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I lifted my head and smoothed back her hair. Penny had become everything. More important than a big cushy NFL paycheck. More than a Super Bowl ring I’d never get to wear. More than anything I could think of. There was nothing I wouldn’t do for her.
“Can I call Mom tomorrow?”
“’Course, baby. First thing, if you want to.” My thoughts flicked to my ex, Bethany. We’d burned hot and bright, but flamed out fast. I wish I could say that we tried to make things work, but the truth was, when she ended up pregnant after our third date and needed a paternity test from meand two other teammates, things fizzled fast. While we’d never discussed anything long term, I had wrongly assumed exclusivity was a part of the deal. I’d learned a lot since then.
I did what I could to support Bethany throughout the pregnancy, but she didn’t seem to want much. We’d talked about options, including adoption, but in the end I just couldn’t agree to it. Bethany said she’d never really considered children and didn’t want the responsibility, which I could respect. She’d signed over her parental rights, and I became a single dad to the greatest kid on the planet.
And I’d make that choice again in a heartbeat.
Penny talked to her mom often, and I paid for regular visits and flights whenever either asked. Once I wrapped my head around the fact that we were having a kid, I vowed to never talk shit about Penny’s mother, and I was proud I’d kept up my end of the bargain.
There was nothing more important than Penny.
“Do we have to stay here?” Her soft whisper was so sad in the dim lighting of her bedroom.
My voice felt rusty. How do you break the heart of a seven-year-old? “I don’t know, Pickle, but I’ll figure something out.”
I kissed my daughter good night, flicked on her night-light, and walked toward the door before stopping. She was already looking at me expectantly.
My smile widened and my chest pinched. “One more. One more.” I never left without just one more hug, and she knew it.
I bent and Penny’s arms wrapped around my neck. “Thank you, Daddy.”
I wasn’t sure what she was thanking me for just yet. Leaving St. Fowler and staying in my hometown would cost me nearly everything in terms of focus and how that could impact my career, but being her dad was everything.
As her bedroom door clicked behind me, I pulled my phone from my pocket and started making calls.
* * *
“Is the queen satisfied?”I swooped into a dramatic bow as I pushed open another bedroom door.
“It’s perfect!” Penny’s squeal could break glass. She was full of shit; the house itself was grimy and needed serious cleaning, but she was in love.
“Ours forever?” Penny twirled, and her little feet created a semicircle of dust on the floorboards.
“Definitely not. It’s temporary. Let’s see how the summer goes.” I didn’t want to make any promises to her if I couldn’t keep them, but after her sullen, heartsick words a few days ago, I immediately started making arrangements to spend the summer in Outtatowner. Being only forty miles from the university, I’d managed to convince myself, and the board I reported to, that I could be the perfect dadanda successful head coach.
My phone buzzed with another voice mail from Gary Whitman, and anxiety crept up my back.
What the hell did I do?
“Hello?” My aunt Tootie’s singsong voice echoed down the hallway.
“Back here,” I called, slipping my phone into my pocket.
Penny ran down the hall and into my aunt’s arms. They hugged and swayed in a circle. Tootie smiled at me. “It’ll do?”
I nodded. The house was one of the few properties the Kings hadn’t yet scooped up, as it was a part of the Sullivan family farm. They’d have the fight of their lives on their hands if they ever tried to move in on the old farmhouse Tootie and Dad had grown up in. Though it wasn’t the main farm parcel, Tootie refused to sell even after Dad’s health declined, and I loved her for it.
While I figured out how to juggle my career while not emotionally scarring my daughter for life, we could stay.
“Oh, one small thing I forgot to mention. The apartment above the barn is being rented for a bit.”
My brows pitched down. “You forgot to mention that?” I didn’t need some stranger lurking around when Penny was playing outside or bugging us for a cup of sugar or something equally annoying.
Tootie waved her hand in the air in dismissal. “It’s nothing. Lark is a friend. You won’t even know she’s there.” Tootie booped Penny on the nose. “Just don’t go bothering her without permission.”
Lark.
