Page 67 of Broken Boss Daddy

That thought had me nearly slamming on the brakes and causing an accident in the middle of a residential street. Luckily, I wasn’t that stupid and besides a small swerve. I continued driving as if nothing had happened.

I was in love with Jessica. I’d never been in love with anyone. The closest I had ever gotten was my infatuation with her, but I finally recognized my feelings for what they were—unrequited love.

My heart rate picked up like that news was new to me. For a while, I’d known the extent of my feelings. Yet, every time I actually thought about it, my body decided to freak out on me.

Passing through the downtown area and watching the families that were milling about, I realized why I always seemed to get anxious about my thoughts.

My parents and their consistent fighting sat in my subconscious, and I remembered what it was like to be stuck in the middle of that. As a boy, I wondered if the reason my mom and dad fought so much was because they loved each other fiercely. When I found out that wasn’t the case, that it was the complete opposite, I developed a strange relationship with love.

I didn’t think I would find it, especially in a place where I wasn’t looking for it. Unknowingly, the minute Jess appeared in my life back at that bar, I had found love.

Resting an arm on the door and leaning back in the seat, I was surprised to find that it wasn’t actually panic that I was feeling.

Admitting all of that to myself made my shoulders feel a lot lighter, like a weight had been taken off of them. If I weren’t driving, I wasn’t sure what I would be doing with that confession fresh in my mind. But I knew what I would like to have done.

Hopefully, seeing my grandparents’ house would help me make a firm decision.Maybe I’ll go see Jess and Abby afterwards, I thought—if I had the guts to.

With that in mind, I made a turn toward the street I vaguely remembered. Coming back to reality, I recognized the area. I had been here not too long ago with the girls, and a sense of familiarity washed over me.

I spotted the park that we often met and played in, and checking that there wasn’t anyone behind me, I slowed down while I passed it. With the amount of times we had been here, it didn’t register with me just how close the park was to my grandparents’ house.

Literally, I took the next right turn, their place should be just there.

Truthfully, the fact that I remembered where they stayed at all was a miracle in itself. But some things stick with a person, no matter how strange they might be.

Turning down that very same right corner, the first thing I saw was two people walking up the sidewalk toward the park. It was Jessica and Abby.

Excitement was only one word that could be used to describe what I felt at seeing both of them together, smiling and laughing like nothing bad was happening in the world. My heart filled with love, and I quickly pulled over to the other opposite sidewalk and parked my car.

They hadn’t spotted me as they continued to walk into the park. I kept my eyes on them while they made their way to the playground. Abby went jumping off somewhere with some other kids, and Jess sat down on a bench and watched our daughter play around.

God, how I’ve missed them.

I debated getting out and walking over to them, but I didn’t think Jess was ready for that yet. Frankly, I didn’t think I was quite ready to talk to her either. So instead, I sat back in the driver’s seat and continued to watch my little girl from across the street.

Abby climbed across the monkey bars, and she excitedly turned to her mother to see if she was watching her. Jess clapped her hands in joy, her smile lighting up the world around her.

I couldn’t wipe the smile from my face at the cute scene. That it was what I missed the most—the small moments as a family. Jess and Abby would always be a family, that I knew for certain. But they were also my family.

For the next little while, I sat in my car while they were at the park. There were a few moments when Jess was alone where she looked close to tears, and I desperately wanted to hold her in my arms. She sucked it up, thought for a moment, and proceeded to give Abby all her attention.

Abby was her normal self, full of life and laughter. Although, there was an episode where she had a tantrum because Jess seemed to say no to something our little girl wanted to do. Knowing Abby, it was probably something reckless where she thought she was braver than she actually was.

I could only laugh, and wonder how it would’ve been if I was there with them. Honestly, I’d probably be all up for Abby doing it because I didn’t know how to control my own spontaneous urges. I pictured Jess’s reaction—she would roll her eyes at us then proceed to explain exactly why it wasn’t a good idea.

I knew what I was doing could technically be classified as stalking. Was it still classified as that if we were both coincidentally in the same place at the same time?

Okay, that I was asking myself that question probably meant it was giving off creepy vibes. Jess would’ve more than likely said the same thing if she knew what I was up to.

Maybe in a couple of years’ time, I would tell her about this day and we would laugh ourselves breathless.

As I considered that, Jess and Abby laughed hysterically at something I couldn’t see. It was almost like I could hear their laughter all the way from where I sat. Abby had a childish giggle, but one that wasn’t irritating or as high pitched as most children had.

Jess had a deep, sultry laugh. A laugh that made one think of wicked things that they probably should not be thinking about. Or perhaps that was just me.

They moved along to the swings with Jess pushing Abby, who I just knew was asking to be pushed higher.

Sighing, I ran a hand over my face and asked myself what the hell I was doing. Not at the particular moment, but with the whole decision about leaving these two amazing girls. If it wasn’t for that stupid thing, I would be with them at the park.

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