Page 30 of Doctor Grump

The arrow struck clear and true, and she must have known it because she went quiet at that point.

There was no further noise in the car as we drove.

“I’m sorry,” she murmured after minutes had passed.

“Don’t be,” I replied. “You’re right.” The truth was that after Piper became Kendy’s nanny, I had been scarcer than usual, and it hadn’t just been because of work. I had intentionally stopped coming to dinner because of Piper. Because I didn’t want to be around her. Because being around her made me feel crazy and out of control in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time.

But it was a selfish thought because I had not considered how it would affect my daughter, and that was my failure as a parent. No matter how mature and understanding Kendy acted on occasion, she was still just a kid.

“I am failing at this parenting thing, aren’t I?” I stated. I mean, I knew I wouldn’t be much good at it, but I hadn’t expected myself to be this terrible.

Piper sounded surprised at my declaration. “Why would you say that?”

“Because it’s true,” I said. “It’s a lot harder than I thought. Now I feel bad for giving Alanna—Kendy’s mom—such a hard time. Even though she had many deficiencies as a parent, at least she had the sense to know when she was way out of her depth.”

“What happened with her?” I could tell the question had been unintentional because she immediately followed with, “I mean, you don’t have to talk about it, but—”

I hesitated briefly, then gave in with a sigh.

“No point in hiding it,” I said. Maybe it would help her understand Kendy more. “She had…issues. A lot of them. And eventually, they started impacting her parenting too. She never hurt my daughter, but she would sometimes not be there a hundred percent, so she checked herself into rehab, and I got full custody. I accused her of neglect, but now, here I am doing the same thing I accused her of.”

“Parenting is hard,” Piper said in a sympathetic voice. “Anyone who says otherwise is kidding themselves. Cut yourself some slack. And cut Kendy some slack too.”

Her compassion surprised me, even though it shouldn’t have. Piper has more heart than anyone I have ever met, and she has shown me more kindness than I deserved. Now I saw why everyone in this town was so bent on protecting her. She was an easy person to love, but it would also be so easy to hurt her.

“I’m going to ask you a question, and I don’t want you to get mad,” she said, pausing for a beat before continuing, “Why haven’t you told Kendy…you know, about her mom? She thinks you just took her away for no reason.”

“Her mother never wanted Kendy to know what was going on with her,” I explained. “That was her one request when she signed over the custody. Besides, I don’t want Kendy to know the full details of her mom’s issues.”

“Okay, so maybe you don’t have to tell her the full thing, but…maybe explain it to her a little more without the judgment and punishment because, as we can see, that’s not working so far. Just tell her that her mom went to get help for herself, but she still loves her and wants to be the best mom she can be. And that she needs to stay safe. Kendy’s a pretty smart girl. I think she’ll understand if you explain it.”

My immediate instinct was to reject what she said, but instead, I found myself responding, “I’ll think about it.” A few seconds later, she told me that she had received a text from Santiago, who said that a girl matching my daughter’s description had been detained at the train station.

Piper and I both arrived at the station around the same time, and I took a minute to take in her adorably harried form as she said, “She’s at the ticketing box.”

I nodded, and we both walked in unison toward it.

I saw Kendy sitting on a chair from a few paces away. She got up when she saw me, looking faintly worried but stubbornly indignant all the same. Her chin was tilted up, and her hands were over her chest. She was ready for a fight.

But I wasn’t here to give it to her.

Instead, I watched complete surprise fill her expression when I reached out and pulled her into my arms.

“Thank God,” I said, nearly overwhelmed by the emotion. “Thank God.”

13

PIPER

Idon’t know if it was the relief and high emotions of the day or the fact that I was likely ovulating, but seeing Ian pull his daughter into a hug, I got teary-eyed.

“Thank God,’” he muttered as his shoulders sagged. It was as if all the tension they held had suddenly been released. It was strange. I had thought the man was damn near unemotional in the past, but now I could see that I was wrong. He simply held everything in so tightly that he showed no cracks. But now, feelings were clear in his body language. His fear and relief were all apparent as he held the surprised little girl tight in his arms. “Thank God.”

“Language, Dad,” she muttered, and Ian didn’t even scold her in return. In fact, he didn’t say anything for a good handful of seconds.

When he had gotten out of the car earlier, I saw a man calm and collected, his entire demeanor fixed with the determination to find his daughter and nothing else. There had been very little emotion in his voice except for anger, which seemed very odd to me. I had been internally panicking the entire time, on the verge of a full-blown panic attack, but he had seemed way too calm for someone whose daughter had run away.

It had been comforting but also concerning.

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