Page 48 of Unbreakable Love

I loved my family. My parents’ home, and even the original home that was built on our land that Dalton now lived in, were the homes I grew up in. They were familiar, full of love, and every time I stepped foot onto the land that was ingrained deep into my soul and inhaled the scent of fresh air, cattle and horses and grass and dirt and everything else that came with farm animals, my blood pressure dropped exponentially.

This was my home. The place where I grew up, running free in the dirt and learning how to ride horses, barrel race, and rope calves before I could spell Mississippi or Antarctica. The place where I went from being a terrified teenager to a dad well before I had the maturity or mental capacity to handle it. I knew how lucky I was, too. Monica’s parents had reacted the exact opposite, and to this day, whenever they saw Josie and me out in public, they crossed the street and looked the other way. It used to piss me off. They had no idea what they were missing out on, but as Josie grew, I was thankful.

They were toxic, judgmental, and overly harsh people who would never be the kind of people who could appreciate Josie’s sunshine and sweetness.

Every time I walked through my parents’ doors, I relaxed. Tonight was like any other night, except with the addition of Ava—Cameron’s girlfriend, his best friend’s little sister, and the love of his life—and her best friend Lydia.

I was certain Lydia existed solely for the purpose of being the most wild and entertaining woman in any social setting. That her flamboyant personality irritated Dalton only made her better. He couldn’t handle never being able to predict her actions or the words that would come out of her mouth, and she found joy in pushing every single one of Dalton’s buttons.

Typical for my family, we were gathered to watch my brother Cameron play in an away game in New England. Also included was Emily and her son, Landon, my brother Caleb’s new wife. He was also on an away stretch of hockey games, so Emily, now pregnant, was spending the weekend at the farm.

The home was loud, boisterous, and the tables were filled with the best food east of the Rocky Mountains, courtesy of my own mom.

On any other night, I’d be fully invested in every conversation.

Tonight, I was still thinking of those text messages. Of the fact that I spent a half-hour after I got home last night pacing, wondering if Penny would really come over and get in my face and yell at me. The excitement I felt hoping she would. The fact I’d wanted that so much, I almost stomped over to her house to force it.

The disappointment that had hit when she never showed.

Or the fact that I’d gone to bed tense, frustrated, and harder than I could ever remember in my entire life. I woke up the same, distracted all day with wondering how she was doing at school, what kind of day she was having.

How it’d taken one conversation with Bryce to get me to start thinking this way wasn’t lost on me, and it wasn’t even that.

I’d been fighting these thoughts and desires since the night I met her, however briefly. I was finally done denying it.

“I want her to be my next mommy!”

Josie’s excited shout rang through the room, silencing it.

Oh no. This was not happening. This couldn’t be. Not after last Friday…

“Oh…” Ava said, where she was sitting on the couch. Her gaze flicked to me before she lowered her voice and said something to my daughter. My daughter who’d promised she wouldn’t do this.

Josie said something about how pretty she smelled and her dresses. I got lost for a moment in how pretty Penny was too that it took me a minute to respond, to realize my daughter was standing in the living room, all eyes and attention on her as she animatedly discussed her love for Miss Pesco.

I had to end this.

“Josephine!”

She turned to me with no shame whatsoever and grinned. “Yeah, Daddy?”

Damn, she made it hard to be mad or frustrated with her when she looked at me like that. I headed her way and held out my hand for her to take. “Let’s go get dessert.”

“Already!? The game hasn’t started, and I haven’t eaten my dinner.”

Ava busted out in a laugh. I couldn’t blame her. When Josie was this cute it was difficult not to join her, but I tried my hardest.

“Just this once,” I muttered. She took off toward the dining room. I skirted around the couch and toward the table, scowling at both Ava and Emily.

“I’m not sure a cookie is going to get her mind off that one,” Ava said, smiling up at me.

If only she knew the worst of it.

“Tell me about it.”

I found Josie in the dining room double-fisting two chocolate cupcakes with mountains of frosting on top. “One.” I pointed to the one that looked like it hadn’t been licked and then wiggled my fingers. “Give me that one.”

As I pulled off the paper liner, I kept my voice cool. “I thought we agreed you weren’t going to play matchmaker anymore?”

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