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My heart is telling me to go join her but my brain knows I shouldn’t. I listen to my head and turn around and go to my study. While today is my off day, I get a head start on some of the work for Monday, hoping to distract myself from thoughts of Cam’s naked form in the shower.
Chapter 13 - Camdyn Schriefer
Parker is ignoring me.
I have no idea what I have done but he has not been in my bed once since Saturday night and he only talks to me when Maisey is around. I’m not sure what I have done to cause him to back away but hopefully after the zoo today I can corner him and get some answers. It makes me feel as if I have done something wrong but I know that I have not. He is treating me like I am just a nanny and nothing more.
Did he just use me on my last off day to be his fake fiancée in front of his board members? That doesn’t seem like something that Parker would do but I fear I do not know him as well as I thought.
We hit a bump on the ride to the zoo and I am pulled from my thoughts as Maisey lays her head on my shoulder.
“What are you thinking about?” Maisey asks me.
I look down at the little girl and am hit with how much she resembles her father. Both with brown hair and tan skin.
“Just how excited I am to take you to the zoo.”
Maisey beams up at me and we make small talk the rest of the ride to the zoo.
We walk into the Central Park Zoo and Maisey squeals.
“Thank you thank you thank you,” Maisey says as she hugs my legs. “I have never been to the zoo before.”
My heart drops at those words. Maisey is six years old and has never seen a zoo before. While in Piedmont there was no zoo, I had been to zoos before in North Dakota. Every kid should be able to see animals and have a favorite.
“Where do you want to go first?”
“Monkeys!”
We make our way toward the monkey exhibit.
“That one looks weird,” Maisey says, pointing up at a black and white monkey.
“It says it is a ruffed lemur,” I explain.
“Wow,” Maisey says. “How did you know that?”
I point to the sign that explains what the animal is and Maisey runs toward it to read it. She reads slowly and reads it wrong but I encourage her to keep trying.
We continue through the exhibit and Maisey presses her face against each glass with awe. After a few more animals, I ask Maisey what she wants to see next.
“I want to see the lions!” Maisey shouts to me.
“We will see them, I promise,” I urge as I drag her away from yet another exhibit that isn’t the lions.
Maisey has been all about the lions all day long. We have so far seen the penguins, monkeys, and grizzly bears, but have yet to see any of the big cats.
We finally made it to the lions and Maisey’s mouth dropped open.
“They are majestic,” Maisey says.
“Where did you learn that word?” I ask, curiously.
“The television,” Maisey says with her head held high.
She looks adorable with her face pressed into the glass.
The lions look fierce but it is also sad how they were raised in captivity. Seeing the lions makes my heart ache but I know I cannot do anything about it.
