Page 37 of My Best Bet

This specific mental block was worse than ever because I finally stood face-to-face with her again– andthatwas Hans’ fault. But the fact that deep down, my body still wanted her even after a decade apart… Yeah, that was my fault.

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When Monday morning finally rolled around, my body hummed with anticipation because I couldn’t wait to confront Hans, but I had to lock down those emotions and make sure Lucy was ready for school first.

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as she bounded down the stairs wearing her school uniform and holding a brush and two ponytails.

“Pancakes?” I offered.

Still only half-awake, she nodded and dragged a chair over to the counter where I’d already prepped the mix. I knew she loved helping me make them, so I always waited for her.

While she carefully poured the mix on the griddle and plopped the chocolate chips in the pancakes, I stole the brush and ponytails.

“Braids or just ponies today?” I asked her.

“Hmm… braids,” she decided.

Damnit.That was harder. Holding the ponytails between my lips, I got to work braiding the top of her hair ‘til I could end it in little ponies.

By the time the first batch of pancakes were flipped and finished, she screamed at the top of her lungs, “Kappy! Pancakes!”

Like many nights, Kappy had slept over in the living room. If he wasn’t here, he was at JP’s. I was starting to suspect he didn’t even have a place of his own anymore.

A minute later, Kap shuffled into the kitchen rubbing his face, his hair sticking up at odd angles.

“Get the orange juice out, Richard,” Lucy ordered. “You need some vitamin C so you don’t get sick again.”

I had to bite back a chuckle because I loved when she ordered him around. “Yes, you don’t want to get sick again, do you?”

He shot me a humorless look as he shuffled over to the fridge.

It wasn’t until we were all sitting around the kitchen table, peacefully eating our pancakes, that Lucy dropped the bomb on me.

“Do I get to go skating after school again today?” she asked, clasping her hands together in hope.

I paused mid-bite.

“Yeah, does she?” Kappy asked, grinning.

“I don’t know, honey.” I dropped my fork because my appetite vanished.

Her nose scrunched. “But… But you get to go skating today. Why can’t I go skating, too?”

Kappy crossed his arms over his chest and cocked his head to the side. “Yeah, I’m team Lu. That doesn’t seem fair to me.”

I ran my tongue over my teeth trying to reign in my annoyance with him, then focused back on Lucy. “We might try out a different rink this week, what do you think?”

“But why? Ilikeskating on the same ice as you, Daddy.”

I dropped my head. How did I argue with that?

“We should try out a different coach, just to make sure you get the right one,” I said.

“But IlikeCoach Mer. She was reallyreallynice.” She pouted her bottom lip out.

“Yeah, she’s reallyreallynice,” Kappy repeated.

I shot him a glare.

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