Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23020 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 115(@200wpm)___ 92(@250wpm)___ 77(@300wpm)
“Good, that means I don’t need to call and quit for you.”
Laughing at his bossiness, I punched in the number for the restaurant. My grouchy boss finally picked up after it rang six times. “Chuck’s Diner.”
“Hey, Chuck. It’s Ava.”
“You better not be calling off your shift tomorrow,” he warned. “I’m not going to buy that you’re sick when you just took a long weekend.”
“I’m not sick, but you’ll need to cover the rest of the shifts you have me scheduled for.”
“That’s not how it works around here, Ava,” he growled. “You miss a shift without covering it yourself, you run the risk of getting fired.”
“You can’t fire me,” I retorted, rolling my eyes at his reaction. I definitely wouldn’t miss having to work with him every day.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Everybody’s replaceable.”
“What I meant was that you can’t fire me because I quit. I’m moving and won’t even be in the same state to work my shift tomorrow. I’ll email you my new address so you can send me my final check.”
“Fine, but don’t expect it anytime soon. I’m not gonna make a special trip to the post office for you.”
Roan wasn’t messing around about me moving in. As soon as Chuck hung up on me, he tugged the phone out of my hand to text his friends to ask for the name of a good moving company. Then he led me back to the den to play with the girls while he arranged to have all my things transferred to my new home without me having to lift a finger.
The best part was Cassidy’s reaction to the news when he ended his call with the movers. “Who was that, Daddy?”
“A moving company.”
Her eyes widened as her bottom lip puffed out. “Are we moving again? I love dis house.”
“You’re not going anywhere, sweet cheeks.” He crouched down in front of her. “But your aunt loves our home so much she decided she should live here, too.”
Cassidy jumped up and grabbed my hands. “You’s going to live with us?”
“Yes, as long as that’s okay with you.”
“Yippee! My dweam of havin’ you as my other mommy came true! Good job, Daddy!”
That was all the confirmation I needed to know that I made the right decision.
11
Roan
I grinned as Cassidy belted out the lyrics—her version of them anyway—to the latest musical she’d fallen in love with. Ava was staring out the window, but I could see her fighting a smile in the reflection in the glass, and her shoulders were subtly shaking.
Our clasped hands were resting on my thigh, and I raised them up to brush a kiss over her knuckles. If the rest of my life was like today, I was the luckiest bastard in the world. I couldn’t wait to slip my ring on Ava’s finger so we all shared the same last name, and hopefully, our foursome would grow soon. Which reminded me that I still hadn’t brought up the fact that we’d never once used protection in the last few weeks since I’d popped her cherry.
“Daddy?” Cassidy’s sweet voice floated over the music.
“Yeah, sweet cheeks?”
“Can evwy day be today?”
My heart melted, and from the look on Ava’s face, so did hers. “We can’t go out and do fun things like the zoo, carnival, or movie dates,” I answered. “But we can still have fun every day. We can laugh and love”—my hand tightened around Ava’s—“and make each one special in its own way.”
Cassidy was quiet, so I glanced in the rearview mirror to see her eyes narrowed as she contemplated my response. Turning my eyes back to the road, I pressed my lips together to suppress a laugh. Fuck, my kids are cute.
“Okay,” she finally piped up. “But we have to listen to music evwyday and dance. Deal?”
We always had a mini “dance party” before bed to get their wiggles out, then read stories to calm down and get comfortable. “Deal,” I agreed, slipping my arm behind me to lock pinkies.
“Aunt Ava, will you dance with us?”
Ava twisted in her seat, smiling brightly. “Of course, Cassie-bear. I wouldn't miss a dance party with you and Daisy-bell! How would I ever get to sleep without getting out the ants in my pants?”
Cassidy giggled hysterically, then chattered on about something with Ava. I wasn’t sure what they were talking about because my attention was caught on the strange car parked on the curb by the gate at the end of my driveway. It had New Jersey plates and looked like it had seen much, much better days. I hit the button to open the gate and slowed the SUV before turning onto the driveway.
The other car started and pulled in right behind me. There was a man at the wheel, and though there was something vaguely familiar about him, I didn’t recognize him. I debated whether to wait and call my security to deal with him, but then Ava gasped and went rigid in her seat.