Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 458(@200wpm)___ 366(@250wpm)___ 305(@300wpm)
I return her wide grin. “Is that okay?”
“Oh yeah,” she gushes, her eyes so bright. “You two are good together.”
“Real good,” I agree, my heart pounding in my chest. “I care a lot about her.”
She waggles her brows. “Everyone can tell.”
I feel my cheeks warm with color, and I chuckle lightly. I cuddle her closer, and then I’m lost in her eyes. “You know you’re my girl, and that Kenni coming into my life doesn’t change how much I love you.”
She raises her brows. “Dad, I’m almost sixteen. You don’t have to reassure me that I’m your world.”
And she is, but Kenni is my sun. The light I need to survive.
“Still,” I say, emotion heavy in my voice. “I don’t want you to ever think I’m replacing you.”
Her lips curve up sweetly. “Never, Dad.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
She leans into me. “She’s good for you.”
“I know,” I say with conviction. Because I’ve known that for as long as I can remember.
“Too bad you didn’t get her before Stratford did.”
My only regret in my life. I can’t tell her that, though. I don’t want her to feel like I wish she weren’t here. “Things happen for a reason,” I say instead, my heart still in my throat.
“True,” she agrees. “You need to call the boys. They want to know your intentions.”
I can’t help but laugh at that. Of course they do. “I will.”
She eyes me. “What are your intentions?”
I know my heart is in my eyes as I admit, “To love her until the day I die.”
Skyye’s eyes widen as the sweetest little grin moves over her lips. She leans up to kiss my cheek, and I hug her tightly to me. She clings to me, and my eyes drift shut as the future plays out behind my lids. All the holidays as a family of five. Going to the boys’ games. Vacations, coffee dates, and rolling around in the sheets with the girl of my dreams. Being there right beside Kenni when the boys get into the NHL, and her being by me when Skyye graduates. Kenni helping me move Skyye in to her dorm. Wiping my tears away when she finds the man she’ll marry. Everything and more, and I know Kenni will be right there with me.
I won’t accept anything else.
When Tilly comes to pull Skyye away, my sweet girl waves. “Love you, miss you, mean it.”
My heart tightens in my chest when I realize I wish I had told Kenni that before she left for the bar. The thought catches me off guard since I’ve always thought that sentiment was only for Skyye. I call it back out to her, saying goodbye to everyone, and head for the station’s SUV. It isn’t until I’m almost to the SUV that I realize Willie has fallen into step with me. I stop dead in my tracks and eye him, wondering what the hell he’s doing. “Sheriff?”
Willie nods and then tucks his hands into the pockets of his loose-fitting jeans. He swallows, and I don’t understand what is happening right now. His blue eyes move to mine, and he sighs deeply. “I heard what you told Skyye.” My heart falls promptly out of my ass. Kenni is gonna be pissed. I press my lips together as he shakes his head. “You know I don’t hate you, right?”
I scoff at that. “Funny way of showing it.”
He chuckles, holding his gut as he shrugs. “I’m serious,” he promises, and I’m unsure how to react to that. “But I have been pissed at you for years.”
“Do I want to know why?”
His lips tip up. “Because you didn’t get to her before that fucker did.”
My jaw falls open, and I’m surprised it doesn’t hit the damn ground. “Sorry?”
“You think I didn’t know you loved my daughter, Dean?” he asks, his eyes crinkling at the sides. “No man keeps coming for more after getting arrested with that girl, but you did.”
I roll my lips, unsure what to say, but he doesn’t give me a chance to comment. “I love my granddaughter, I do—and my grandsons—but fuck if I didn’t wish you two would have had them all together instead of with other people.” I swallow thickly as I hold his gaze. “You’ve both spent your best years with the wrong partners.”
I shake my head. “No. Our best years will be together with our kids.”
His eyes dance with happiness, but his voice is steely when he says, “Promise me.”
Easiest promise ever. I hesitated before, but no more. “Sir, if she’s in the back of a cop car, I want to be beside her. If she needs a hat to throw up in, it’ll be mine. If she needs somewhere to fall, I’ll catch her. And if she needs someone to love her—hell, even if she doesn’t want someone to love her—I will.”