Page 32 of I Won't Be In On Monday

“It's okay," I say, cutting him off.I’m touched he realizes that he may be overstepping the boundaries of our professional relationship. "I'll come and make the eggs and soldiers so that you know how to make it for Canyon next week."

"Thank you, Juniper. You're the best assistant ever," Canyon says, and I grin.

"You hear that, Remington? I think she's saying you need to give me a raise."

"Didn't I already promise you a bonus? Doesn’t that count as a raise?” He winks, and then I laugh loudly as I pretend to throw money up into the air. He laughs, too, and I’m happy that the mood has shifted to one of happiness and joy. I’d been close to tears earlier, and I certainly didn't want to start crying in front of them.

"Come on," I say, grabbing Canyon's hand. "Let's go back to your dad's place, make breakfast, and then maybe we'll even get him to take us shopping so we can get you some stuff for your room."

Remington stares at me in surprise. "Oh, you'd come with us?”

“I mean, I am giving you my day now." I grin. "Sure, I'll help. I want to make sure that Canyon gets a princess room."I will have to speak to my dad and hope he’s not let down too much.

She squeals.

“Well, if that's what you want."

"I'd love a princess room," she says, nodding. "Or a spy room." She wrinkles her nose as she looks at her dad. "But I'm not a boy. I don't want Spider-Man or Batman or anything."

"Okay," he says, shrugging. “I was just asking if you wanted to watch the movie. And maybe get a Batmobile bed.”

She grins as she looks up at me. "He's funny."

"You know what? He is funny, but he's your dad, and he loves you."

Her eyes widen slightly. "You think so?" she says softly, and my heart breaks because maybe a part of her doubts how much her father loves her, and that is understandable. I hope she understands that he has never rejected her. He just didn’t know about her existence at all. I beam at her. "I am almost positive that he loves you more than anything in the world. Right, Remington?”

He looks at me with wide eyes and nods slowly. "Yep," he says, and that's when I realize that maybe love is a word that Remington doesn't use easily. He looks uncomfortable at the conversation. Maybe that's why he's constantly going out with different women. Maybe he's incapable of feeling love, or he’s scared of it. That’s something for me to ponder. I wonder why he would be scared, though. From all accounts, his parents are still married, and from what I can tell, based on all the phone calls, they both dote on him. But maybe I can do some prying and some research and see what I can find out. Because if Remington Parker is scared of love, I want to know why.

Chapter Ten

Remington

Canyon’s giggles carry throughout my apartment as she and Juniper make a mess while cooking breakfast in my normally immaculate kitchen. I am grateful that Juniper has saved my ass yet again and that she’s not carrying over any resentment from what had angered her the day before.

This is the second day in a row that Juniper has been in my apartment, and I kind of like it, even though I'm not gonna question why. I think my life has already been through way too much volatility in the last couple of days.

"Daddy, come look!” Canyon squeals in delight, and I jump up and rush into the kitchen to see what has her so excited.

"What's going on?" I stop next to her. "You haven't burned down my house, have you?” I tease her, and she giggles loudly.

"No, Daddy. Look, we cut the toast into soldiers, and I'm gonna dunk it into my egg," she says, beaming up at me, her eyes shining. "Do you want some?"

"Umm, I actually…” I pause as I look at Juniper, who gives her head a slight shake, telling me to just go along with whateverCanyon is asking. "Sure, I would love some eggs and soldiers, or whatever you call it," I say quickly. "Is there an egg ready for me?"

"You can have mine, and then we'll make two more,” Canyon says, walking over to Juniper and looking up at her. "Thank you for making them for me, Ms. Juniper.”

I stare at my daughter, who is being awfully polite this morning, and my heart surges with love for her. It's weird to love someone I didn't even know existed a couple of days ago. Well, that isn't exactly true. I knew she existed a couple of weeks ago, but I hadn't claimed her as my own until the DNA tests had given me the cold, hard truth.

It made me feel weird to know that I hadn't even realized that somewhere out there in the universe was a child who shared my DNA. My child. I swallow hard as I gaze down at her. I didn’t think I could feel a connection like this to anyone, and certainly not so quickly.

When she said she loved me, I froze. She loved me purely, like only a child could do, and I felt guilty about not saying the words back to her. I’m not sure that she'd noticed, but I saw the look on Juniper's face, wondering why I didn’t say anything back. She didn’t say anything, though. She was far too intuitive.

I haven't said I love you in decades. The words are foreign to me. I’m not the sort of man who tells women I love them just to win them over. I’m not a douche. In fact, the only people I have ever said I love you to are my mom, dad, and grandparents. And that is only after they tell me. It isn’t something I volunteer.

"Hey, so the new soft-boiled eggs will take about six minutes," Juniper says as she gazes at me. She brushes some loose tendrils of hair away from her face. "Is that okay?"

"Sounds perfect," I say and nod. "Who wants a breakfast smoothie?" I ask as I head over to the fridge.

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