The Rules of Dating(91)

I went back to Saylor’s room and found her still at the table she’d set up.

“I’m back, honey. Thank you for being such a good girl.”

“I heard Daddy. I wanted to run out to see him, but you told me to stay in here.”

“Yes!” I smiled. “Thank you for listening. It’s Daddy’s turn to talk to the man now. And as soon as he’s done, we can both go back out there. But the good news is, I’m done talking to the man and can play tea party with you now.”

As I sat down with Saylor and began pretending to drink some of the imaginary tea, I tried to make out what they were saying behind the door in the living area, but it was all faint and jumbled.

“Is there a lady out there, too?” Saylor asked.

Crap. “Yes. She’s an associate of Daddy’s who also came to talk to the man.”

“What’s her name?”

Hesitating, I answered, “Maya.”

“That’s a pretty name.”

I cringed. “Yeah, it is.” It was unsettling to appear jovial around Saylor when that bullshit was happening in the next room.

A few minutes later, the door burst open. “How’s my baby?” Colby headed straight to Saylor. It was like he couldn’t get to her fast enough.

“Daddy!” She ran to him.

Colby looked exhausted as he glanced at me and murmured, “He’s gone.”

He knelt and pulled her into a tight hug. “Were you the best girl ever while we were out there talking? Thank you so much, sweetheart.”

“I was, Daddy. Can I have orange chicken now?”

His shoulders sank. “Baby, I didn’t have a chance to pick up the food after all. I’m so sorry. But how about I make you your favorite homemade cheesy macaroni? You haven’t had that in a while.”

Her eyes lit up. “Okay.”

He stood up and whispered in my ear. “Maya insists on saying hello to her. I didn’t want to make a scene. I’m too damn spent. She promises to leave right after.”

Ugh. She’s still here? I let out a long sigh. “Okay.”

“You wanna come say hello to someone, Saylor?”

“Is it Maya?” she asked.

He looked to me, confused.

“Saylor heard a woman’s voice and had asked me who was talking. I told her she was an associate of yours named Maya.”

He nodded and looked down at Saylor. “Yes. Her name is Maya.” He exhaled. “Let’s go say hello.”

Saylor followed him out. “Okay.”

Maya was sitting on the couch. She stood up as soon as she saw Saylor enter the room.

Saylor was the first to speak. “Hi, Maya.”

Maya bent to meet her. “Well, hello, beautiful girl. How are you?”

“I’m good. Who are you again?” Saylor asked.

“I’m your daddy’s friend.”

“Oh.”

“Were you playing with Billie?” Maya asked.

The sound of my name coming out of her mouth was grating.

“Yup. We had a tea party.”

“That’s so much fun. I used to love to do that when I was young.”

Several awkward seconds of silence passed as Maya just stared at Saylor’s face. Poor little girl had no clue what was really happening.

“Well…” Maya’s eyes started to water. “I just wanted to say hello to you before I left.”

“Hello,” Saylor said innocently. She apparently hadn’t picked up on the fact that Maya was about to cry; I knew Saylor would have said something if she’d noticed.

Then Maya pulled Saylor in for a hug. Colby’s face was beet red. He looked like he was ready to lose it. She finally let Saylor go and turned to us. “Well, goodnight.”

Colby nor I said anything as she left.

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Thankfully, Saylor didn’t question us any further about Maya or anything else that had happened. She was just happy to have her daddy home and cooking her favorite meal.

Colby ended up making a huge batch of that mac and cheese for all three of us. It wasn’t the dinner we’d imagined, but then again, this entire evening had been flipped on its axis. I only hoped it had been worth it.

Because we ate later than expected, we opted to let Saylor pick an episode of a Disney show on demand instead of watching a full movie. Colby and I mostly stared at each other, still in disbelief as Saylor watched TV.

After the show ended, I offered to put her to bed.

When Colby and I were finally alone for the first time since this ordeal began, he wrapped his arms around me and let out a long breath into my neck. “You were a fucking rockstar today. I can’t thank you enough for putting up with that and for saving the whole situation. It could have been a huge disaster.”

“I didn’t do much.”

“Are you kidding? You handled it like a champ. You could’ve sent him away, but you knew facing the fire would be best. And it worked, I think. She and I didn’t fuck up because we’d had a chance to talk about what we were going to say.”

“I wasn’t sure if you were going to come back.”

“I probably wouldn’t have come back if I hadn’t located her in time.”