Page 19 of Single Dad Billionaire Boss

I hurried out of Celia’s office, abandoning any pretense of calm or dignity. I wanted to find someplace to hide, but I didn’t know where. I drove to a coffee shop nearby and messaged Celia.“Sorry I’m being dramatic today. I’m eating my feelings now. ttyl.”My hope was that she would laugh it off and not respond with a barrage of concerned texts. A show of concern from Celia would no doubt break once and for all the modicum of composure I had left.

I scrolled through all the pictures of Zoe in my photo stream—the musical stairs at the pier, the silly selfies we took together—and stopped at the one of Jacob reading to her at bedtime. It dawned on me then. I wanted tobewith Zoe and Jacob forever because I thought of them as part of my family. I felt like they were mine.

Andthat, I thought, was an even bigger problem than my crush on my boss.

Chapter10

10

Jacob

Christmas wasthe happiest time of the whole year for me. And as usual, I had spent months planning everything to make Zoe’s winter break from school magical—a perfect, quiet week in the mountains, just the two of us.

On Monday morning, the week before Zoe’s break, I had found a sticky note from Ella suggesting I get sour gummy worms for Zoe’s stocking. And before bed that night, I asked Zoe if she hoped Santa would bring them for her. She said yes, and then we talked about what we were looking forward to most during our trip to the mountains.

“Do you want to ski first?” I asked. “Or would you rather go sledding or maybe try to snowboard?”

“I want to walk and see the birdies,” Zoe said. “I like to hear them. They do good singing. Ellie says I can do a video of them and send it to her.”

I smiled and stroked her hair. “Well, that settles it then. We’ll bundle up in our coats and gloves and look for birds first thing, okay?”

It was then that my phone rang. Ten minutes later, I called my assistant to make the travel arrangements. An unexpected trip back to Singapore. I couldn’t believe it, and I did my best to hide my frustration when I talked to Zoe again.

“Daddy needs to fly back to Singapore,” I said. “They’re not finished with the new building and I need to fix a problem there. So Ella will be staying with you again. I hate going this close to the holidays, but I promise I’ll be back in time to drive up to the cabin for our vacation.”

“You promise?” Zoe said, her eyes both sad and hopeful. “What if you go and they don’t let you come home?”

“That’s not going to happen. I promise I’ll come home as fast as I can. Like last time.”

“Mendocino’s uncle got a plane that crashed!” Zoe cried, the tears welling in her eyes. “She told us about it in show and tell. A pointy metal thing hit him and his arm got all bloody!”

I hugged my daughter tight. “I’m sorry that happened,” I said. “And I’m sorry it made you feel scared. But I’m going to be careful, okay? I promise, no pointy metal pieces.”

After Zoe was asleep, I messaged Ella to let her know I’d be leaving for Singapore the next day. I knew Zoe would be fine with her, but I didn’t like having to leave my daughter again, and I was concerned about delays upon my return. I packed hastily and made notes of possible backup flights out of Singapore in case, for any reason, my booking fell through. I could imagine Ella telling me to stop being a control freak because I couldn’t decide the weather, much less a week in advance.

I stayed up wrapping Zoe’s presents for Ella and the ones she made to send Mrs. Henderson. Ella could handle the rest. I could trust she’d take care of my daughter so I could focus on my work. I tore a purple square of paper off the pad in the kitchen and wrote to her.

“Thank you for being exactly the person we needed in our lives. It means everything that Zoe will be safe and happy with you while I’m gone. Return flight is Dec. 22. Hopefully sooner, if I can manage it. Take care, J.”

During my flight, I looked at pictures on my phone. My wallpaper was still the photo Ella took of me reading to Zoe at bedtime before my last trip. I remembered the baby lotion smell, her wriggly feet kicking with excitement over the story I read, and the fierce way she hugged me good night. I didn’t remember if I ever thanked Ella for taking that photo and sending it to me. I should have told her more often how great she was—never mind that, during those weeks before our falling out, I had felt so exhilarated by our note exchanges.

In any event, my time in Singapore was disorienting, to say the least—the change in time zones, the language barrier, the amount of work. The translator stopped me at one point and suggested I take a break, but I was determined to wrap up everything as quickly as possible. Exhausted and irritable, I fired my VP in charge of the expansion, but still, it took me too long to get the build back on track. To make matters worse, when I was finally ready to go home, my flight got delayed and I wound up in Bangkok looking for another one. I stood outside my terminal and called Ella.

“Hello?” she said. “Jacob?”

“Yes. How are you and Zoe?”

“We’re kind of freaking out that you’re not home yet. Did your flight get delayed?”

“I had to reschedule for a flight out today. I’m stuck in Thailand. All commercial flights out of Suvarnabhumi have been cancelled because of weather. I’ve called everyone I know to charter a private jet or get a car service to take me to another airport. They have lower cost carriers and may be less precious about letting flights take off.”

“Don’t, please.” Ella’s voice was crackly but I could tell she was upset.

“I’m sorry. I know you’re spending the holidays with your family. I’ll have Marsha arrange a different flight to get you there on time. I’m so sorry, Ella. I know I’m delaying you from flying home.”

“It’s not that,” she said. “I just don’t want you flying when it’s not safe. We’ll wait, I promise. What matters is you getting home in one piece. I don’t care if I miss my flight.”

I was speechless. Ella was being asked to give up part of her holiday to watch Zoe, and instead of demanding I hurry home by any means necessary, she begged me not to take risks. My heart began to hammer. I wasn’t sure why.

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