Page 104 of You've Got Male

“Hi, I’m calling from Waverly’s school. She is running a fever and has been throwing up. We can’t seem to get ahold of her father and you are listed as her emergency contact. We need you to come in right now.”

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Jonah

It was after three by the time Jonah pulled into his driveway. Evie’s car was nowhere to be seen but he knew she was home. Well, at his home. The four unanswered calls and texts from her explained as much—not to mention the messages from the preschool. The high from signing on as a partner at the new firm was squashed under the guilt thumping in his chest.

He’d been so caught up in playing the big man that he’d let the important things slip through the cracks. Evie assured him in her message that Waverly was okay, just a little tummy bug, but he could tell by the defeat in her voice that everything was not okay. In fact, it was as far from okay as things could get.

Today was her placement exam. He knew this. Knew that Waverly was a little fussy when he’d dropped her at school but had chalked it up to typical two-year-old crankiness. He hadn’t even checked her forehead for a fever—which she’d apparently had.

The drive home was, unquestionably, the worst half-hour ofhis life.

Wanting to appear like he had it all together, Jonah had put his phone on silent for the duration of the meeting. What kind of single dad does that? One who was pretending to have his shit together when in reality his world was still tilted far off axis—and it was derailing the lives of the people he cared about.

Grabbing his phone and briefcase, he strode up the walkway and into the house.

“Evie?” he called out.

He heard the television coming from the back of the house and followed it to the family room. This time his chest thumped for a different reason all together.

Evie was curled up on the couch in a pair of fitted jeans and no shoes, looking adorable and comfy, like a safe harbor in the midst of a storm. Nestled in her arms, fast asleep, was his baby girl. Cheeks flushed while clutching her favorite bear, Waverly looked comfortable, content—safe.

Remarkable, considering what a day they both must have had. Even more remarkable was Evie, managing her world in a way that he’d never achieved on even his best days. She was calm and capable, her confident energy giving Waverly the security she craved.

Hell, seeing her like this, with his daughter in her arms, gave Jonah the security he craved. Something inside him rolled over as a wealth of relief took hold. It had been a while since someone had his back. Only his relief had come at someone else’s expense.

Shit.

Today only added to his greatest fear: that he wasn’t enough on his own.

Evie had yet to notice him, so he stood silently in the threshold, breathing in the moment as she smoothed back Waverly’s baby-fine hair and brushed a kiss over her forehead. Watching the motherly gesture tugged at the core of his heart.

Jonah realized that, while he’d worked hard to be part of his kids’ lives, when Amber had been alive he’d been on the periphery. As the working parent in his marriage, he’d struggled to find a balance between being breadwinner and parent. When he’d become a single dad the pendulum had swung in the opposite direction. Either way he couldn’t cut it and came up short. But that wasn’t an option anymore. His kids needed stability and structure, and it was up to him to provide those.

Kicking off his shoes, he padded over to the couch. Evie looked up and damn she was beautiful. The kind of beautiful that had a heart-rending tenderness taking over his body.

“Hey,” he whispered, sitting on the coffee table in front of her so that he could read every emotion on her face. Unfortunately, she was carefully schooled.

“Hey,” she said. Her tone was hard to decipher, but her body language spoke volumes. It reminded him of the way strangers looked at him when Waverly had a meltdown in public.

He reached out and ran a hand over his baby’s cheek. It was sticky and warm. “How is she?”

“She’ll be okay. I’m pretty sure it’s just a tummy bug.”

“Thank you for today.” He took Evie’s hand but she didn’t hold his back. In fact, she just let it hang there loosely. Not a good sign. “I’m so sorry this fell on you.”

“Can we talk,” she said, then situated Waverly on the couch and stood. They walked to the kitchen.

“First, let me tell you how sorry I am for how this all went down.”

“You already apologized.”

“Well, I need to do it again,” he said.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach as if it hurt. “What happened?”

“I had the meeting with Curt and his partner, and I put my phone on silent and left it in my briefcase. I didn’t even hear itbuzz.” He searched her eyes. “How was the test?”

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