Page 37 of Billion-Dollar Attitudes

He smiled. “Very good, sir. I like her. She’s special.”

I chuckled, forgetting how the one person in my life that knew more about me than anyone was him. He was privy to some of the most personal moments in the last four years. He saw all my moods, all my insecurities. He saw people for who they were. It was funny that my driver knew before I did.

“She is,” I replied with a grin. “She’s one of a kind.”

I watched out the window as we headed to Ryders to collect my things, then back in the car toward my house. I needed Sicily in my life, and I wanted the both of them. I wanted to be the family we were meant to be. I wasn’t perfect, just like Sicily wasn’t, but that was one thing I loved about her and didn’t realize it until that moment. Her walls, her guard, it was all hard to work through, but it was never a question of if I would do it, but rather how to break those things down. She was worth it. And equally as so, I was worth it. I deserved to be happy, and in that situation, I was the only that could fix it.

I just hoped that I wasn’t too late.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Sicily

“Look what gramma got me,” Harper said excitedly as I walked into my parents house.

She did a twirl, showing me the bright pink hair bow with spiraled curls clipped in the back of her hair. I gasped excitedly and picked her up, kissing her cheek. “You look beautiful. Like a princess.”

“A surfing princess,” she pointed out. “I ride big waves and build camels.”

I laughed. “One day sweetie, I bet you will. For now, let’s keep those feet on dry land.”

I set her down and patted her butt. “Go on and gather your things. I’m gonna say hi to gramma and we can head back home.”

My mom walked around the corner and put her arms out, hugging me tightly. I hugged her back, thankful to be close. I hadn’t told them what happened fully in California, but I assumed eventually they would meet Daniel. For then, I wanted to keep the drama low and not have them look at me like a broken person.

“How was she?” I asked.

“Good,” my mom replied. “I got her that bow to make her smile. She said she missed Ms. Josie, so we called her. And she said she missed the camels?”

I laughed loudly. “That’s how she pronounces castles. She misses making sand castles.”

My mom chuckled. “That’s adorable. Oh, and she kept mentioning someone named Danny. From what I could piece together, he was a surfer, her friend, and a good dancer.”

I wrinkled my nose, the sound of his name shooting daggers into my chest. “I don’t know about the dancer part but yeah, Daniel was my boss. He was really good with her. She kind of clung to him. It’s funny who kids find comfort in.”

My mom nodded, folding a blanket. “You used to like to hug the trash man. You seriously thought he was like some superhero, taking the dirty smelly trash every week. You would run right out there and give him a big hug.”

“I remember that,” I said with a chuckle.

“Ready mommy,” Harper said, running up. She wrapped her arms around my mom’s leg. “Thank you, Gramma, for my hair bow. It’s really pretty.”

My mom bent down and hugged her tightly. “You are welcome sweetie. Thank you for staying with us for the day. Grandpa is zonked in the living room. You wore him out.”

Harper leaned up on her toes and kissed my mom’s cheek, whispering. “Give him a kiss on the cheek for me when he wakes up.”

She laughed and hugged her again. “I will. We’ll see you soon, okay?”

Harper excitedly nodded and ran to the door, waiting as I said my thank you’s and goodbyes. We headed back to Sicily’s house where we were staying, and with it being after dark already, Harper was asleep before we got there. I pulled her from the car and quietly carried her upstairs to her room. As I laid her down, she woke up.

“I’m thirsty,” she whispered.

I laughed, shaking my head. “Perfect timing. Okay, run downstairs. In the fridge there are those flavored water juice boxes. Grab one of those and I’ll do the straw.”

She jumped up and ran out of the room, still clutching bunny. I would never understand how the kid went from knocked out to a hundred in the blink of an eye. The older I got the longer it took for me to even get out of bed in ten minutes. I sat looking around the adorable room that Amber had decorated for Harper. It was pink with penguins painted on the walls, pink shag rugs, a big girl bed, and a ton of toys and stuffed animals. There were even clothes in the closet when we got there. Amber might deny liking kids, but she loved Harper a lot.

Harper rounded the corner and jumped back in bed, taking a sip of her juice box. I looked at it for a second. “You got the straw! Was Amber down there?”

Harper yawned, shaking her head, curling up under the covers, My brow furled. “Oh. Then who put the straw in for you?”

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