Page 65 of His Greatest Treasure

“There’s been no reason to. Nobody who wanted to know.”

“Before now,” she whispers, eyes falling to the last step separating us.

It’s a game of wills. Who will be the one to close the distance?—

A knock on the door at the bottom of the stairs has me jumping back up the steps.

“Hello? Did you fall, Mom?”

Avery frowns, flicking her eyes to the door. “No, sweetie. We’ll be coming down the pole in a second!”

“Okay!”

“I’m sorry?—”

“My ability to be patient is one of my best assets. Don’t apologize.Let’s go and make your daughter smile,” I say before she can give in to the guilt so obviously written on her face.

Reluctantly, she lets it go, and we reach the pole without another word spoken. I wait until she’s checked on Nova before crouching and lifting her into my arms.

“Oh!” she gasps, pawing at my shoulders.

“Wrap your legs around my waist and hold on tight, or I’m going to drop us both on our asses,” I instruct, holding the pole.

“This feels incredibly dangerous. I don’t think you’re supposed to carry a full-sized person in your arms while doing this. Let me go, and I’ll slide down on my own.”

I tighten my arm around her back and keep her held against me. “No. I like you here.”

A lot. It feels right to hold her like this. She fits against me like she’s supposed to be in my arms.

“I’ve got you,” I add, splaying my fingers out over her back until the ends of her hair brush over them. “Don’t get down yet.”

She keeps her arms looped around my neck and rests her chin against my shoulder. “Okay.”

“Come down, come down,” Nova chants, clapping enthusiastically.

“Ready?” I whisper.

The ghost of warm lips along the side of my throat has me seeing stars. “Ready.”

With one step, we’re falling.

22

AVERY

I wakeMonday with a migraine and a terrible attitude.

It’s the ultimate kick in the cooter after the high of a weekend I never wanted to end. Nova was sulky all morning, hardly eating and complaining every spare second she could find. We left the house with a bowl of soggy cereal sitting on the table and a bagged lunch with a KD cup and an apple in her backpack alongside her unfinished homework.

I’m sure I failed some hypothetical mom test this weekend, and this terrible morning is my karma.

Nova wanted nothing to do with me when she jumped out of the car and headed inside her school, and I tried not to take offense to her attitude, but it still bit. I’ve been running through a handful of different reasons for her behaviour, and almost all of them come back to something I’ve done.

Did I push her into hanging around another man after being so disappointed by her father? Is she mad at me for what happened with Chris? Was I not supportive enough when she was upset? Did I just miss something?

I bury my head in my hands and groan. Motherhood is thegreatest gift that can be given to anyone, but it’s not always sunshine and daisies.

Sometimes, it’s locking yourself away when you’re on the verge of screaming the house down, fearing that every choice you make is the wrong one and you’re going to screw your kid up without knowing it, and bottling your pain so you can be a pillar of strength.

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