Page 22 of Unbreakable Love

“Yeah, kiddo. Think she got the flu.” He bopped his daughter on the nose. “You wouldn’t happen to know who brings all those little kid germs around her, would you?”

“It has to be Landon,” she said, with all seriousness on her face. “Cuz I’m not a little kid.”

“Of course,” Gavin muttered.

I rolled my lips together to keep from laughing.

Gavin glanced at me, a twinkle of humor in his eye. “Thanks again, Miss Pesco.”

I opened my mouth to tell him Penny but didn’t. We were on school property after all. And I wasn’t sure he’d called me by my first name yet.

“Anytime.”

“Hopefully, it doesn’t happen again.”

Accidents happened, but Gavin seemed more upset than most about the screwup. I didn’t suspect an offer to help if this happened again would go over well. He didn’t seem like the kind of man who liked admitting he might need it. “Have a good night, you two.”

Gavin opened the back passenger door to his truck, and I turned away and headed back into the school.

I didn’t need the thank you for helping his daughter. It was my job.

And yet somehow, I couldn’t forget the way he looked at me, so serious, like his mistake was monumental instead of normal.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it all the way home, or while I ate dinner, and it was then I realized the pressure the man probably felt on his shoulders, all day, every day, raising his daughter as such a young father with the pressure of his family name, and who he was known to all.

It made sense he hated screwing up, but that didn’t mean he had to keep going at it alone, either.

SEVEN

GAVIN

What an impossibly long and frustrating day. Not only did we learn that our main supplier for roofing shingles was running at a shortage, meaning the roofs weren’t going to be finished on our projected deadline, but the weather was now forecasting a storm later this week. When George Harris, my crew’s lead, came to me bitching about the shingles and roofing issue, I hadn’t been able to get away from him in order to get Josie on time.

Letting my daughter down or making her worry always made me feel like a shitty parent. Logistically, I knew I couldn’t do it all. I knew I’d drop a ball I was juggling in the air at some point. That was why I relied so heavily on my parents even though I felt like I should be able to handle life on my own.

But being over a half an hour late? That was inexcusable. I’d seen her as I whipped into the parking lot, sitting next to Penny. She might have been talking, but she wasn’t happy and I’d done that to her. My lateness affected her, and I didn’t miss the concern, or maybe pity, Penny wore either when I apologized.

How many times was I going to have to apologize to the woman in the first week of knowing her? Considering I’d expected to be able to eat dinner at my parents, or at least have Josie eat there, I hadn’t planned anything for dinner either, so we were stuck eating Sunday’s leftovers I’d brought home after another afternoon spent watching Cameron play ball. Last night had been a late one, too. Caleb also had a televised game, so we’d stayed and watched both. During it, my mom had seemed tired, but not sick, so I hadn’t expected she’d call today and tell me she couldn’t watch Josie due to a fever and sore throat.

Which meant she couldn’t watch her for the next few days either. With snow coming soon, only a few inches predicted but anything could happen, I needed to be on the jobsite, ensuring the homes were protected as much as possible. And now, I’d be on pick-up duty, at least until my mom was feeling better.

“Hey, Daddy?”

“Yes, munchkin?”

“I’ve been thinking.” She dunked a cucumber slice in far too much ranch dressing and licked off the extra before setting it back down.

Josie did a lot of thinking. A lot of planning. Her request could be anything from getting a dog now that she’d fallen in love with Goldie or wondering if it’d be possible to someday live on the moon.

“Okay… what is it?”

“Do you think if Miss Pesco is alone on Thanksgiving, she could come have dinner with us?”

I would have rather she’d asked me for a dog. “I don’t know, munchkin. She probably has her own family to see.”

“Did you know she doesn’t have a dad, like I don’t have a mom?”

She had a mom. She was just a shitty one. And as far as Penny not having a dad… “How do you know she doesn’t have a dad?”

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