Page 41 of Falling for the Single Daddy

“Sloane’s got something stuck in her craw when it comes to Callie, Gray. She’s not going to quit while she’s living withherdaughter. She’ll come for custody.”

“Yeah, and maybe she’ll get it… and then what? What happens when she gets bored and decides, instead of suddenly wanting to be a novelist, that she wants to travel the world, huh? She can’t play with Emery’s head like that. Last night, she barely evenlookedat her daughter.”

“Then get rid of Callie,” Wes says. “She’ll lose interest then.”

“Listen to yourself. You refuse to admit that Sloane’s manipulative, but what is this if it’s not manipulation?”

“She’s my sister,” he snaps.

“And that makes it all okay?” I demand. “It means she can do any damn thing she wants, behave however she wants? But, because you’re related, I just have to accept it? She’s being selfish. She’s being a terrible mother, starting this pointless feud with Callie. EmerylovesCallie, and Sloane hates that because she never made an effort with Emery. It’s grotesque. Your sister’s a fucked up.”

I stop when I realize I’ve raised my voice and that people at the adjacent tables are looking at us. Wes leans back in his chair,looking shocked, as if my words have physically pushed him. “Jesus, Gray.”

There’s a long pause. He doesn’t need to say anything else. I never lose my cool like that. But lately, I’m starting to think that’s because I’ve buried my feelings. I never let myself feel the rage I should have at what Sloane did. I never let myself experience resentment toward Wes for always excusing his sister’s behavior. I never let myself feel a damn thing before Callie came along.

“She’s changed you,” Wes says.

I can’t deny it. “For the better. I’m not a zombie anymore.”

“You have to understand how difficult this is going to make things. If you don’t get rid of her, Sloane won’t quit.”

“Yeah, she won’t quit manipulating… which you seem determined to deny is something she does.”

We’ve clearly reached an impasse. We’re going in circles. I don’t feel good about anything that’s just happened. If Wes’s expression is anything to go by, he doesn’t, either.

“I’m not saying it’s easy,” he murmurs after another pause. “I know this situation is seriously messed up. I’d never deny that. But I have to be practical. I have to try to walk a fine line between you both or let both of you go. After what happened…”

I know he’s referring to the betrayal. Something snaps in me again. “I was almost blackout drunk. She was stone-cold sober.”

“What are you saying?”

“Just that—just the facts. I hated myself for it afterward. I wanted to pretend it never happened. But then Emery came along, and I could never pretendshedidn’t matter.”

“No, of course not. I love her. She’s the cutest, most wonderful kid you ever could’ve asked for, Gray. I’d never dispute that.”

“I know.” I sigh. “Listen, Wes, I don’t want to fight with you. I’ve never wanted that. But I don’t think I can give you what you want when it comes to Callie.”

“Don’t you get it? This was never about whatIwanted. This was never about me, full stop. This was always about you and Emery. I wanted to protect you.”

“Callie’s not a gold digger. She’s a good woman who’s drawn some shitty straws in life, and she’s trying to make the best of it.”

“That doesn’t matter anymore,” he says. “It’s about whatSloanethinks now. Maybe you’re right. Maybe Sloane is manipulating you. But if it’s a choice between giving her what she wants and keeping Emery or fighting her and maybe losing your daughter, what will you choose?”

Chapter Twenty

Callie

“That lady sounds nuts, Callie,” Katerina says on speakerphone as I busy myself in the kitchen, making Emery a snack. “What was she thinking bringing Jorge? That is a very sick-in-the-head woman if you ask me.”

“I know, right?” I reply. “It’s like she hates me for doing my job. And, maybe, for being close to Gray. But seriously, Kat, from what Gray told me, she seems even crazier. I can’t share the specifics, obviously, but it’s just wrong.”

I didn’t want to tell Gray what I thought with such harsh language, butjust wrongdoesn’t even come close to my opinion of what she did to him. No matter how much I try to remind myself to stay away, I keep getting drawn in. Physically and emotionally.

Ending the phone call, I bring Emery a sandwich. She’s sitting in front of the TV, watching a nature documentary. She’s a constant source of amazement to me. Sometimes, with the twins, I’d have almost to wrestle them away from cartoons or some other mind-numbing show. But shechosea documentary. As I sit beside her, I almost wish I could turn back time and switch off my desire.

If I commit to this feeling and throw myself into a relationship with Gray, it has to last forever. Or, at least, until Emery is grown up and out of the house. I refuse to make her attached to me, to be the mommy she never had, only to bring it crashing down and shatter her heart. After my own mom chose those people over me, I simply willnotdo that.

“C-A-L-L-I-E,” Emery murmurs.

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