Page 31 of The Keeper

My eyes landed on a stuffed animal display along the back wall, and I grinned, remembering how my old man would show up with a stuffed animal for me and my brothers after being gone on long runs with the club. When we were teens and well past the age of playing with toys, it was keychains or shot glasses from whatever city he’d been in.

A stuffed animal wouldn’t give me back the time I’d lost or erase the sleepless nights Piper had to endure on her own.

But maybe it wasn’t about that.

Maybe, much like my dad’s gifts, it was my way of letting Piper know I hadn’t gone a single day without thinking of her. I picked up a small teddy bear wearing a get well soon T-shirt, its soft pink fur a stark contrast to the mess of a man holding it.

Taking a deep breath, I strode toward the register, ignoring a wary glance from an elderly woman in the greeting card section. The cashier’s eyes widened as I approached, her gaze darting from my kutte to the blood streaked across my knuckles.

“Just this,” I said, setting the bear down with more force than was necessary.

Her movements were jerky and nervous as she rang me up, and I bit back a sigh because it wasn’t her fault I looked like the devil incarnate.

“It’s for my daughter,” I added, handing her a twenty. The words still felt strange on my tongue, foreign yet undeniably right.

“Aww,” she said, her expression softening. “I hope she feels better soon.”

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak again.

The lump in my throat threatened to choke me as I made my way back to the emergency room. I paused after entering through the automatic doors, taking a deep breath to steady myself.

Chaos swirled around me, but all I could focus on was the weight of the stuffed animal clenched in my fist as I navigated the winding hallways stretched out like a gauntlet before me.

As I approached Avery’s room, I heard Piper’s soft voice drifting through the partially open door. She was singing a Reba McEntire song like it was a lullaby, her tone gentle and soothing.

“Mama’s here,” she said when Avery let out a soft whimper.

The words twisted through my gut like a knife. Then and there, I decided no matter what it took, I would prove to Piper I could be the father Avery needed. I would be the man she needed. I’d take things slow and earn her trust until there wasn’t a doubt in her mind I was in it for the long haul.

ELEVEN

PIPER

Ivy & Piper’s Guide to Life Rule Number Twenty-Two:

Have a backup plan for your backup plan.

The door swung shut behind Dane with an ominous finality, reverberating through my bones and extinguishing the hope I’d been clinging to for the better part of two years.

“A-ma.” Avery stirred in my arms with a hiccupped whimper, her lower lip jutting out pitifully. I smoothed her wispy curls and breathed in her sweet baby scent, my chin quaking as I tried to hold back the tears flooding my eyes.

“Not him, Piper,” my mother said while shaking her head in horrified shock. “Tell me you weren’t that stupid.”

I sucked in a ragged breath and turned away, not bothering to deny the truth hanging over the room like a wet blanket.

Dane was Avery’s father.

And my mother’s words, while harsh, were only a reminder of the painful reality I’d tried so desperately to ignore.

Because I was stupid.

Stupid enough to think he might be different. That, unlike my own father, he might want to be a part of our lives.

But his sudden and hasty exit said it all.

I wanted to scream, to rage against the unfairness of Dane choosing to walk away when I’d only begun to picture the three of us as a family.

I’d spent so long convincing myself we could make it alone because there hadn’t been another option. It was the same way I’d felt when I held Avery in my arms for the first time, knowing everything was on my shoulders. Even then, I’d held onto this naïve hope it wouldn’t be forever.

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