Page 43 of Played By my Grumpy Boss

Hmm, serious. “Sure, honey.”

“Why does Mary-Beth have to move out?”

I sighed. “It’s complicated, sweetheart. It’s a big ask for both of us to just live together and be friends when we feel the way we do.”

“You mean… when you love each other?”

I hesitated, but then I chose honesty. “Yep.”

“It’s not because of me, is it?” she asked then.

Urgh… But I chose honesty again. “Well, it was. I felt I’d hurt you, and I was trying to put that right. But, really, it’s about a lot more than that, sweetheart. Neither of us are ready for something like this Not with the pressure on me this season. And Mary-Beth has Maddy, and she’s launching the online magazine and-“

“Sounds like a whole load of excuses to me,” said Kayla with a wink.

I was completely tongue-tied then. “I, well, it’s just very complicated and-“

“Seems simple to me,” she said. “If you love one another, be together.”

I just stared at her. When did she get so wise?

“And you’d be okay with that?”

She shrugged. “Sure. It was you keeping it from me that I didn’t like. Mary-Beth’s great. She’s still too young for you, though,” she teased. “Love you, Dad.” Then she blew me a kiss and vanished down the hall.

Well, wow.

Wow that she felt that way. And wow that we now had the kind of relationship where we could really talk and be honest with one another. Within reason, obviously – I was still the adult and the parent. But – wow. My amazing daughter had been blowing me away with her beautiful soul since she was born, and now she’d just done it again. I felt privileged to be her father.

But as for Mary-Beth. Kayla’s words echoed in my head.

If you love one another, be together.

If only it were that simple. Yes, I loved Mary-Beth. And yes, I knew she loved me. Well, I believed she still did, anyway. But I’d blown it. She thought I was as flaky and unreliable as the other guys in her life had been.

And maybe she was right… I mean, look how easily I was giving up…

Then it struck me. Football warriors didn’t just lay down and die like this.

I’d fight for her. I’d prove that I was the man for her. Because, deep inside, I just knew it – I knew that I was. One hundred percent. And I knew she was my woman. We were meant to be together.

I had to show her how deep my feelings were. But how?

And then I had an idea…

I had to call Clare. I’d got her number online – turned out she made crocheted blankets to order as well as nursing, so it wasn’t hard to find. Depending on what Mary-Beth had said to her about me, I hoped she wouldn’t bite my head off. I wanted to ask her advice about something, and to ask her for a favor too…

21

MARY-BETH

Alex held out his hand and helped me onto the gorgeous canal boat.

“Wow!” I gasped, looking around at the stunning tranquil setting, with willow trees dipping their branches into the water, ducks gliding by, and a heron preening itself on the opposite bank. We were far from the hustle and bustle of Canalside. Go a few miles out from there, down the Erie Canal and there was this beautiful peaceful waterway.

“I’d wanted to just send you a message, pretending it was from Clare, to ask you to come and meet me,” Alex said. “But, of course, with Maddy involved, that was out of the question. Plus, I felt it was only fair to let you know you’d be meeting me. I mean, in case you didn’t like the surprise and I ended up in the canal…” he laughed and shook his head. “Sorry, I’m rambling. I just hope you like it, that’s all.”

I looked around in wonder at the twinkling fairy lights. Soft music played and the smell of incense filled the space.

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