Page 29 of Unwrapping Romance

“Four.” She held up four fingers.

“Wow. You’re a big girl.” I smiled. “Who’s this?” I pointed to her doll.

“My baby.”

“She’s cute. Does she have a name?”

“Marissa. I’m hungry.”

Shit. What did kids eat? I knew nothing about children.

“Come on. Let’s go into the kitchen and find something.” I held out my hand and helped her from the couch. “Do you like apples?”

She looked up at me and nodded. I picked her up and set her on the stool at the island. Taking an apple from the refrigerator, I ran it under cold water, dried it, and handed it to her. She stared at it.

“I eat it cut up,” she said.

“Oh. Okay.” I took the apple from her, pulled out a knife, and cut it into slices. “Do you like peanut butter?”

“Yes.”

I opened the pantry, pulled out the peanut butter jar, and put some on the plate next to the apple slices. Grabbing my phone, I called Jack. He declined the call, so I called again. I knew he was in a meeting, but I didn’t care. After three declined phone calls, he finally answered on the fourth.

“Sierra, I’m in a meeting!” he spoke authoritatively.

“I know, Jack. But?—”

“No buts. Whatever it is can wait until I return to the office.” He ended the call.

I stared at the four-year-old child dipping her apple slices into the peanut butter. She looked just like Jack but had blonde hair. They had the same blue eyes and nose. There was no denying she was his daughter—no denying it at all.

“Do you know where your mommy went?” I asked her.

She shook her head, biting into her apple. I needed a drink, so I grabbed a bottle of wine and poured some into a glass. I didn’t care if I was on work hours. This situation warranted a drink.

After Elianna finished her apple, I took her into the living room. I didn’t know what to do with her. Did I take her back to the office with me? Or did I wait for Jack to call me when he returned to the office and didn’t see me at my desk?

“Can I color?” Elianna asked, pointing to her pink backpack with the white kitty on it.

I picked up the bag and found it filled with coloring books and crayons. There was also an envelope with Jack’s name written across it. A bad feeling washed over me as I stared at it.

“Come on, Elianna. Let’s go sit at the table, and you can color.”

I took the coloring books and crayons from her backpack and spread them on the table. She took one of the books, opened it to a page, and began coloring. My phone rang. Grabbing it, I saw it was Jack.

“Hello.”

“Where the hell are you? There is no way you’re still running errands.”

“I tried to call you and explain but you didn’t want to listen and hung up on me.”

“I was in a meeting!” He loudly voiced.

“Well, you have a situation here at the house,” I said.

“What kind of situation?”

“I think you better come home and see for yourself.”

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