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Syd looks up to me with an adorable smile. “Because you’re always here to get me. I love you.”
Dear child. Her words cause my heart to flutter.
I kneel and hug her. “I love you too, Syd.”
“I don’t want you to leave us,” she says.
I frown. “I don’t want that either.” And it’s true. Connor is scared and he’s holding me at arm’s length, but I can tell he cares. I just need to find a way to get through to him. “What do you say about us going to get our nails done?”
Syd begins jumping up and down but her bag weighs her down.
“Give me this,” I say, taking the pack off her back.
“Yay, this is the best day ever,” she cheers.
“We are going to walk to the nail place. Do you have energy for that?” I ask.
She nods her head, bobbing it quickly. “Yes.”
“Okay, good, let’s go.” I take her hand and we cross the street and head to a nail salon that I saw on my walk earlier. It looked clean and modern. As we walk down the sidewalk, Syd tells me about her day. She’s truly happy to be with me and talk to me. I push Dante out of my head and focus on what’s right in front of me.
We enter the nail salon and one of the workers tells us to choose a color.
“What do you think?” I ask Syd.
She shrugs. “I’ve never done this before. Daddy doesn’t like to get his nails done.”
I laugh from her cuteness. “I bet he doesn’t. Daddy wants us to go to a hockey game with him tonight.”
“Will Crew be there?” she asks.
“I’m not sure. I’ll ask Skylar.”
I shoot Sky a quick text.
She answers me right away that she won’t be missing it. When I tell her I don’t get the big deal, she answers the guys are probably going to take the championship and it’s a big deal.
“Okay, what are Daddy’s team colors?” I ask Syd.
“Do you mean the color of his jersey?” she asks.
“Yes.”
“Blue, red, and white,” she replies.
“Okay, well, it isn’t the Fourth of July, but I think we should do our nails those colors to show we support his team,” I suggest.
“Daddy is really going to like that. He likes when I wear his jersey to games,” Syd says.
Really. That is interesting.
We choose those colors and get our nails done. While we do, Syd updates me on drama in her second-grade class, and I soak up her every word because life doesn’t get better than this. Connor messages that he’ll be home around six thirty to pick us up for the game, and I message him back a picture of our nails painted red, white, and blue.
Me:We’ll be ready.
Connor: ??
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
