Page 56 of Take My Hand

Grinning, she held out her hand. “Take my hand, Daddy.”

I smiled, hearing the words that I’d said to her since she was a little girl, and placed my large, calloused one in her small, smooth one. I loved that now she was older she knew that sometimes I needed to hear it too.

“I know it’s scary, William, but we all have to grow up.”

I narrowed my eyes on her. “You’re a little turd.”

Giggling, she reached up and kissed my cheek. “So, when do I get to meet her?”

“I don’t know, but soon. I hope.” I thought back to my afternoon with Maya. I wanted more of it. More afternoons spent laughing and flirting with each other.

“You’d better call her then, hadn’t you.”

“Are you sure?”

Sighing, she rolled her eyes. “Yes, Dad. I’m sure.”

The relief rolled through every muscle in my body, like I’d been given a sedative. The realisation at how tense I’d been feeling, waiting for Maddy’s reaction, made me blink.

“You okay?”

Stirring myself, I turned back to my daughter. Her expressive eyes showed concern as they grazed over my face, searching for whatever it was that she thought was bothering me.

“She’s not pressurising you into meeting me, is she?”

“No, honestly, Mads, I’m fine.” I leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “It’s just a big thing, you know. Introducing a woman that I actually like to you.”

“As opposed to…”

“A woman who begs to meet you because she thinks I’ll like her more.”

“Maya isn’t like that?”

I shook my head. “Nope. She’s nothing like any other woman I’ve ever dated.”

Maddy burst out laughing. “Dad, you don’t date. You have one night stands that last a couple of weeks.”

She wasn’t wrong. It didn’t mean that I wanted to admit it, though. “Whatever, Madeline. Now, get to bed.” I smiled, just so she knew I wasn’t being serious, but also didn’t want to talk about it any longer.

Yawning, she stood up and gave me one last hug. “Night, Dad. And ring her.” She raised both her eyebrows—eyebrows that I had paid a stupid amount of money for her birthday.

“I will. I’ll call her now.”

That earned me a kiss on my cheek, and as she disappeared, I grabbed my phone and called Maya.

Maya’s Diary Entry

Panic over, he called me at about half ten. He was waiting for Maddy’s boyfriend to leave so he could speak to her.

I’m going over there and he’s going to call me tomorrow to finalise the details!

There’s something about him that makes me feel like this could be going somewhere. Like maybe he could be the one who treats me properly. The one who I could have a future with. Is that stupid? One meeting and a phone call?? I’m an idiot. I can’t rush this. I can’t make it more than it is. I’ve been excited about a relationship before, and it turned to crap, so I need to stop getting ahead of myself on this one.

Chapter Twenty-One

Maddy

The last thing that I expected to see, as I walked towards the school gate, was Zak. He stood out amongst the hordes of kids milling around. Our sixth form didn’t insist on us wearing school uniform like a lot did, but even if he had been dressed in grey trousers and jumper with a white shirt and burgundy tie, I’d have spotted him anywhere.

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