Page 31 of Unbreakable Love

Thank you. That’d be nice of you.

It’s not a problem.

Right. No problem at all.

I finished the school day, counting down the minutes until I’d see him to be able to determine if his text was true, and sure enough, at the end of the day, Gavin’s truck was sitting outside, parked in the small teachers’ lot instead of the car-rider pick-up.

I had my large tote bag slung over my shoulder, my lunch bag and computer laptop in my other hand. Josie took off running to her dad’s truck, leaving me laughing as she called out behind her, “Come on, Miss Pesco! My dad’s here!”

Her backpack bounced on her shoulders and all over her body as she ran, but thankfully, due to the length of her little legs, she wasn’t that far ahead of me, so she was still climbing up in the back seat of her dad’s truck and into her booster seat when I reached the truck.

“I’ve got your door,” I told her and closed it before I opened mine and threw my bags in first.

“Thanks!” she cried out and bounced in her seat while I got situated.

“You girls have a good day?” Gavin asked. He barely spared me a glance before grinning at his daughter in the rearview mirror.

“Yes! I even ended up getting to make a snowgirl at recess because Avery remembered her pants and boots! Isn’t that great!?”

“It is, munchkin. How’d you make a snowgirl?”

“Miss Pesco gave us yarn for her hair since we couldn’t use our gloves or anything. And she also gave us one of her carrots from lunch for the nose and everything!”

“That was nice.” He slid his gaze toward me with a soft smile, something I was sure if he knew he was doing, he’d erase in a second.

“It wasn’t a problem. It was fun watching them.”

“We tried to get her to join us, Daddy, but she didn’t have the right stuff.”

“Ahh.” Gavin chuckled and this time, when he glanced at me, his gaze stayed firmly on me. “Had to stay on the cement, did you?”

“Ordering some boots and better gloves is on my to-do list as soon as I get home.”

“I know!” Josie cried out. “We could make one tonight. And Daddy can help us because he’s bigger so he’s able to make the really big snowballs for the body! That’d be fun, wouldn’t it?”

“I don’t know?—”

“I don’t think?—”

We spoke at the same time. I turned back to Josie. “Maybe another time? Once my boots come in? It’s not like we don’t have all winter.”

“That’s fine.” Her nose scrunched up and her lips pushed out in a pout. “But I want to help you build your first snowman.”

“Or snowgirl?” Gavin asked.

“A snowman is the original,” she said matter-of-factly. “You have to get good at those first before you can make the girl ones. They take more work.”

“Oh, do they?” I asked and didn’t miss the shake of Gavin’s head like his daughter was equally outrageous and adorable.

Who could blame him? She was.

“Yep. Takes talent to make them because girls are special. Isn’t that right, Daddy? Girls are special and deserve extra love?”

Gavin choked. Maybe he cleared his throat. It was definitely a laugh he was hiding behind his fist before he peered into the rearview mirror again. “That’s right, Josie. Girls are special and need extra care.”

“See?” she said to me. “So we’ll start you with the boys because they’re simpler. But you have to pinky promise you’ll make one with me first, before anyone else.”

She shoved out her hand, pinky finger in the air.

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