Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99434 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
“Max is my ex-wife. But thank you for everything, Doctor.”
After he left, Layla looked down at Ella in my arms. “She fell asleep during that.”
“Oh good.”
Layla kept staring at Ella while shaking her head. “I knew it would be tough on her. But seeing her today…” She paused. “She’s going to be devastated. You’re going to become her world, Gray.”
The contents of that damn notebook flashed back to me.
Never really wanted kids.
I’ll never be his priority.
I looked down. “I know.”
I checked in on Max one more time and picked up the few personal items she had with her—house keys, a small wallet, and a necklace they had taken off of her neck. After the last few weeks, I didn’t think anything could shock me anymore. But holding what Max wore around her neck left me speechless once again. Her wedding band. We’d bought matching ones from the guy who’d married us down in the DR.
After, we hailed a cab, and I managed to climb in without waking Ella. All three of us were quiet as we pulled away from the curb. The weight of everything was too much to fight my way through for any type of meaningful discussion.
“I’m thinking I should take her to her house to sleep. She’s never been to my place, and it might help if she wakes up in her own room. Max’s house keys were in the envelope with her other belongings.”
“Oh. Yeah. That’s a good idea.”
The last thing I wanted to do was separate from Layla. I could feel the distance between us in the backseat of the cab, even. Physical separation would only make it worse—give her time to think about how fucked up her life would soon be if she stuck with me. But asking her to sleep at my ex-wife’s house was a lot.
I treaded lightly. “Should we drop you off?”
“Yeah. Thanks.”
The quiet stretched the rest of the drive to Layla’s. Her hand was on the door handle before we even pulled to the curb.
“I have a meeting tomorrow in Connecticut. But let me know how things are.”
“Will do.”
She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. It wasn’t like I could move with a tiny human wrapped around me. “Goodnight.”
Layla was halfway out the door when I started to panic. “Layla, wait…”
Turning back, she looked at me. If I’d had any doubt that I loved her before, I was damn certain in this moment. For some reason, it felt like I shouldn’t let her get out of the car.
Remind her you love her.
Remind her you love her, you pussy.
“I…I…Thanks for today. And tonight. I appreciate you sticking around with me at the hospital.”
She smiled sadly. “Of course.”
“Good night, Freckles. Flick the bedroom light on so I know you’re in okay.”
I made the driver stick around until the light turned on, and then I did something I never dreamed I’d be doing.
I took my daughter home to sleep in my ex-wife’s house that she’d bought with money she stole from me.
***
“Can I help you?” I’d run to the front door without a shirt on when the bell rang, not wanting it to wake Ella. Actually, terrified that it would. Whatever. Semantics.
“I’m Paula.”
“Can I help you, Paula?”
“I take care of Ella.”
I’d completely forgotten that Max said she had a nanny for the mornings when she worked.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Gray.”
Paula’s face dropped. “Oh. Is everything okay with Max?”
“Why don’t you come in?”
I grabbed my T-shirt from the living room and threw it on, then spent ten minutes bringing Paula up to speed on Max’s current health. Apparently, Max had filled Paula in on the situation with me already. She knew I was Ella’s father and that Max had kept it from me. I wasn’t sure how much further Max had gone into our history.
“So you watch Ella in the mornings? Even now that Max isn’t working anymore?”
“I was watching her from seven until noon, but Max asked me to start staying until five last week. Afternoons get tough for her now.”
I nodded. “Can you keep that schedule for me? I think it would do Ella a lot of good to have as much of her routine unchanged as possible while Max is in the hospital. That’s why I stayed here last night with her.”
“Of course. Max and I have already talked about me staying on…after…” Her face fell, and then she thought of something that sent the corners of her lips toward a smile. “I’ve been with Ella and Max since Ella was born. She jokes that I’ll be left to you in her will.”
It was a giant damn relief to know I had some help—at least until I figured things out. When Ella woke up and raced into Paula’s arms, my neck unknotted for the first time in two days.