Page 6 of Make Me Whole

I laughed as she quoted the line I always told her.

“Darn right. Now go clean yourself up and put on your yellow dress while I help Grandpa finish up things over here.”

She sang anOkayand then bolted up the staircase.

Once I was alone with my dad in the kitchen, I arched a brow. “Stomach ache, eh?”

He shrugged. “It’s Saturday, Sky. You ditched her to take a nap in the middle of the morning. What was I supposed to do?”

The question hit me hard. He was right. Trying to explain my reasons and confusion wouldn’t change the fact that I had, indeed, ditched my day with my daughter for a nap.

Besides, any explanation would only convince my dad that I needed therapy, which I couldn’t afford—both because I was running out of money, and also because Eli would use the information to convince a judge to rule me as a depressed, unfit mother. That bastard had taken too much from me already. I would never allow him to take Ella as well.

Instead of giving my dad grief for his white lie, I gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. “You did exactly what you were supposed to do. Thank you, Daddy, for everything you’re doing for us. And I’m sorry for today. I’ll keep trying to do better for both of you.”

He placed a hand on my cheek and looked at me with so much kindness in his brown eyes it nearly brought me to tears. “It’s always my pleasure to take care of you girls, sweetheart. That’s a parent’s job, and it doesn’t end when your kid has a kid of her own. I just hate to see you so sad all the time. I wish you’d put that creep behind you and focus on finding joy again. You’re so beautiful, compassionate, smart, and young. There’s no reason you should live miserably and lonely because at eighteen you made the mistake of marrying someone who’s never deserved you or your daughter.”

His words and his love pieced back together a bit of my soul. If it weren’t for my makeup, I would have cried again.

My phone interrupted our sweet moment. I didn’t even have to look at the screen to know who the caller was, and judging by the way my dad’s back tensed against my fingers, he knew as well. I disentangled myself from Dad and silenced the phone, but I didn’t decline the call.

“I thought becoming mayor would make that asshat too busy to harass you.” Anger dripped from Dad’s voice.

I sighed and did my best to look unfazed. “Me too, but he’s persistent. I’m sure it’ll stop after the divorce.”

“And when will that be?”

I shrugged. Uncomfortable with the conversation, I started cleaning up the mess he and Ella made. “Don’t know, Dad. My lawyer said the papers are with the judge now, but I have no confidence that the Mayor’s unwanted divorce will be high on her list. I’m not even sure she’ll be unbiased when the ruling time comes.”

A loud sigh came from my father as I worked on dividing the enormous balls of cookies onto three baking sheets so they wouldn’t stick together when baking.

“Can’t you take it to another court, or at least block his number so you’ll have peace of mind in the meantime?”

His exasperation was cute and made my heart happy. A novelty lately.

“Nope,” I said as casually as I could while I placed the trays in the oven. “I don’t think either of those things would help my case, Daddy. But I know it’ll all work out.”

His brows tugged together in a skeptical scowl. “How do you know that?”

“Because it has to work,” I said matter-of-factly as I walked to the pantry with the flour and chocolate chips. “I won’t go back to him, and I won’t lose Ella. It’ll either work out or I’ll die trying.”

Dad’s lips tugged sideways into one of his signature up-to-no-good smirks. “Or he could die.”

I raised my brows at his tone.

“Just yesterday, Max offered to inflict violence and make it seem like an accident. I’m sure he could get carried away and make death look like an accident as well. Besides, he’s not from town and is a grocery trip short of being a recluse. No one would even suspect him.”

I laughed, my first real belly-hugging laugh in over two months, and it was wonderful. I wanted to hug him again, but the doorbell rang first.

“It’s Max.” He smirked, hands shoved in his cargo shorts. “Asshole is always on time. Fucking annoying, but an excellent trait for a hitman. Just saying.”

I laughed again as he jogged to the front door. In the distance, I heard them talking but was too busy cleaning up to pay any attention until my daughter’s voice joined them. She politely greeted our guests, which made me smile as muffled male voices reached my ears. The tapping of little running feet echoed next. A second later, Ella and Aiden invaded the kitchen.

“Aiden, this is Mom,” Ella introduced, barely slowing down. “Mom, this is Aiden.”

The blond boy ran up to me and stopped. Sensing her friend had derailed, Ella stopped by the sliding doors and stared at us with annoyance. Aiden offered me his hand to shake.

“Hi, Mrs. Walsh. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

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