Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 73774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 73774 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 369(@200wpm)___ 295(@250wpm)___ 246(@300wpm)
On the way to Sadie’s place, I stop and pick up breakfast and coffee, remembering what she liked from our time together.
She opens the door with Rory on her hip, and as I stare at the two of them, dressed in their pajamas with their messy hair, Rory’s head resting on Sadie’s shoulder, my heart feels as though it’s whole again, and I know whatever it takes, I need to make both of these girls mine.
“What the hell is this?” Sadie hisses, waving her phone in the air, with her face red in anger. We’ve spent the day together. After Sadie let me spend some time with Rory while she showered and took a little bit of time for herself—I offered after she mentioned Rory was up all night and she was exhausted—we took Rory to the park, stopped for lunch at Sadie’s favorite deli, and then ordered in dinner. We did the whole bedtime routine together, and I read Rory her story before she fell asleep. The day has been perfect, and I can’t wait to do it all over again tomorrow.
Not wanting to overstay my welcome, I helped Sadie clean up, then went to kiss Rory good night one last time before heading out, but when I walked out to say goodbye to Sadie, I found her at the table fuming.
“I’m not sure,” I tell her, walking over.
“This,” she says, punctuating the word as she shoves the phone into my face.
It takes me a second to see what I’m looking at, but once I do, I frown in confusion. “That’s your child support paperwork. I told you I was going to pay back child support. My attorney insisted you sign the paperwork as proof that you understand you’re receiving it.” I shrug. When I told him about Rory and Sadie, he told me he would take care of it. He wanted to file for joint custody, but I didn’t want to jump ahead and put Sadie on the defense. My hope is we’ll figure it all out together, but I figured while we’re doing that, I could show her I’m serious by paying her what I owe her. It’s at least a start…
“Yeah, I can see that. There are way too many zeros. Are you trying to pay me off or something?” She glares my way. “If you think you’re going to pay me off and take my daughter from me—”
“Whoa,” I say, shaking my head. “Have you heard of Raging Chaos? I make a damn good living. Even taking the last year and a half off, I still have income coming in, and my financial advisor knows his shit, knows how to properly invest, so while I wasn’t doing shit, my money was still multiplying. I would never try to take our daughter from you… ever.”
“Shit, I’m sorry. I was just in shock. But Gage, that’s a lot of money. Like the kind of money people ask for when they kidnap a kid and want ransom.”
I chuckle at how adorable she is. “It’s seventeen percent of what I earned during the ten months Aurora has been alive. That’s what child support is based on in New York.”
I can tell when she does the math in her head because her eyes go wide. “Holy shit.”
“Aurora is my daughter too,” I tell her, sitting at the table across from her. “Which means it’s my job… my right to take care of her as well.”
“You’re right,” she finally says. “Thank you.”
We’re both quiet for a few moments, and my thoughts go back to my conversation with Braxton the other day. I glance over at the television and take a chance. I know she has a boyfriend, but it’s not like I’m propositioning her for sex. “It’s still early. Want to watch a movie or something?”
Her eyes widen before she averts her gaze. “I should probably get some work done,” she says, standing. “Rain check?”
“Yeah, sure.” I nod and stand as well, taking the hint. “See you tomorrow?”
“Yep. See you—” She flinches. “Shit, tomorrow…”
“Yeah… Sunday.”
“I know.” She rolls her eyes. “Sarah was actually supposed to take Rory for the afternoon. Mark had asked me to go to a show with him.”
“Who?” I ask, even though I have a feeling I already know.
“Mark. He’s the guy I’m… dating. I can cancel…”
“I can stay with Rory,” I blurt out.
“While I go on my date?” she asks incredulously.
“You aren’t going far, right? I watched her while you showered. I played with her and changed her diaper and got her dressed. It will give me a chance to spend some more time with her, just the two of us, and she seems comfortable with me. I know her routine…”
“I don’t know,” she says, looking a mixture of confused and sick.
“I won’t go anywhere with her,” I promise, knowing that’s a hard limit for her after what happened with her late husband and son. “If there’s an emergency, I’ll call for help.”