Page 17 of Second Chance Baby

I didn’t do much to take care of my own little girl, because once I’d ended things with Travis, I’d sensed he preferred to be a solo parent. Had I ever asked? No. Just made assumptions.

So, I’d simplylethim. He was so good with our daughter. He was a natural at parenting.

I was not. But maybe I could still learn.

Perhaps I wasn’t too late.

Hope was exactly why I was now parked in the very long line of cars in the circular driveway at St. Agnes. The trees around the grounds had turned out with their spectacular golds and reds with a sprinkling of orange. Leaves were already starting to fall, thanks to the windy day we were enjoying.

Kids streamed out of the double doors, their jackets a parade of colors as they rushed down the long flight of steps, giggling and yelling at each other. Some loaded onto busses and others scattered to find their parents in the pickup line. All of them living their carefree lives.

Had I ever been that innocent? That joyful? Right now, it sure didn’t feel as if I ever had.

Then I glimpsed Carrington, standing far too close to a taller dark-haired boy who kept shaking his over-long hair out of his face. Her face was tipped up to his and she was smiling at him in that way I knew all too well.

It hadn’t been that many years ago that I had looked the exact same way at her father.

And this afternoon too, as a matter of fact. I hadn’t seen the expression on my face, but I would’ve laid money on it.

Then the boy lifted a hand to her face, brushing her hair out of her eyes while she giggled. At once, I stopped observing and shot out of my car as if I was on a spring.

I slammed my door closed, and they separated as if I’d interrupted an intimate moment. Then Carrington did a double take. “Mom?” she questioned, forgetting all about the boy in her flight down the stairs right into my arms.

As if she belonged nowhere else.

My stomach went soft and liquid. “Oh, hi, baby.” I stroked a hand down her soft, wavy hair as my gaze swung over to the top of the steps where she’d just been standing with the guy moments before.

He’d already disappeared.

Typical male. Even when they were barely into double digits, they were all too similar.

She eased back from me, her beautiful blue eyes narrowing as she studied me. “I didn’t know you were coming to town, Mom.”

Was I imagining that slightly accusing tone? I had to be.

“It was a last-minute decision. A work thing,” I explained, easing back to grip her shoulders. “Did you get taller again since the last time I saw you?”

She rolled her eyes. “Well, duh. It’s been like months.” She added extra emphasis on the final word just in case I hadn’t grasped how very long we’d gone between visits this time. Then she angled her head. “Where’s Daddy?”

“Right here, princess.” His voice was like silk as he glided up to us and slid his arm between us to nudge her toward him.

Andawayfrom me. The gesture felt as abrupt as a slap.

Still, I made myself smile. The last thing I wanted was to upset our daughter. “Yeah, I thought maybe we could go to The Rusty Spoon? I always loved their milkshakes.”

Carrington glanced between us as if she was trying to figure out what exactly was going on. “All three of us?” She shoved her hair out of her face impatiently. “Like a normal family?”

Travis’s jaw audibly clicked as if he was trying to hold himself in line. That wasn’t what I’d meant at all. I’d hoped we couldspend an hour together just us, since normally, Travis wanted to supervise every visit. As if he thought he couldn’t trust me not to abscond with her at the first opportunity.

I frowned. What if it was exactly that? Was that even a possibility?

I had never known Travis to ever be any other way than effortlessly confident in every situation.

But perhaps I had to read between the lines.

“Sure.” I flashed him a smile that he did not return as if we just hadn’t been intimate a mere hour ago. “Do you still love their coffee shakes?”

“Yeah,” he said grudgingly. “Do you still like the strawberry banana?”

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