Page 46 of (Un)Spoken

“You got it, baby,” Victoria said, moving over to her side. “Why don’t I take them and put them in a vase, and then we can put them in there later?”

As Victoria worked in the kitchen, Emilia tugged on my hand. “Mommy said you’re going to take us to a real a-chad.”

“Orchard, hunny,” Victoria corrected.

“Orchard,” Emilia said, focusing on the word as if it offended her. “And we get to pick all the apples?”

“I don’t know about all of them,” I chuckled. “But we’ll have to work hard if we want to get a lot of apples. Know anyone good at climbing trees?”

“I can do it,” she whispered. “I’m the best climber back home. Daddy said so.”

“That’s a big claim.” I smiled at her. “Hope you’re ready to prove it.”

She nodded with fierce determination. From that nod alone, I had a feeling the world would never be ready for Emilia.

“You know,” Victoria said, lowering down to fix her daughter’s hair, “maybe if we get enough, we can show Adam that apple pie recipe Grammie taught us. The one with the good crust?”

Her eyes widened in delight. “And make that caramel sauce to go on top?” Tori nodded. Emilia looked up at me. “Let’s do this.”

TWENTY-SEVEN

“Mommy, look at it!”

Emilia danced in her seat as she looked down at the apple cider donut sundae, unsure where even to begin. The plate was the size of her head, with a giant, fresh cider donut on the bottom and two giant scoops of homemade vanilla ice cream on top, drizzled with caramel and an apple pie filling. It was probably more sugar than I should have allowed, but it was a once-in-a-season kind of treat, so I couldn’t bring myself to say no. It didn’t help that both Emilia and Adam gave me their best pouty faces when they asked if she could have it, Adam already agreeing to help her if she had trouble finishing it.

In truth, nothing could kill the happy glow inside me right now. I’d been excited to spend more time with Adam, but I was also nervous about having him around Emilia. He was a great guy, but it was still nerve-wracking bringing my worlds together. There was no question in my mind—Emilia trumped everyone else. If she didn’t like him or was uncomfortable around him, there would be no future for us.She was my whole heart, and I would never risk her happiness for my own.

Luckily, that was far from the case. I couldn’t believe it when we got into the car, finding it ready for Emilia. He’d even picked up a booster seat, the same one Cole had got for his truck.

It only got better when we got to the orchard just after lunchtime. The early fall weather was perfect—just cool enough for long sleeves, but the sun provided a little extra warmth. We’d wandered the rows of trees for hours, filling up our bags as we went. Adam never complained, not even after Emilia climbed onto his shoulders for the fifth time. They got along like two peas in a pod, chatting away excitedly all afternoon. But nothing could top when we finished picking apples and Adam took Emilia over to the petting zoo.

“Are you sure about this?” I asked him, peering down at the different animals. “I can take her through if you want a break.”

“No way,” he chuckled, squeezing Emilia’s hand. “I’ve been looking forward to this all day. Go rest for a couple of minutes.” He leaned in toward my ear, lowering his voice so only I could hear him. “You’re going to need it later.”

I chewed on my lower lip as they walked away, letting my smile fully bloom. Watching them together, feeding the different goats, soothed something inside of me. Don’t get me wrong, Cam was a devoted dad. He spent every free minute with Emilia. They had the kind of relationship I could have only hoped for them to have. But the day-to-day stuff? That was almost always on my shoulders. It was a lot of pressure trying to keep my daughter alive, happy, and entertained all the time, and my heart broke every time I thought I was failing her. Having Adam lighten my load fora few minutes meant a lot to me, and I took the opportunity to breathe fully.

“Mommy!” Emilia called out with a wide smile on her face. “Look! He’s tickling my hand.”

I moved over to the fence, chuckling as I watched the different goats come up to Emilia. Her palms were filled with pellets as Adam held a full cup, clearly suckered into paying the overpriced fee for the animal feed. As the goats followed her around, Emilia let out a loud chuckle and climbed into Adam’s lap. “Save me,” she laughed, “They’re trying to gobble me up!”

Adam lifted her up, tossing the rest of the food deeper into the pen. “I got you, kiddo. Just hold on tight.”

His eyes met mine, and he winked, making my insides turn to mush. All I could do was mouth, “Thank you”, but the simple sentiment would never be enough to convey how much I would treasure this moment forever.

My heart filled as I watched them move on to the other animals, snapping pictures on my phone as they went. Emilia giggled the entire time, loving how Adam made up voices for each of the animals.

At the end of their allotted time, when they had to say goodbye to the animals, Emilia wrapped her little arms around Adam. When she asked him to carry her and he eagerly obliged, my heart stalled in my chest. He carried her to each animal one last time, letting her whisper soft goodbyes into their fur and feathers. As she snuggled against his chest, he looked over and grinned at me, and I swear, I almost melted on the spot.

I’d seen many sides of Adam: the sexy, the confident, and the downright swoon-worthy. But this version? The one where he cradled my daughter as if she was his own? He was everything.

“So, which animal did you like the most?” Adam asked, pulling me back into the present. Emilia’s spoon paused in the air, bits of ice cream sliding onto the table as she pondered his question.

“Definitely the bunny,” she said. “I wanted one, but my mommy said they need room to run around.”

“Is that your favorite animal?” he asked.

“Nope,” she mumbled as she shoved her whole spoon into her mouth. “I like ponies. ‘Specially the ones that let you braid their hair.” She peeked up at him. “What about you?”

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