Page 54 of Unwrapping Romance

“I’m not being ridiculous!” Her voice raised. “Don’t. Don’t you dare do that!” She pointed at me, and I had no idea what was happening.

“Don’t do what?” I asked.

“Dismiss that little girl’s feelings!” she shouted.

“I’m not dismissing anything. She’ll be fine with Gretchen. She knows we’ll be back after dinner.”

“No, she doesn’t know that! All she hears is that she’s being left with someone else while we go out. Her mind is a mess right now because the wheels are spinning, and she’s wondering if she’ll ever see us again!”

“I didn’t know you were a fucking child psychologist!” I shouted. “You can’t have a clue as to what Elianna is thinking. If you don’t want to go to dinner with me, say so! Stop using Ellie as an excuse.” I slammed my glass on the bar.

“That’s not it,” she shouted. “I know what she’s feeling!” Tears started streaming down her face. “I know because I lived it!” she screamed and dropped to her knees, covering her face with her hands and sobbing.

“Sierra?” My voice softened. Walking over to her, I got down on the ground, wrapped my arms around her, and held her against me. “What are you talking about?”

“Just cancel the dinner reservations, Jack. Please.”

“Of course. We’ll stay in, but you’re going to tell me what happened to you.”

I stood up, pulled my phone from my pocket, and called Gretchen to cancel. Then, I called the restaurant and canceled our dinner reservations.

“Thank you.” She looked up at me. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.” I wrapped my arms around her. “We’ll order in and then have a serious conversation after Ellie goes to bed. Okay?”

She nodded as I wiped the tears from her face. I looked over and saw Ellie standing there.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing, sweetheart. We just decided we’re not going out tonight,” I said.

“You’re not?” The smile on her face told me everything.

Sierra was right all along.

“Why are you crying?” Ellie walked over to Sierra and placed her hands on each side of her face.

“These are happy tears.” Sierra smiled. “I’m just really happy we’re not going out tonight and get to stay home with you.”

We ordered Chinese food, and as we sat at the table, eating, I couldn’t help but stare at Sierra. The way she broke down frightened me, and I never wanted to see her like that again. In time, I’d find out what happened to her. After we ate, Sierra asked Ellie if she wanted to hear me play the piano.

“Do you want to hear your dad play the piano?”

“Yeah!” Ellie’s face lit up.

“You know, I’m really not that good,” I said.

“You’re lying.” Sierra smiled. “Play something for us.”

“Yeah, Daddy!” Ellie jumped up and down.

“Okay. I’ll tell you what. You go take a bath first and get into your pajamas, and then I’ll play for you.”

“Okay!” Ellie ran up the stairs.

“Why would you do that?” I asked Sierra.

“Because I haven’t heard you play yet, and I want to. Thank you.” She kissed my cheek and went up the stairs.

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