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“Why don’t you season the burgers? I’ll get the grill going.” My son heads back into the house and I head to the grill.
Once the flame is going, I head inside to my family.
Chris
I take a drink of my water and then wipe my forehead with the back of my arm. After one more drink I head back over to the sawhorse, stick in my ear plugs, pick up my safety goggles, and place them over my eyes. I use the circular saw to cut the wood for the stairs we’re redoing.
I’ve been working for Carter and Carmichael’s for two weeks and I’d love to say it has been great, but truth is, Dylan is always watching me—if not him, it’s someone else from Haddie’s family. I get it, I do, but if she can forgive me, why can’t they?
I know I’ll have to earn their trust and I plan on it, but will I ever be accepted? Hell, the only reason I’m here now is because I’m the father of his granddaughter.
Fuck, I miss my girl. I hate that I’m not there for us to have our tummy time.
I’d lay on my stomach, and we’d be face to face. I’d talk to her until she’d start kicking her legs and smiling at me. I loved our morning snuggles. In the recliner I’d be kicked back with her snoozing on my chest.
I haven’t seen Madison or Haddie much the past couple of weeks. I’ve been working ten to twelve hours a day, wanting to prove my worth to the others. I’m so exhausted when I get home, I usually inhale whatever Haddie made for dinner, shower, and then pass out.
Truth be told, I miss Haddie—I miss her sweet smiles, her soft voice when she talks to our girl, or the way she blushes sometimes when I talk to her. When she bites her lip, I get these flashes of being between her legs, and this intense pleasure.
I focus on my job, not needing to hurt myself. Once I finish with this batch, most of the other guys are back from lunch. They’ve all been friendly enough, but knowing I need to prove myself. I just keep my head down and work.
At quitting time, I take off my tool belt and toss it to the side as I help put everything away. I finish up and grab my stuff and head outside to my truck. “Chris.” I stop and turn to find Violet, Haddie’s cousin, walking toward me.
“Hey, did you need something?” I turn to face her fully.
She shakes her head. “No, well—I just wanted to welcome you to the crew. I know things are weird, but I just wanted you to know that we’ve been so pleased with your work.” Violet shakes her head. “You’re talented.” She shrugs. “I just wanted to let you know that.”
I watch her walk away and I’m sure my mouth is hanging open. I’ve been working with her and her husband Diego’s team, which surprised me. I thought Dylan would want me to be with him so he could watch me like a hawk.
Once I become unstuck, I head to much truck—I never thought I’d be a truck man, but once I saw how much easier it was to haul stuff around, I had Dad sell my BMW and he wired me the money. I bought my black Toyota Tundra and I haven’t looked back.
At home, I find Haddie’s car in the driveway and my heart does this weird little skip. Although I’m fucking exhausted, I practically jog into the house. Inside, I quickly take off my steel-toed boots and hustle into my room to shower. It takes a few minutes and then I pop out, dry off, and throw on some shorts and a t-shirt.
In the family room I find Dad and Haddie are sitting on the sofa watching Madison play in the exersaucer I bought for her.
“Hi, baby girl,” I say, and she immediately looks my way and smiles. My heart swells and my eyes burn. This little girl has my heart and she doesn’t know it. I get down on the floor, and kiss her forehead. She bounces a little and starts gurgle talking to me.
I stand up. “Hey, you two,” I say as I sit in the recliner.
“How was work?” Dad asks as he stands up.
“Busy, but good. I’ve been working on the staircase. Wait until you see it, I think it’s going to be amazing.” I grab my phone and pull up the picture I took of my progress.
“Oh my god, that’s so cool,” Haddie gushes as she looks at the picture. “Look at that detail.”
My chest puffs with pride, but then someone doesn’t like being ignored. Madison lets out a screech and I turn around to grab her out of the toy. She rests her forehead against my neck and rubs it back and forth.
I turn back to the two of them while I snuggle my girl. “What are you guys thinking for dinner?”
“What about ordering pizza?” Haddie stands up. “You two can have whatever leftovers there are and take it for lunch.”
Dad orders the pizza and breadsticks, then heads down the hall to his office to do some work. Haddie and I sit on the floor with our legs in a V and our feet touching. Madison sits between my legs and I have one arm wrapped around her, and with the other Haddie and I roll a ball that lights up and plays music.
A couple of times our girl gets so excited and tries to lunge for it, but luckily, I have a firm hold on her. Haddie’s soft laughter does something to my chest, but it seems to happen every time I’m around her.
“How do you like being a nurse?” Fuck, I’m dumb.
She smiles and then tucks her hair behind her ear. “I love it. I actually love it more than I thought I would. I mean it’s hard, but I’m making a difference and helping people through the end of their life.”
