Page 44 of Never Let You Go

I know my worth, and I know I’m one of the best bakers in Vermont, and probably the whole Northeast. But, until now, I didn’t feel the need to prove it to anyone.

Grace is silent, smiling. Enjoying the show of her cousin’s demise.

Even I’m enjoying feeling myself fall for Alexandra’s trap. What’s not to enjoy? Look at her face. Wonderment. I did that.

The silence is stretching between the adults, until Skye shrieks and pulls out the bean from her mouth. “I’m the queen! I’m the queen! Where’s the crown?”

Thank god for kids. It was getting awkward.

We cheer and applaud. I get the golden paper crown from the console, tie it around her head, and hand her the second crown.

She comes down ceremoniously from her chair and crowns me. “You’re my king, Daddy” she says, hugging me tenderly, burrowing her head in my neck. Making my heart beat faster.

I kiss her head and hug her tight. As I lift my eyes, I see Alexandra snapping a photo of us, and I mouth “thank you” to her for giving me this moment with my daughter. My eyes are trained on Alexandra, my arms latched onto Skye, and that damn fluttering radiating from my stomach just gets worse.

It’s fucking scary.

After dinner, Skye demands that Alexandra tucks her in. “I’m the queen tonight.” She kisses me and Grace good night.

“All right, Your Majesty. Shall we?” Alexandra takes her hand.

I watch them leave the room, my heart hurting at the perfect image. “Teeth, face, ha—”

“Hands and nails,” Skye continues.

Grace finishes clearing the table while I start on dishes. “When are you getting a dishwasher?” she asks for the millionth time.

“I don’t need one. It’s just the two of us.”

I expect her to comment on that, but she doesn’t. For a few minutes, we work in silence. “Hey, could you babysit Skye for me, a week from tomorrow?” I ask her.

She smirks, a twinkle in her eye. “You’re taking Alex out?”

“No.”

“Oo-kay? Just asking.”

“Just saying. I’m not taking Alexandra out. I’m her boss.”

“I see. You’re pretending this is a work thing, but you’re taking her out. That’s cute.”

“I’m not taking Alexandra out. Why would I do that?”

“You guys have been eye-fucking all evening.”

“We have not.”

“Chris, it’s fine. You deserve some fun. You’re not taking anything from Skye by having an adult life outside of work.”

“I need to go over my financials with Emma.” Emma is not only Caroline’s mom. She’s also the only CPA in town.

I see her a lot. Too much, if you ask me.

“Oh, right.” She hands me the stack of dried plates. “Why do you need a babysitter? Don’t you normally bring Skye so she can play with Caroline?”

I asked myself the same question. That’s been the MO between us. Single parents and all. We bring our kids to work meetings. “I guess she wants to meet at the office? I dunno. She asked if I needed her babysitter.”

“Huh.” Grace shrugs. “Sure. You know I love taking care of Skye. And I’ll get to spend more time with your ‘apprentice,’” she adds, air-quoting the word with her fingers.

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