Page 129 of In The Game

“Well, your mom is kinda like my Cinderella.”

“My mom doesn’t drive a pumpkin. She drives a Corolla.”

Raleigh snorts.

“True. But, the night of the ball, after the prince meets Cinderella, she takes off at midnight and the prince chases after her but she’s long gone, right?”

Arthur points at me with his spoon. “She leaves her shoe behind.”

“Right! Except for me there was no shoe. There were no clues. And I looked all over, but couldn’t find her.”

He nods. “Yeah, she’s really good at hide and seek.”

Fuckin’ tell me about it.

“And that night we met, me and your mom…”Shit, this is not going well.

Raleigh clears her throat and interrupts. “Arthur, do you remember that time you asked me if you had a dad? What did I say?”

His attention turns to Raleigh. “You said yes. And that he loved me very much wherever he was.”

I swallow—so grateful she never spoke ill of me. Time to rip it off like a bandage.

“I’m your dad, Arthur. And I haven’t been here, but not because I didn’t want to be, but because I couldn’t find you. I wanted to be with you and your mom so much, and I’m sorry I wasn’t.”Please don’t hate me.If he does,I’ll spend every day proving that I can be the dad he deserves.

“You’re my dad?” He looks between Raleigh and me.

I nod. “I’m your dad. The three of us”—I point to each of us—“we’re a family.”

“Holy fart feathers. I knew it!”

I rear back to look at Raleigh, but she shakes her head.

“What do you mean, you knew it?”

“I guessed it. Three reasons.” He counts on his fingers. “You call me Mini Bear, and you’re the Big Bear. Following me?”

I nod, holding back laughter at his seriousness.

He continues. “We both like the color red. And because you act like my dad.”

I scoop him up in my arms, and he lunges for his cereal bowl, grasping for his spoon that’s just out of reach.

“Dad! Put me down. My cereal… it’s getting soggy!”

My voice breaks, and I squeeze him tighter, flooding with emotion after hearing him call medad.

“Can’t do it. I love you too much.”

FORTY-NINE

I’ve hit the jackpot, and I can’t figure out what I’ve done to deserve a man like Barrett Conway. It’s been two weeks since we’ve returned to normal life, and while I miss being in Hawaii, Barrett makes our everyday feel like a vacation.

We’re still adjusting to getting things moved into the new house, but he’s done so much of the work on his own, allowing me to get caught up at Method. We’ve decided to keep my place for now, but only because there are some updates I’d like to finish before we put it on the market. The back steps need to be redone, shutters need to be painted—honestly, the whole house needs to be painted, and the garden out front needs new plants before any photos are taken. All the stuff I didn’t have time to do when it was Arthur and me. Today, he’s at my house packing up my stuff so I don’t have to do it after a long day at work. I love him so much.

Susan has been incredible too. She brings us dinner a couple times a week and babysits while we unpack and get a bedroom set up for Arthur. The first time he called her Grandma Suze instead of Big Suze, she broke down to tears. We all got a little choked up. She’s a fabulous mother-in-law. I hope someday I have a relationship with Arthur like the one she has with Barrett. I’m taking notes.

After perusing the “number one interior paint colors home buyers love most,” I close the tab on my internet browser. Okay, I’m done planning for the day. I need to get back to work. Rob has realized I’m no longer single. I can tell he’s bummed out about it. I should have said something long ago. Looking back, it was pretty fucked up of me to not draw a line in the sand. The door to his office opens and he steps out.

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