Page 64 of Forbidden Flame

“You can’t control what her father does. This isn’t on you. You’re doing your best.”

Daphne relaxed slightly. “She seems to have a connection with you.”

I resisted mentioning that we did too. “I like Izzy. I want to see her succeed. I wanted to encourage her to keep going and celebrate with her when she gets her training wheels off and she rides by herself for the first time.”

“It’s crazy to me because her own father doesn’t want that.”

“He’s obviously an asshole.” I couldn’t imagine ignoring your own child.

“You say that so casually. You’ve never met him.”

“You can judge a person by his actions or, in this case, his inactions. Izzy’s an amazing little girl, and he’s missing out. He’s hurting her, leaving a mark, whether she realizes it yet or not.”

“You don’t think having her family around eases that loss?” Daphne asked, turning slightly toward me.

“I’m no expert, but I would think it does.”

“As a parent, you always think you’re screwing up. Even with intact families.”

“Having two parents in the home doesn’t mean the relationships are healthy. All of it takes work.” Work my father wasn’t interested in. “Speaking of fathers, mine’s been trying to contact me.”

“You haven’t spoken to him?”

“I don’t know what to say. I have all this resentment built up inside. Whenever I think of him, my chest gets tight.”

Daphne rested a hand on my arm. “Maybe talking to him will ease some of that.”

Izzy took her hands off her handlebars. “Look at me.”

Daphne took a step forward, and I stopped her with a hand on her arm. “She won’t fall. The training wheels won’t let her.”

“There’s a fine line between letting your kids do their own thing and stepping in to stop them from getting hurt or making a mistake.”

“You’re a good mom,” I said firmly.

“It sounds like such a small thing to say, but it’s nice to hear.”

Izzy had been turning in circles, but when she placed her hands back on the handlebars, she veered away from us.

“I’m going to jog along next to her, make sure she’s okay.” It was a parking lot after all. When I reached her side, Izzy looked up at me, her eyes bright with excitement. “Did you see me?”

“You’re doing great,” I said as a knot of something unraveled in my stomach.

Izzy grinned. “This is so much fun.”

I stayed with her as we rode down the lot, then back toward Daphne. When Izzy stopped for a drink of water, I stood with my hands on my hips. “What’s this about you not practicing?”

Izzy shrugged as she drank the water and wiped the sweat from her brow.

“You know you need to practice to get better.”

She lowered the bottle. “What’s the point?”

“What’s the point of learning to ride a bike?” I asked, unsure what she was asking.

Izzy’s gaze slid from mine. “I don’t have anyone to ride with. It’s boring.”

“You don’t have friends at school you could have playdates with?” I only knew the lingo because of my cousins, Addy and Ember.

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