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My heart aches. “He was declawed?”
“Yes, and that isn’t even the worst of it.”
Good God. My weakness for strays is starting to show itself at the worst time.
“Can I pet him? Please?” Cami looks up at me while batting her lashes.
I look to Cal for approval.
“It’s fine with me.”
I sigh with resignation. “All right.” I can just tell with the way Cami’s eyes light up, she is going to be attached to Merlin by the end of the night.
Cami army crawls toward the bed while cooing and calling Merlin’s name. He doesn’t come out, which makes her frown.
“He doesn’t like me.”
Cal shakes his head with a smile and kneels beside her.
For the second time tonight, I bear witness to Cal being sweet to my kid for no other reason than he is just that kind of guy.
“He is a little shy.” He holds out his hand beneath the bed.
Cami waits, her body trembling from her growing excitement.
It takes a minute, but thanks to Cal’s persistence and Cami’s patience, a skinny black cat comes crawling out from underneath the bed. He rubs against Cal’s thigh, his tail swishing back and forth as Cal runs his hand down the cat’s spine.
“Slowly pet him.” Cal shows Cami one more time before letting her try.
Cami reaches out her hand with the intention to brush her fingers across Merlin’s fur, but the cat darts outside of the room before she has a chance.
Her smile falls. “He hates me.”
“He’s just grumpy, but I have a trick.” Cal stands before lifting Cami up and on to her feet.
He shows her his secret stash of catnip and Merlin’s favorite toy. Cami watches with fascination as he fills the toy full of the stuff before handing her the pole it is attached to with a string.
With Cal’s instruction, Cami dangles the fish in front of the couch where Merlin is hiding underneath. When Merlin’s paw darts out to catch the feathered fish, Cami squeals. Cal ends up laughing at her reaction, and I find myself doing the same.
I stick back, both enamored and terrified by their interaction. The more the two of them spend time together, the more I worry that Cami might grow attached to Cal. I know what it feels like to have your heart crushed by none other than Callahan Kane. It leaves a void that can’t be filled, no matter how hard one tries.
I’ve made plenty of mistakes, but I wonder if I made the biggest one yet by allowing my daughter to get caught up in Cal’s spell. If she is anything like me, then there is no way she won’t end up loving him. But then he will leave, and I’ll be stuck picking up the pieces yet again.
Except this time, it won’t be my heart he breaks.
It will be my daughter’s.
Living with Lana and Cami is a completely different experience than seeing them every now and then back at the main house while I was cleaning out the attic. For starters, the entire house is filled with toys. Boxes upon boxes of toys. The whole living room is a minefield of Legos, princess dolls, and enough stuffed animals for Cami to play pretend school.
The kid is cute as fuck as she acts out her mother’s Spanish class, switching from English to Spanish, with Lana correcting her every now and then while she prepares dinner in the kitchen.
Cami points a paper towel roll at the mini whiteboard she wrote on. “Vamos a apprendo español.”
“Vamos a aprender español.”
Cami repeats the phrase before earning a flour-covered thumbs-up from her mother.
I chuckle underneath my breath, giving away the fact that I was pretending to read.
