Page 59 of Sugar and Skulls

He sighs. “Jesse, I know you probably don’t see me as your dad yet. I want you to know that I see you as my little girl. You will always be my little girl. Please tell me how I can help you.”

“I can’t do this anymore,” I whisper.

“What can’t you do, hon?” He leans over me and brushes strands of hair that are stuck to my cheek from my tears.

“Anything.” I roll over to face him. “I’m so tired.”

“Let me take care of you…and Katie.”

“I have school and…”

He cuts me off. “I’m going to handle all of it. You just rest.” His hand lays against my cheek.

“Okay,” I whisper, giving in.

He stands to leave but I grab for his hand and pull him back down. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“What do you see when you look at me?”

“My beautiful, smart, baby girl.”

I offer him a small smile.

He shuts the light off, pausing at the door. “Goodnight, Jesse.”

“Goodnight, Dad.”

He places his forehead against the door jamb. “I’m going to do right by you. I’ll make everything right. I promise.”

Sleep doesn’t come easy to me. I toss and turn. Eventually I wander to the window. There are a few adults sitting around a fire by the lake, but it looks like everyone else is tucked away in their tents. I hope Katie is okay. What if she gets scared?

The door to my room opens and Raffe peeks his head in. When he sees I’m standing in front of the window he steps inside, closing the door behind him.

“I thought no one could enter my room,” I tease lightly.

He stands beside me, both of us looking down at the lake. “He sent me here.”

My head swivels towards him. He slowly turns to meet my eyes, he isn’t lying.

“I’m fine,” I say, getting back into bed. “You can report back that I’m in my bed safe and sound.”

He pulls the only chair in the room up towards the head of the bed and takes a seat, staring at me quietly.

“I’m not talking about tonight, Raffe,” I say, stubbornly crossing my arms over my chest.

“Good thing I didn’t come here to talk about that,” he says, giving me one of his panty melting smiles.

I roll my eyes. “Then why are you here?”

He leans over resting his forearms on his knees, his hands clasped in front of him. “Things are going to change and it’s going to happen fast.”

My fingers dig into the blanket. Raffe’s words sound ominous.

“When I was thirteen I ran away from home. I thought my parents were assholes with too many rules. So, I ran away with a friend. We both thought we were going to make it big in LA. We were going to be models. She had been approached by an agent. But, you know what we found instead?”

I shake my head back and forth, entranced by his story.

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