Page 50 of Forfeits

I sighed. “She’s asleep now.”

There was a long silence when all I could hear was Aiden’s soft breaths.

“Fletcher?”

“I should have been here,” I blurted.

“But…Patrick was there.”

“I should have been here.”

Silence again.

“Aiden, I had so much fun with you…at Molly’s. It was wonderful, and I definitely needed that, but…I think I need to take some time.”

More silence.

“All right. If that’s what you need, you can have it.”

He wasn’t angry—and for that I was grateful.

“You’re not mad?” I asked, my voice barely there.

“Why would I be mad?”

“I don’t know.”

“I’m sad. I’ll miss seeing you. Please call me if you change your mind.”

“Okay,” I said, knowing I wouldn’t. “Thanks.”

Lucy was my priority. She was the only thing I had left of Daniel, and I needed to keep her safe. If that meant sacrificing my own personal fulfillment, that was the way it had to be.

I took a deep breath. This was so hard. “Thank you for everything, Aiden.”

“You’re welcome, Fletcher. I—”

“Goodbye, Aiden.”

“Goodbye, then.”

After I ended the call, a wave of relief hit me. This was the right thing to do. This was what you had to do when you were a parent, especially a single parent. You had to make your child the number-one priority.

* * * *

“Lucy, you need to get ready faster. We’re going to be late!” I said, throwing some treats to the dogs. I’d let her have the day off school to attend a therapy appointment, and we were going to spend the afternoon together doing something fun.

“Almost ready!”

When Lucy came downstairs, she was wearing the strangest outfit I’d ever seen and the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

“Absolutely not. Go get changed.”

She leveled me a glare. “You can’t tell me what to do. It’s my body.”

Oh, here we go.

“Lucy. Go put on some unripped jeans.”

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