Written with Regret (The Regret Duet #1)(20)

Recently, I’d started paying her an allowance for doing chores around the house. Mainly, it was stuff like picking up her toys and keeping her bathroom tidy, but it was her responsibility—one she’d taken very seriously from the start. She loved counting her dollars, and I was proud of how rarely she wanted to spend them. She was a saver—as long as I didn’t take her to the jewelry section at her favorite store. Then all bets were off.

She was still young, but I’d done my best to make sure she appreciated the small things in life.

The one exception to this rule was her birthday.

Because, to me, it wasn’t just her birthday. It was the day we became a family.

I didn’t have a lot of fond memories of those first few days after I’d found her outside my door. The uncertainty. The indecision. The fear. But the family I’d been given that day meant more to me than I ever could have fathomed.

That little girl was my life. And while her very first birthday had been celebrated wrapped in a blanket, abandoned by her mother, and rejected by her father, I swore to myself, every year on her birthday, I’d make damn sure she knew exactly how loved and wanted she truly was.

So, for birthdays, my baby got the party of her dreams.

And I’d missed the first ten minutes, thanks to a popped balloon and a fucking frog.

“Could you have taken any longer?” Ian asked.

“Probably not,” I clipped, setting the cake on the table. “Did she notice?”

“Nah. She’s been in heaven since they set up the bubbles. She wasn’t too happy about getting off the pony. But then she saw Molly and it’s been smooth sailing ever since.”

“I can’t believe I missed that. Will you talk to the horse lady and see if I can pay her to stay an extra hour after the party ends?”

“Way ahead of you. You’re golden until six.” He lifted the top of the baker’s box. “Shit. Is that enough cake to feed everyone?”

“Don’t know. Don’t care. It was the best they could do. Just make sure Rosie gets a piece.”

“Why you don’t hire people to handle this, I will never understand.”

I unwrapped the trick candles that always made her giggle and started strategically arranging them on the saddest unicorn cake to have ever been made. “Because I’m her father. I can’t do the flowery fru-fru crap she likes, so I hired a party planner, but the cake and the balloon are always my responsibility.”

“Right. And you do it so well.”

I lifted my head to scowl. “Shut it. Part of the reason I’m late is because I had to spend my daughter’s birthday listening to Lance Goodman moan and groan about numbers. Any chance you’re going to be growing a set of balls anytime soon that will allow you to have conversations with people other than me?”

“I wouldn’t count on it. I just got shot down by a woman before she even looked at me. Besides, we all know I’m the brains of this operation. The negotiating and swindling are your roles. And, for the record, you are way better at them than you are balloon-and-cake duty.”

“Please tell me you’re not trying to pick up women at my kid’s party?”

“Oh, how the tables have turned, Caven.”

I laughed, finishing with the candles and finally having a second to look around. The back yard looked amazing, but Ian was right. That cake was not going to be big enough. “Shit. I don’t think I invited all these people.”

“Yeah, I was surprised too. I didn’t think this many people liked you.”

I chuckled. “Where’s my girl? I need to do some groveling.”

“She’s with Molly at the bubbles.”

I turned in search of my daughter, but what I found was a portal to some fucked-up alternate dimension.

Time stopped, the world tilted, and it was all I could do to keep from sliding off the edge.

Because right in front of my eyes—in my own goddamn backyard—was Hadley, squatting in front of my daughter, laughing like she’d been there every day and not a fucking ghost for the last four years.

My vision flashed red, all the anger I’d ever felt toward her bubbling back to the surface. But it was the sheer panic that she was standing next to Rosalee that caused my body to fire off enough adrenaline to fuel an inferno.

I didn’t know that woman. But with an absolute certainty, I knew that she had never once had my daughter’s best interest at heart.

“That’s Hadley. Call the police,” I snapped at Ian before taking off.

I dodged children and raced around the gift table, my eyes never leaving the two of them. The muscles in my neck and arms strained in objection, but I forced myself to slow to a walk. I’d already caught the attention of a few guests, so I slapped on a smile and did my best to play it cool as I made my approach. I’d taken a route so that Hadley’s back was to me. I did not want her to see me before I got my hands on Rosalee in case she tried anything stupid.

I didn’t have the first clue what she was doing there, but I wasn’t taking any chances.

“Ferrets, huh?” Hadley asked. Just the sound of her voice raked down my spine like the point of a rusty dagger.

I was only a few steps away when Rosalee’s head snapped up, a huge smile splitting her mouth.

“Daddy!”

“Hey, pretty girl.” I darted toward her, scooping her into my arms and securing her on my hip before I even bothered to look at Hadley.