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A booming male voice said, “Well, there’s my favorite granddaughter.”
She and Kylie turned to see Daniel coming down the sidewalk with his cane. Kylie pulled away from Annie. “Shh, don’t tell Grandpa.” She scrubbed the tears from her face with the back of her hand and ran to hug him.
He held her to his side and reached into his pocket for a Jolly Rancher. “I stocked up on your favorite lime flavor.”
She took the candy and unwrapped it, then popped it into her mouth. “Thanks, Grandpa. Did you hear I get to go to Wisconsin Dells with the twins?”
“So I heard. That should be a fun time.” He settled on a bench on the tree lawn and pulled Kylie onto his lap. “I’m going to miss you, little one.”
His green eyes, so like his son’s, locked with Annie’s gaze, and she could see Jon had called him. Annie mouthedThank youto him.
Kylie snuggled against him. “Do you only love me because I’m your true granddaughter?”
“Why, no, Kylie. I loved you before I found out that good news, remember? We had the best time playing at your house way before I ever knew.”
“I forgot. Do you love me more now?”
“Let’s say finding out you were my own sweet granddaughter gave me permission to love you bigger. That’s probably something you can’t understand just yet, but when a kid belongs to someone else, we feel we aren’t entitled to love them all the way. Someone might take them away or tell us we can’t see them. So we protect our hearts a little.”
“Maybe that’s what Grandma and Grandpa did? That’s silly. Mommy and Jon would never take me away.”
“No, they wouldn’t. So you need to be a big girl and show them you’ll always love them. You can be the bigger person and send them a card or text from your iPad. You can let them know you will always love them.”
“I could send them a postcard from Wisconsin Dells. Maybe they would like that.”
“And you could take selfies to send to them,” Daniel said.
“What if they don’t answer me?”
Daniel hugged her. “You love them anyway. Time and distance doesn’t stop love. And I’ll always love you, Kylie. When you go off to college, you can still call me. I’ll answer every text and every picture.”
She threw her arms around Daniel. “I love you, Grandpa.”
He swiped at his eyes and hugged her tight. “You’re my own sweet girl. I never dreamed I’d be lucky enough to have a granddaughter like you.”
Kylie sprang to her feet as Bree and the family spilled onto the porch with everyone talking excitedly. “I have to go.”
“Send me pictures too,” he called after her.
Annie managed to snag Kylie for a last hug before she piled into the van with the Matthews family. If Annie could have calledher back without hurting her, she would have. A week apart would be endless.
Bree made sure they were all buckled up before calling, “We’ll take good care of her.”
“I know you will. Have her call me every day.”
Bree gave a thumbs-up as the van pulled away. Jon got out of the truck and joined Annie and his dad. He draped his arm around her. “Doing okay?”
She leaned into his embrace. “I’ll try to make it through. Your dad was wonderful. He said all the right things.”
“I knew he would.” He spoke over her head at his father. “Thanks, Dad.”
“I hate that they hurt that little girl.” His voice was steely. “I’ve half a mind to talk to Lars myself. Let me know if you need reinforcements.”
“I will,” Jon said.
Daniel struggled to his feet and grabbed his cane before heading back toward the Blue Bonnet Bed-and-Breakfast.
Jon rested his chin on Annie’s head until his phone dinged. He pulled out his phone, and she caught a glimpse of the text. “Mike?”
