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“What did I tell you about talking people’s ears off?” Millie asked quietly, walking closer to the booth so she didn’t embarrass Tammy any more than she already had.
The owner glanced at me, giving me a smile.
“Haley, it’s nice to see you. How do you like the rhubarb?”
She knew my name? my mouth gaped for a second before I realized I had words.
“Oh. I love it.”
“And how are Liam and the girls?” her gentle eyes implored kindly.
Just like that, I felt like I’d taken a slap to the face.
“Uh.”
She stayed put but moved to the side as Tammy left to help another customer.
“Sorry, I thought you were nannying the girls or helping Liam, weren’t you?”
I nodded, trying to gain my voice again.
“Yes, sorry…just took me a second.”
“Well, I’m sure glad they have you.” Millie squeezed my shoulder supportively before heading back behind the counter.
I watched her go, thinking that maybe—just maybe—I was doing the right thing. Maybe in the end this would be a good thing, and even though my heart felt frail, my foundation with the girls would be solid enough to make this whole thing worth it.
16
LIAM
Why didit feel like I had lost her, yet she was here every single fucking day?
Dark hair that trapped bits of sunlight when she turned her head the right way. Her green eyes, bright with laughter when she spent time with my daughters. Baking––fuck––she was baking so much. Fluffy, buttery pies, scones, cakes, and biscuits. She kept trying new recipes, and every time I caught her in my kitchen, hips pinned to the counter, all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her and hold her to my chest.
I wanted to tell her things I had no business feeling so soon.
Day in and day out she came into my life then drifted out like a wave that’s turned to foam, kissing the shore with nothing but fragments of what was once carried within it.
The girls only fell harder for her.
I only fell harder for her.
Because while I was pissed as hell that she’d done this, I also respected her for doing it.
No one put my kids first––not even me, most of the time. My daughters just rolled with whatever I decided, whatever happened; they just took it all better than any fighter I’d ever faced in the ring. Here was this woman, pulling my girls off the ropes, sitting them down and baking them cupcakes while braiding their hair.
They loved her.
I loved her.
Even if I wasn’t ready to really accept it or face it. Deep down I knew it to be true.
Which was why I needed to leave.
I couldn’t do this—not when I wanted her so badly and there was no reprieve from her scent that filled my halls. Her small touches were everywhere.
I had lasted two months.
