Page 2 of Fateful Hearts

I inhale a stuttered breath and nod even though he can’t see me. Then, with a heavy heart, I start talking, “I’d like you to come over, but not to help with Hailee. I want you to help me pack. I can’t do this anymore, Dad. I need your help. I want to make a life for Hailee and me. Kyle wants me to stay at home and be this supermom…” I pause, sniffling. “I love taking care of Hailee. I do, Dad.I swear I do. But I needmore...I want to be out and working. I want to bring in money for us. I want to build a life for her. I want her to be proud of me, and right now, I’m a shell of a person being trodden all over by Kyle, andI’mthe idiot letting him do it to me.” I let out a long breath, feeling relief the second I get all that out.

Dad sighs heavily and clears his throat. “Zoey, my darling girl… I haveneverbeen prouder of you than I am in this moment. Your mother and I have been watching you decline over these past few years with Kyle, and we hate how he treats you. But we knew you’d have to come to this decision on your own. So, baby girl, we will leave right now. We will bring the truck, and we will help you pack as much of yours and Hailee’s stuff as we can. Then I will come back and get the rest tomorrow. You can stay with us for as long as you need until you get back on your feet. And I know you will. You’ll find a great job, you’ll make a go of your business degree you started in college, and you’ll do great things, Zoey. I feel it in my bones.”

My heart floods with the love I am receiving from my father. He has always been my number-one supporter and my biggest champion. He’s always backed me, and even though I knew he hated Kyle the whole time, he still let me make my bad decisions because he knew it had to be a learning curve only I could complete.

And boy, have I learned something from this.

Just because you feel loyalty to someone doesn’t mean they’re loyal to you. And sticking something out because you think you should, doesn’t mean it is good for you.

“Dammit, Dad! I should have left sooner. I should have stayed in college, gotten my degree…” I take a deep breath. “I’ve fucked everything up, Dad.”

“You listen, and you listen good, baby girl. You made choices, and out of those choices, you received an incredible gift… an amazing little girl we all love and adore. It may not seem like it now with her restless like this, but Hailee will be the most amazing thing to come out of all this mess. You mark my words.”

I glance down at my daughter in my arms, her red face blotchy from her tears, and I feel her pain right along with her. “We’re gonna be okay, aren’t we, Dad?”

He chuckles down the line. “Zoey, if anyone can make a life for you and your daughter, it’s you.”

Straightening my shoulders, I nod with a newfound sense of purpose.

Icando this.

For me.

For Hailee.

Fuck Kyle and his bullshit treatment.

We deserve so much better.

“I’ll see you soon, Dad. I will start packing.”

“There’s my strong girl. Won’t take us long, honey. I love you, Zoey.”

“Love you, Dad… and thank you. Thank you for always being there.”

“See you soon.” He ends the call, and I place my cell on the chest of drawers, then run my finger along Hailee’s red, wet cheek. “Shh, Starshine. We’re gonna be okay, you and me. We don’t need your father to make it. I’m gonna take great care of you on my own. You’ll see.”

And as if she understands me, she instantly latches onto the bottle, her crying subsiding, and she calms right down, quietly sucking away on her bottle. I let out a relieved exhale and sniffle my tears away. “See, we’re gonna be just fine.”

And we will be.

I’ll make sure of it.

I’m going to feed my girl, then start packing, and if I know Kyle like I think I do, we’ll be packed and gone before he even gets home. We’ll be on our way to starting our new life before he realizes what he has lost.

Becauseheis the one losing here.

Taking this step ismechoosing life.

A new life.

A better life.

A life for Hailee and me.

And I will grab it with both hands and make it the best life I can give her.

I won’t stop until I give her everything she deserves.

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