Page 99 of The Single Dad Project

“I love you, too, sweetie,” she whispered, but thatwe... It had stopped the thudding of her heart for a couple of seconds, and now it raced like an escapee.

“Justine,” Adam said dryly. “I’m going to take it from here, okay, baby girl?”

“Okay, Daddy!”

He neared Flo, and again, she was thankful for the building behind her. It held her up when her legs had the consistency of water.

“Flo, Jussy’s not wrong. We love you. I love you,” he murmured.

She was projecting. She’d finally cracked under the pain and sadness and was now imagining things because she could’ve sworn Adam said he loved her.

“Told you so!” Justine boasted.

“Jussy.”

“Sorry, Daddy!”

Shifting his attention back to Flo, he lifted an arm, his cupped hand hovering near her cheek. But he dropped it, rubbing his palm over his thigh.

“I’m sorry, Flo,” he said, and for a bemused moment, she thought he referred to nearly touching her without her permission. But then he dispelled that by continuing. “I was the coward you called me. But it didn’t have anything to do with you. It was all me. I used your age and career as an excuse not to face my own fears and insecurities. I didn’t want to hear that you loved me because I didn’t think I was lovable or able to be the person you needed. Someone who wouldn’t hurt you, wreck a relationship. A part of me believed I couldn’t be a healthy partner because I didn’t see that growing up. I believed I was my father’s son.”

He inhaled a breath, dragging his hand over his hair, a tell she’d come to recognize when he was uncomfortable or nervous. That she knew that detail about him only emphasized how much she noticed everything about this man. Loved everything about him. And hearing him confess these negative things he’d come to accept about himself had pain and anger sweeping through her. But notathim.Forhim.

“I don’t know your father,” she said hotly, eyes narrowed. “But from what you’ve told me, you are nothing like him. You are your own person, not a carbon copy of him. And there’s nothing unlovable about you.”

His lips twitched again, but then he sobered. “I’m starting to believe that. And you’re the reason why. You’re the reason why I’m choosing to stop allowing fear to rule every decision I make. I’m choosing you. And Rose Bend. I’m choosing to give my daughter my very best, and that’s you, Flo. So even if you decide I’m not who you want anymore and a future with me is not inyourfuture, I’m still staying here. I’m still giving Jussy you, and you, her. And when you return from Kenya, we’ll be here, waiting for you, trusting you’ll return to us.”

“And what if I decide I don’t want you in my future anymore? You’re going to respect that? Give up?” she pressed, her heart creeping up to her throat.

“I’ll respect it. I’ll even accept it. But give up? Never. I’ll just try harder to convince you of the truth. That you are meant for me, and I’m meant for you. I didn’t fight for you once. I won’t do that again, queen. You’re worth waging a war over.”

His words nearly echoing her earlier thoughts stung her eyes, and she squeezed them closed. Gentle fingers traced the arch of her eyebrow, the tender skin beneath her lashes, the bridge of her nose.

“Look at me,” he softly ordered, and when she acquiesced—she couldn’t do anything less—love filled his hazel eyes. So much love she almost disobeyed him and lowered her lashes again. Almost. “Please forgive me for running. No more and never again, Flo. Jussy and I, we’re staying still and letting you find your way home to us.”

The tangled knot of emotion around her throat wouldn’t allow her to speak, but he didn’t seem to have that problem.

Cupping her cheek, he lowered his head and pressed his forehead to hers. “You have no choice but to stay with me. Jennifer has decided Rose Bend will now be her home base between her travels. Oh, and she’s also decided to become an author now that she’s met Beck Dansing. You invited her to a girls’ night and gave her friends, so she’s your responsibility now. You have to be responsible for saving me from her.”

“Do I get hazard pay?” she breathed, choking on a thick laugh.

“A salary, queen. You get me, Jussy, my meddlesome ex-wife and apparently your new buddy. All you have to do is take us. Accept us.”

“I love you,” she whispered. Then stronger, louder, “I love you.”

“We love you, too!” Justine tossed her arms around her and Adam’s legs. “I’m not running, too, Flo!”

Love, joy and hope surged within her, and she couldn’t contain it all. So she loosed it. Leaning her head back, she laughed aloud, and it was long, loud and so free.

And as Adam kissed her, swallowing her laughter and giving her his own, she knew her running days were over.

She’d finally come home.

Look for the next Rose Bend novel

coming soon!

The Husband Situation

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