Page 29 of Broken Boss Daddy

Abby looked at them with me, leaning against my chest with her breathing evening out. She was doing so much better since our last trip to the hospital, and there had been no sign of her ear infections coming back.

“Who’s that?” She pointed to Grant.

Knowing there was no harm in telling her that Grant was my friend, I scrolled through some more pictures with Abby laughing at the funny ones.

“Is he your best friend, Mommy?” she asked after a while.

That was hard to answer. “He’s a really good friend, baby. He’s funny and wonderful, and a lot like you.”

“Like me?”

“Yep. You’re both funny and too adorable for your own good.”

“Can we play with him?”

I didn’t say anything to her question—I had nothing to say. How could I tell her that it wasn’t a good idea? She was so precious, and didn’t want to surround her with my secrets.

“I don’t know. Maybe,” I said uncertainly.

My phone lit up with a phone call, and who else would it be except the man we were just talking about? Grant’s name flashed before my eyes, and my heart rate picked up.

I had to repeat to myself that it was just a phone call, and it wasn’t like he couldseeus here.

Putting my finger to my lips for Abby to be quiet, I hesitantly answered. “Hello?”

“Jess, hi. It’s so good to hear your voice,” Grant said, sounding somewhat cheerful.

“Aren’t you tired of hearing it by now?”

“How could I ever tire of hearing you? If I had my way, I’d hear you all day and night and—”

“Okay, okay. I get it,” I cut him off before he could insinuate anything else. “So, what’s up?”

Grant sighed. “My father’s coming for a visit.”

Abby started slipping off my lap, and I pulled her back while responding. “Is that such a bad thing though?”

“No, not really. I’m just pissed because I told him it wasn’t a good time. But what makes it worse is that he’s coming down with his entire family.”

Grant told me about his father remarrying a woman who already had two kids from a previous marriage, and then they had another child together. I could understand his frustration with that given that he always felt left out with that side of his family.

“They’re all coming?”

“Yeah. Though, honestly, they’re probably just coming to get a free trip out of him. Not like they’re going to find our town fascinating at all.”

I had to chuckle at that. Although, I did think it was quite sad, but it made sense considering what I’d heard about the older Dr. Adams so far.

“Mommy?” Abby whispered, and I quickly gestured for her to keep quiet.

Panic set in at the possibility of Grant hearing that. I hoped and prayed he didn’t.

“What was that?”He did. Grant’s question held a tone of skepticism, and I wanted to bash my head in.

Crap! Think, Jess. Think!“Mm? What did you say? When is your family coming?” I quickly changed the subject to the only thing I could think of.

The silence over the line was nearly deafening. All I could hear was my panicked breaths and Abby’s squirms.

But he didn’t fall for it. “Jessica, who are you with?”

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