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“Tell me what your bad dream was about,” Presley said, her voice soft and soothing. Were we supposed to ask that? Gracie had only had bad dreams a few times in her life, but she hadn’t had one for a while. I’d never asked what they were about; I’d just tried to comfort her. I probably should have asked, though.
“I think I was chasing after Sally so that I could ride her, but I couldn’t catch her.”
“Ah, you had your first horse dream. You know what that means, don’t you?” Presley asked as she stroked Gracie’s hair, and my daughter melted against her chest. I set the warm mug of milk on the coffee table and dropped to sit in the leather chair beside them.
Gracie’s eyes were closed, and her voice was quiet. “What does it mean, Presley?”
“It means you’re a real horse girl now. You only have those dreams once you have horses in your heart,” Presley said, kissing the top of Gracie’s hair.
“Like you and me are in Daddy’s heart?” my daughter asked, her voice sleepy now.
Presley looked up at me, her eyes locked with mine. “Exactly. Once you’re in someone’s heart, you never really leave.”
“But you’re leaving soon. Right, Presley?”
“I’m here for a few more weeks. But I’ll be back to visit, and you know that you can still ride Sally any time you want after I leave. I think she belongs to you, too, now.”
“Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?” Gracie asked.
“Of course I will, baby girl. I’m not going anywhere right now.”
I picked up the mug of warm milk because clearly, Gracie had found comfort elsewhere, and now I was a fucking mess. I took a sip of milk as I watched Presley continue running her fingers through Gracie’s hair, as my daughter dozed off.
And I just sat there watching them.
My girls.
Watching the way my woman comforted my little girl.
The guilt that I felt that Gracie didn’t have this whenever she wanted it. She didn’t have a mother who knew to ask about her bad dreams. She was stuck with a father who didn’t have a fucking clue how to raise a little girl on his own.
And now, I’d brought a woman into her life that she was growing attached to, knowing that she’d be leaving her.
Leaving me.
I set the mug down, and Presley’s voice broke through the silence.
“Cage,” she whispered.
“Yeah?”
“Stop overthinking it. It’s just a bad dream. We all have them. She runs to you because you’re her safe place. Stop doubting yourself.”
Fuck me. How does she always do that? Always know what I’m thinking.
“All right. I know you have that meeting in the morning. Should I take her off your lap?”
“Nope. I’m going to stay right here and hold her for as long as she needs me, if that’s okay?”
I nodded, even though she wasn’t looking at me, and I leaned back in the chair. “It’s okay with me.”
And I sat there watching them until my eyes grew heavy and I dozed off.
I didn’t wake until the sun came through the windows, which had my eyes blinking open.
And my daughter lay sound asleep in Presley’s arms in the exact same place they’d been a few hours ago.
nineteen
