Page 105 of Deal Breaker
I check the time again. 2:50.
I grab my sunglasses and head for the parking lot, where I said I’d meet Landyn. I’ve been to hundreds of meetings in my life. Sat through investor pitches, boardroom brawls, interviews, presentations, crisis talks, but nothing has my heart racing like the thought of hopefully seeing Poppy’s face light up when she sees me waiting outside her school.
Landyn sees me as soon as I reach the parking lot, lifting a hand in a small wave.
“You made it,” she says as I approach.
“Wouldn’t miss it,” I tell her, voice steady even though I’m a mess on the inside. “You want me to drive?”
She eyes me for a beat, like she’s deciding whether or not it’s a good idea to be in a car with me. Eventually she nods. “Sure, but I need to grab Poppy’s car seat.”
“I can get it,” I tell her, feeling a need to be helpful, to be involved. I second guess myself when she opens the back door to her small car, and I can’t figure out how to get the seat out of it.
Landyn watches me with an amused smile tugging at her lips. “You okay?”
I shake my head. “I built an entire company, but I think this may be more complicated. Any tips?”
She explains that the booster seat has hooks that attach to metal bars stuffed between the seats. After some trial and error and Landyn telling me what to do, I finally get it free. Iset it up in the back seat of my truck, triple checking every attachment.
“I think it’s good,” she tells me as I give it one more solid shake.
“Just trying not to screw this up. This feels like a test,” I mutter.
“It kind of is.”
We drive the eight minutes to Poppy’s school and park just outside the schoolyard gate. Kids are already pouring out of the building, backpacks bouncing, voices loud and excited. As I scan the crowd trying to find Poppy, something close to panic blooms in my chest.
“She’s always one of the last ones out,” Landyn says, perhaps sensing my unease. “The kid can talk, as you probably noticed the other day. Her teacher has the patience of a saint.”
My hands are jammed into my pockets. I’m trying to play it cool, but the nerves are back, worse than any boardroom pitch I’ve ever had to make.
Until I see her.
Poppy’s wild curls are in twin braids, and she’s scanning the crowd with wide, searching eyes.
Landyn’s smile is wide the second she sees her and then Poppy is a streak of motion, her backpack bouncing wildly as she barrels through the schoolyard.
“Mom!”
Her little feet barely touch the ground before she’s in Landyn’s arms, leaping up, clinging like a monkey, arms and legs wrapping around her mom with practiced ease. Landyn catches her effortlessly, like she’s done it a thousand times, and her eyes close as she cradles Poppy to her chest. Her hands spread wide, one at her back, the other cupping the base of her daughter’s head like a lifeline. “Missed you,” she says, low and fierce. “Missed you so much.”
I stand there, completely still, afraid that if I move, I’ll shatter the moment. It’s raw and intimate and—hell—beautiful. Poppy pulls back just enough to look at her mom, then turns her head and spots me. “Ford!” she beams, wiggling in Landyn’s arms. “Put me down, Mom! I need to say hi to Ford!”
Landyn laughs before setting her down gently on the pavement. Poppy doesn’t waste a second. She jumps in front of me, and I drop to one knee to meet her. I don’t know what I expected, but when her little arms wrap around my neck, it brings me to my knees in every sense.
“Ford,” Poppy says after she’s let go of me. “Are you coming to the studio with us?”
I blink. “The studio?”
“That’s where I dance,” Poppy explains.
I look at Landyn, not sure what to say. “Yeah, you should come,” she says, smiling. “She has ballet today. One of her favorite classes.”
I look between the two of them. Poppy’s beaming, her hands still clutching my forearm like she’s afraid I might say no. I’m completely unprepared for how desperately I want to say yes.
“Yeah,” I hear myself say. “I’d love to.”
Poppy cheers. “Can we get there early, Mom? I think Mia is going to be there early today.”
