Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 102834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 102834 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 514(@200wpm)___ 411(@250wpm)___ 343(@300wpm)
Turning, I closed the door without inviting her in. It was rude but necessary. If our daughters wanted to be friends that was fine, but I couldn’t allow myself to soften too much when it came to Milly. That was a slippery slope to getting attached and developing feelings for her, which hadn’t panned out very well for me the last time. At least if I acted like a dick on the surface, it would keep her at a distance and save me from getting too close at a time when I still trying to fix what was going on in my own head.
“Gigi,” I said, knocking on her bedroom door again. “Deirdre’s mother is here to collect her.”
Both girls made almost identical groans of disappointment that their evening had come to an end. A moment later, the door sprung open, and Gigi emerged with Deirdre, a tall, fair-haired girl with green eyes. She didn’t look much like her mother at all, which was a relief in a way. If she were going to be spending time over here with Gigi, then at least I didn’t have to look at a carbon copy of Milly day in and day out.
“Hello,” she said. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Deirdre.”
Ah, hell, so she might not have looked like Milly, but there was definitely something in the way she spoke, the intelligent aspect to her eyes that was so like her mam.
You’ll just have to deal with it, I told myself. For Gigi.
“Deirdre,” I replied. “Nice to meet you, too.”
She smiled at me then turned back to Gigi and pulled her into a hug, making arrangements for Gigi to come have dinner at their house the following evening. Bloody hell, it was already getting out of hand. Were they going to want to spend time together every day after school? I walked Deirdre to the door, opening it and finding Milly still waiting there, an unhappy spark in her eyes to have been left standing in the hallway.
“Hey, Dee,” she said, handing her daughter her car keys. “Go on down and wait for me. I just want to have a quick chat with Gigi’s dad.”
“Sure,” Deirdre replied, taking the keys and heading downstairs. Once she was gone, Milly cast me an uncomfortable expression, running a hand through her long hair as she sighed, “Look, I understand this isn’t ideal.”
I emitted a joyless laugh. “You could say that again.”
She frowned, eyeing me speculatively before continuing, “You clearly want nothing to do with me, and I have every intention of staying out of your way, but I’d really appreciate it if you’d let our daughters continue to be friends.” There was something vaguely pleading in her tone that had a measure of my hostility fading.
“Deirdre’s had to upend her life to come here with me, and she was having trouble making friends the first few days of school. Now she’s met Gigi, and she seems so much happier. They like a lot of the same things, and I’d really hate for anything to upset their friendship.”
I stared at her, a thick lump forming in my throat. She had no clue the lengths I would go to make Gigi happy, especially with how things had been for her the last few months. Swallowing down the lump, I forced myself to put my own personal feelings about Milly aside as I revealed, “Gigi’s actually been going through a hard time lately, too. Tonight was the first time I heard her laugh in months.”
Milly’s expression flickered before empathy filtered through, her pretty lips forming a surprised ‘O’ shape. She obviously hadn’t expected me to reveal anything so personal. “Well, I’m glad the friendship with Deirdre has cheered her up some.”
A short, awkward silence ensued before I said, “I won’t get in the way of their friendship.”
“Okay, thank you. I won’t either.”
I cleared my throat and rubbed at the tension in my jaw. “I heard them arranging to have dinner at your house after school tomorrow.”
“Oh, okay. Well, Deirdre hasn’t mentioned it to me yet, but I’ll be happy to have Gigi over.”
“Good,” I said gruffly. It was about as much cordiality as I could manage.
“All right, well, goodnight, Derek.”
“Good—” Before I could finish, Milly turned and walked away.
Well, I guess I deserved that. I’d certainly been doing it to her an awful lot lately. The barest hint of amusement tugged at my lips as I stood in the doorway, watching her petite frame and graceful gait as she disappeared around the corner at the end of the hall. I remained in place, listening for the recognisable ping of the lift, the doors opening and closing, signalling her departure. Then I turned and went back inside my apartment.
12.
Milly
I was still bristling the following day as I replayed the encounter with Derek in my head while cooking chicken parmesan for dinner. It confounded me that the one girl Deirdre had found a connection with at school just so happened to be his daughter. A higher power was surely trying to mess with me. Still, I was immensely relieved she’d found a friend—even if it meant I now had to contend with her grump of a father.