He glances at Bailey, smiling. “You could get a dog.”
Bailey’s eyes grow wide. She spins her head toward me, the hope pouring off of her in thick waves. “A dog?”
I’m going to kill Colin. Kill him dead. Then I’ll bring him back to life just so I can kill him again. And again. And again.
“We’ll see,” I say, then turn to Colin and give him my best death glare. “That’s enough. Let’s get the bill.”
He throws his hands up. “Look, I’m sorry, I just figured you wouldn’t want to raise our daughter behind a barbershop her whole life, is all.”
“I will make decisions formydaughter, thank you.” I stand and grab my jacket off the back of my chair. “Come on, Bailey. You have school tomorrow.”
“Mia, wait!” Colin stands and comes around the table. “I’m sorry, okay? I just figured if you needed a place to stay, you could have one of the places I just bought.”
Oh, lovely. He’s just swooping in to save me—and conveniently keeping me right in his sights.
No, I didnotspend the past ten years of my life rebuilding everything just to hand it over to my fucking ex-husband. “Goodnight, Colin.”
“Can we do lunch this weekend?”
“We’re busy this weekend,” I answer, then take Bailey’s hand and walk out of the restaurant.
When we’re in the car and halfway home, Bailey lets out a dramatic sigh. “Why don’t you want to get a dog, Mom?”
“Because I’ll be the one to take care of it, and I already have enough on my plate.”
“What if I take care of it?” She tugs at her seatbelt and leans forward. “I could feed it and everything. And I could pick up its poo even though it’s gross. I’d make it sit and roll over.”
“Mm.” I take the turn onto our back laneway. Is it too grimy? There’s a little patch of grass outside our door—and the park is just at the end of the road—but is it really so bad? This is our home. The condo building is bigger, but it’s not any better. Especially after all the renovations Des did for us.
