Page 37 of Dark As Coal

Only two days later as I sat at a corner bistro with my girls and saw the love in Pipe’s eyes as he sat at a different table, keeping an eye on the situation, and making sure she stayed safe, I found myself wanting to take that statement and obliterate it from my brain.

Because I missed him.

I missed every part of him.

I missed the way his eyes would crinkle first thing in the morning.

I missed the way I could be washing dishes, and he would wrap his arms around me from behind, take the dishrag from my hand, and tell me to go sit my ass down.

Or how the way he would walk into the house while I was making dinner and dancing, and just stand there, leaning up against the wall, and watch me.

The moment I felt tears hitting my eyes, I shook my head and then started listening to Sutton talking about this dress she found when someone caught my attention.

“Miss Adeline!” I heard and then looked to where I heard that voice and found a smile hit my face.

Standing, I opened my arms just in time to hug her to my legs, “Hey there, superstar.”

“Hey, guess what?”

I quirked a brow at her, “What?”

“Tomorrow is my birthday and Daddy is letting me get my nails did,” her happy nature was just so infectious.

“Really? That’s awesome!” And since we weren’t in school, I wasn’t going to correct her wording.

“Miss Adeline,” I heard Mr. Grant say.

I looked up from Olivia’s smiling face and smiled, “How are you, Mr. Grant.”

The man was gorgeous in that rugged lumberjack kind of way, but he didn’t make my heart go pitter-patter, “Call me Hank, please. Mr. Grant is my father.”

I nodded, “Okay, but just know that on school grounds, you’ll always be, Mr. Grant.”

“Introduce us?” I looked over my head at the girls and nodded.

“Olivia, Hank, these are my friends, Sutton, Gabby, Lizette, Stella, and Chloe.”

I looked at my girls, then gestured at Olivia and Hank, “Girls, this is one of my students and her dad.”

Once the girls fully met him, he stepped closer to me and asked, “So, gotta know. That complication you were speaking about. Is it still a complication?”

Before I could open my mouth, I felt someone wrap their arm around my waist, and when I inhaled, I knew it was Gabby, “Why are you asking her that?”

“Because I would love to ask a beautiful woman out to dinner. The first beautiful woman my eyes have landed on in more than a fucking decade.”

“Umm… I’m not sure,” I said.

But it was Gabby who smiled, “You let us know and we will help her get ready.”

I looked at her and narrowed my eyes, she leaned into me and whispered words that caused my heart to drop, “That man needs a wake-up call.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, “And what if that wake-up call ends with this girl losing her daddy?”

“It won’t. He won’t. Because it will hurt you. I know he hurt you, honey, but that man is head over fucking boots for you.” Gabby said.

Adeline hadn’t seen the state of Coal. She didn’t know that Pipe had trailed Coal for the past two weeks, three days, and fifteen hours. And wherever Adeline went, so did Coal.

And his bed roll on her front porch was the place he called home once he made sure Adeline was tucked safely in her house each night.

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