Show Me the Way (Fight for Me #1)(61)

I forced myself to meet her knowing gaze.

“When are you going to realize you deserve to be happy?” she prodded.

My head shook. “I’m trying, Ma. But I’m terrified of doing something stupid. Making a wrong choice, the way I always do. Of doing something that jeopardizes Frankie.”

“And you finding happiness again threatens that? That just sounds foolish to me. The way I look at it? The happier you are, the happier she’s gonna be.”

Guilt flamed all around me, worry closing my throat. “You think she’s unhappy?”

Her brow creased into the few lines that showed her age. “God, no. Not at all. That’s not what I’m saying. What I’m saying is that child adores you. Thinks you walk on water. Thinks you can do no wrong. But there’s gonna come a day when she’s old enough to see the shadows in your eyes. The ones that are chased away just by looking at her. She’s your life, Rex. We all know that. Finding happiness again won’t mean that you love her any less.”

She moved to stand closer to me. She set her hand over my heart. “This? It’s missing something. It’s been for a long, long time. Long before that bitch ever up and left you two. Maybe it’s time you find it. You can’t move forward without moving on.”

Emotion ran my throat. Stinging and burning. I attempted to swallow it down, but the words were scratchy when I released them. “But what if being with her is wrong? What if I fuck up again and chase her away? What if Frankie falls for her?”

What if I do?

Couldn’t even bring myself to state the last because I already knew I was well on my way.

Glee flashed in Mom’s eyes, her grin victorious. “So you’re saying there is a girl?”

“Ma.” Affectionate frustration. She knew exactly how to goad me.

She softened again, her smile going gentle, understanding brimming in the warmth of her eyes. “There are no certainties in this life, Rex. We fail, we win, and we straight up lose. You know that first hand. But what you haven’t accepted is that the only security we have is how we use the moments we’re given. We waste them or embrace them. We cherish them or we let fear taint them. And yeah, some chances are higher risk. Of course they are, and I’m not saying to run out and be reckless. You don’t have to rush in or make any big decisions. You can protect your daughter while you test the waters. But you aren’t ever gonna know unless you try. You just have to decide if this girl’s worth giving her that chance.”

Chances.

I almost smirked. Almost wanted to tell her she sounded just like Rynna.

Rynna.

Fucking beautiful Rynna.

“I don’t even know where to start,” I admitted through a sigh. “Been keeping people at arm’s length for so long, don’t have the first clue about how to get back in the dating game.”

But there was something about me and Rynna that felt like we’d already surpassed all of that. Our connection went deeper than testing the waters. Bigger than dating or seeing how it went.

Something strong blazed between us. A connection that shackled us together.

Unavoidable.

Irresistible.

Truth was that last night I’d felt closer to her than I’d felt to anyone in so damned long, and I wasn’t talking Frankie or my mom or the guys.

This was about being united with someone. Bonded. Tied.

That connection had lit into a frenzy when I’d sat in the darkness of her room and watched her sleep.

Fuck.

She was gorgeous.

The kind of gorgeous that wasn’t just skin deep, even though that body made me crazy with need.

I was talking about the goodness that poured from her.

Sunshine and sweet.

I’d watched her until the sun started to show, like it was drawn to her the same as I was to this girl. Finally, I’d forced myself from her bed so I could clear my head.

Thing was, the confusion had only grown the more distance I put between us. That gravity calling me back to her while all my resolutions and dedications had warned I was making mistake after mistake.

“You could start by doing something nice for her,” Mom said.

“Nice?”

She laughed. “Don’t tell me you’re so far gone you don’t know what nice is? There’s gotta be something you could do for this girl to let her know you care. That you’re interested. Doesn’t have to be extravagant. Just show her you aren’t the uptight, grumpy pants this whole town thinks you are.” A smile slipped into the words.

My brow rose. “Grumpy pants?”

Frankie was suddenly right at my side, dancing around, singing, “Grumpy pants, grumpy pants, my daddy is a grumpy pants,” over and over again.

Maybe Frankie could see it better than I’d thought.

And maybe it was fucking time I did something about it.





25





Rynna





Panic had me sailing out from the back of the kitchen and rushing through the dining room of Pepper’s Pies.

But this was a different kind of panic.

Not the kind incited by Timothy Roth.

This was a huge banging on the other side of the wall, the floors shaking and the fixtures trembling, so fierce I was terrified my grandmother’s restaurant was about to come crumbling down.