Page 11 of Single Dad Billionaire Boss

“Maybe not out loud.”

Chapter5

5

Ella

I sworeJacob wanted to laugh at the breakfast table when I teased him about the peasant thing. But when he didn’t even allow himself to smile, I felt a twist of disappointment that I could not explain.

In any event, the binder that Jacob had made for me included everything from emergency contact information to first aid instructions complete with diagrams and a list of where to find things like the thermometer and Zoe’s stool softener gummies. Jacob had also made a schedule of which nights they washed Zoe’s hair along with a reminder not to let her use the spray detangler because it burned her eyes. To say that his instructions were thorough would be an understatement. But the truth was, I didn’t feel too micromanaged by it. I felt prepared. I had all the information I needed to handle a week alone with Zoe Sanders like a pro.

Or like a parent.

Yeah,that’swhat I suddenly realized I had signed up to be this week. I was standing in for Zoe’s primary caregiver, her only living parent. Kristen had mentioned something when she started working for Jacob that he was a widower, but she didn’t know much more. Still, it helped explain the binder. Jacob had not just given me the pediatrician’s number and told me where to find the Band-Aids, he had entrusted me with details involving the most important person in his life. The binder was not just a collection of instructions, it was the testament of a loving father. In the little notes and reminders, Jacob had laid out for me details about his daughter’s personality that only he would know. The flavor of lip balm she likes. Which sunscreen doesn’t burn her eyes. The books and movies she likes for comfort on a hard day. The fact that cinnamon gum burns her mouth, and she likes bubble gum even though she can’t blow a bubble yet, so keep an eye on her because she accidentally spits it out when she tries. She sleeps with her stuffed narwhal now, but for years it was her green monkey, Horace. The pink, silky blanket under her pillow is the one in which her mom brought her home from the hospital. Make surenotto put it in the laundry hamper if it gets dirty. It is to be washed by hand in the sink with liquid Ivory because that’s the soap her mother had always smelled of before she passed.

I’d be lying if I said I didn’t tear up over that part.

Truly, reading through the binder was like unfolding a map of their life together, and when I was finished, I felt that I knew both Zoe and her father more deeply. I hadn’t expected that, this glimpse into Jacob Sanders’s heart. Up until that point, I had found him grouchy, demanding, and overprotective. But with Zoe, he was attentive, loving, and enthusiastic. This binder, then, was a window not to the hypervigilance of a controlling man, but to a father who lost his wife and would do anything to protect his child. The intensity of his focus and love for Zoe was enough to leave me in awe. It also made me think his wife had been a lucky woman.

After Jacob went over the binder with me, I went home and spent the rest of the weekend doing laundry, cleaning my apartment, and packing for my week. I returned Sunday evening after dinner, upon which Zoe immediately dragged me upstairs to the room in which I would be staying. It was two doors down from Zoe and had a large, four-poster bed with an odd-looking stuffed animal sitting on top of it—a vulture, I discovered when Zoe brought it over to me.

“It’s so pretty,” I said, hugging it. “Did you put this here?”

“That’s Vera,” Zoe said. “I got her at the zoo, but my daddy thinks it’s creepy and told me not to put it on his bed again.”

“Ah, I see,” I said, and then whispered in her ear just loud enough for Jacob to hear: “That means we should definitely put Vera on his dresser and send him a picture of her while he’s on his trip.”

Zoe giggled and then the two of us went back downstairs to fetch Gus, whom I had brought along that evening in his pet carrier. Zoe helped me set up his litter box and scratching post in my room. She promised to only play with him in there, but I should have known that was like asking a mouse to guard the cheese. I was back in the kitchen, going over the binder again with Jacob, when Zoe came in with my chubby, misanthropic cat in her arms.

“He’s such a cutie-wootie!” she crooned. “Daddy, don’t you love him!”

Jacob’s eyebrows went up. “We have a cat now?”

“I can’t leave him home alone at my apartment,” I said. “He’ll order too much DoorDash and leave wet towels everywhere.”

“I remember you told me something about a pet,” Jacob said. “Just keep him in your room as much as possible, okay? And I don’t want Zoe playing in the litter box.”

“Daddy! I don’t play with cat poo! That’s disgusting!”

“I don’t see her wanting to do that,” I said, “but I promise I won’t let her touch, sniff, or eat any cat litter. Fresh or used.”

Jacob half-smiled. “I’d ask for scout’s honor,” he said, “but I’m not sureanysuch organization would put up with that kind of sarcasm.”

I actually snorted. I couldn’t believe Jacob Sanders had made a joke.

I scooped my disgruntled cat out of Zoe’s arms and took him back up to my room. “Now you stay in here, fuzzy butt, and don’t try to feed Zoe any of that cat litter.” I tried to scratch the back of Gus’s neck, but the big grump twisted out of my arms and slipped under the bed.

Later, after I hugged Zoe good night, I hovered in the doorway of her bedroom and watched Jacob read her a story and sing her a song before tucking her in. I secretly snapped a photo of them and then slipped away unnoticed to my room. I suspected some quiet, tearful goodbyes might follow, but I did not want to intrude any more than I already had.

Jacob was gone when I woke up Monday morning. I timed Zoe as she brushed her teeth and put on her socks and shoes. Jacob had left everything laid out for her, including Zoe’s lunchbox note downstairs, so the whole morning prep routine went smoothly. I braided Zoe’s hair into smooth plaits while she videoed herself for her father, then we posed Vera the Vulture on his dresser wearing Zoe’s sunglasses and sent a photo of it to him. I took Zoe to school and headed off to my other job.

The rest of the day was a blur of group sessions and counseling appointments until I picked up Zoe after school. I texted Jacob a photo of her with the caption “proof of life” and instantly got a FaceTime call from him in the car. I passed the phone to Zoe in the backseat and let her answer it herself.

“Daddy, I miss you so much!” she said, holding the phone too close to her face, and I told her to back up a little.

“How’s my baby cakes?” Jacob said. That sent her chatting about her day at school and how Ember lost a tooth and got to wear a special sticker so everyone gave her attention for it.

“The principal even gave her graduations on losing the tooth!” Zoe said, her tone a mixture of awe and jealousy.

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