Page 48 of Forfeits

“Does he know?” Robin asked, gesturing at Aiden.

“Yes, he knows.”

“About the husband that died. And the twelve-year-old. How awful!”

It seemed as if Robin felt equally horrified at the death of my husband and the fact that I had to care for a twelve-year-old. For once, the acknowledgment of Daniel’s death didn’t hit me like a dump truck. Robin was such a genuine and adorable presence, and I was still floating from my experience with Aiden in the Bordello.

I glanced at Aiden. “I’m adjusting.”

Robin smiled. “That’s good. I always say, grab life with two hands and jump. You know, make the most of it.”

“I agree,” Aiden said. He sat back and smiled at me contemplatively, looking older than he was.

“What?” I asked.

He shrugged as Robin left to attend to the other customers.

“You look like a burden has been lifted. I can’t help but hope it’s because of…”

“It is. I’m sure tomorrow the weight of it all will come crushing down again. But right now, I feel…good. Like, really good.”

“Well, that makes me happy.”

“Thank you for taking such good care of me.”

“Anytime, babe. I mean that. I’m up for a visit to Molly’s whenever you have time or whenever Patrick can watch Lucy,” he said. “I may have just become a paying member of this very special place.”

He held up a laminated card with the club’s name embossed in gold on the front.

“Wow. You’re easy,” I said with a grin.

“When it comes to accessing all that equipment? I sure am,” he said. “And, besides, we get discounts on drinks.”

* * * *

When I put in my code on the front door lock a little after eleven, both dogs came up to me, whining.

“Shhh. Don’t wake Lucy,” I whispered, giving them pats and toeing off my shoes.

I rounded the corner into the living room and saw Patrick sitting up, awake, beside a tearful Lucy.

He glanced over and smiled. “She had a nightmare.”

“Oh, Dad!” Lucy said and jumped up to throw her arms around me.

Patrick gave me a sympathetic look as the guilt of not being here when Lucy needed me hit hard.

I hugged her close. “Are you okay?”

Lucy shook her head and started crying. “No.”

Patrick got up off the sofa and went into the kitchen, giving us some space.

“Was it about Papa?” Lucy had called Daniel ‘Papa’ and me ‘Daddy’. Now she called me Dad, because she ‘wasn’t a baby anymore’.

She nodded. “Yeah.”

“Oh, honey,” I said, squeezing her. “That’s hard.”

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