Page 45 of The Widower
“I see.”
“If you’re having second thoughts, now’s the time to say it.”
He paused, his gaze drifting toward Hanna as she laughed and climbed back up the slide. For a moment, he seemed lost in thought. Then he said quietly, “It’s fine. I don’t mind. I like your daughter.”
Oh my God…
Colin with feelings. A living miracle. I wasn’t even being sarcastic—just genuinely stunned by what was happening between those two.
“And she likes you too, Uncle Colin,” I teased, unable to resist.
Colin shot me a look, the kind that could curdle milk.“Don’t you have work to do?”
“I do. See you later.”
I walked away, but this time, I didn’t feel frustrated like before. He seemed a little less tense around me—and honestly, that felt like progress.
By the time my shift was over, Hanna was already chattering nonstop about random things—and, of course, she quickly landed on the topic of “Uncle Colin.”
“Mommy, did you know Uncle Colin is an ar...chi...to...to?” she said slowly, and I had no idea what she was trying to say.
“What?”
“Archi-toto, Mommy!” she repeated, a little exasperated, as if I were the one making up words.
“She means architect,” came Colin’s voice out of nowhere, appearing behind us like some kind of ghost.
“See? Uncle Colin understood me,” Hanna said proudly.
I burst out laughing. Would it make me a bad mother if, later, I asked my daughter to say that word again just to hear it one more time?
“That was my reaction too,” Colin said.
“I’m glad you two are becoming friends.”
“Uncle Colin is nice,” Hanna added.
“I think you’re the only person who believes that,” Colin replied dryly.
“Oh, really?”
“Really.”
“All right, young lady, time to go.” I took her hand.
“Tomorrow Uncle Colin and I are gonna play again.”
“Hanna, don’t push his patience, okay?”
“But… he asked me, Mommy.”
Both of us turned to look at Colin, who instantly looked flustered.
“Well... I saw that Joshua didn’t want to play with her, so I offered... you know, if she wanted to.”
Only Hanna could break through that man’s walls. It was unbelievable. Seeing him so uncomfortable wasn’t something I was used to—and I had to admit, he looked even more handsome when he was flustered.
“You can play too, Mommy,” Hanna said innocently.
