Page 56 of Pucking Secret

And… I don’t want him to hate me.

“I’m fine, Gram,” I say. “You saw how good he is with her.”

“Yes, yes, I certainly did.”

She doesn’t say anything else the rest of the drive. When I park in front of the assisted living facility, she reaches over and gives my hand a squeeze. I turn to meet her gaze.

“You need to tell him,” she says in a gentle tone. “It’s clear, whether he knows it or not, that the bond between father and daughter is strong. He cares for Millie a great deal. He won’t do anything to hurt her, and he most definitely won’t leave her. In fact, I think it would be so good for Millie to have him in her life. To have a father to love and protect her. You know what it’s like to grow up without a father…do you really want the same for Millie?”

I swallow, my emotions swelling up within me and tears forming in my eyes. Quickly blinking them away, I let out a soft sigh.

“I’ll try,” I tell her, unwilling to make a promise to Gram that I’m not sure I can keep.

“Okay,” she says. “It’ll be all right, sweetie. You just need to have a little faith.”

Giving my hand one more squeeze, she gets out of the car and heads into her assisted living community building. I watch her go, my heart hammering in my chest. Once she’s inside, I pull away from the building to head home. I’m anxious about what’s waiting for me when I get there.

After tonight, everything is going to change.

I only hope it’s for the better.

CHAPTER NINETEEN: SUNDAES

OWEN

“Owen! Can we get rainbow sprinkles?”

I grin at Millie, who’s holding up a shaker of the sprinkles and waving them above her head. We’re in the middle of the grocery store, collecting all the supplies we could possibly need for sundaes. Honestly, offering to take Millie so Stacey could drive her grandma home had been a bit of an impulsive thing. Part of it was just that I wanted to help Stacey out, but also, another part of it is that Millie’s pretty fun. Being in the grocery store is even more enjoyable than I anticipated. She’s hilarious and adorable, and so full of energy I can hardly keep up.

She hurries to me and drops the sprinkles into the cart I’m pushing, right next to her teddy bear, snuggled in the corner.

“Okay, do we have everything?” I ask, looking down at our haul.

“I dunno,” Millie shrugs, hoping on the back of the cart so she can look inside as well. “What all do we got?”

“Well, we’ve got vanilla ice cream and strawberry ice cream,” I say. “The most important thing. We’ve also got chocolate fudge sauce, cherries, whipped cream, marshmallow fluff, sprinkles, and waffle cone bowls. Anything else?”

She beams up at me and shakes her head. “Nope! We got it all!”

“Do you want peanuts?”

She wrinkles her nose and sticks out her tongue in disgust. “Ew, I don’t like peanuts.”

“All right, no peanuts.” I arch a brow at her. “Do you like peanut butter?”

Nodding, she declares, “Yes! Especially with chocolate!”

“Agreed.” That’s funny… I don’t really like peanuts either. I’ve never been a fan of their texture, but I love creamy peanut butter. Weird coincidence. “All right. I think we’ve got everything we need then. Let’s pay and head to your house to get our sundae on, yeah?”

“Yeah!” Millie bounces on the cart and I push it to the front of the store.

As we approach the checkout, my phone starts to buzz in my pocket. I dig it out, half-expecting it to be Stacey checking on us, but I freeze when I see that it’s Gerald. I shake my head and shove my phone back into my pocket, ignoring the call. Whatever he has to say, it can wait. I’m giving Millie my attention right now and I don’t want him ruining my mood. The phone buzzes a few more times, but I let it ring until it finally stops.

We get through the checkout line and she continues to ride the front of the cart as we make our way to the parking lot. After reaching my car and loading our groceries in the trunk, I help her into her booster seat. A few minutes later, we’re on the road to her and Stacey’s house.

“So, Millie,” I say, glancing up at her reflection in the rearview mirror. “How’s school going?”

She shrugs. “School’s okay. My teacher is nice, and I like hanging out with my friends. Some of the kids are mean, though?”

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