The Will(203)

I did that to her and my heart took a beating in knowing it.

“Sweetheart—” I started.

“I love you, Josie,” she declared and my heart stopped beating altogether when she did. “You’re awesome. We all think you’re the bomb. Me, Con, Eath. We do. You’re cool. You’re cool with us. But the most important of all that is you make Dad happy.”

I held her gaze, loving what she said but hating the look in her eyes.

She kept speaking.

“The last couple of days, Dad wasn’t happy.”

“Amber—”

“That stupid skank Mandy took off on him. Ethan’s stupid mom Sloane took off on both Dad and Ethan. Crazy. Dad’s the best guy there is. But we know. Me and Con, we know the reason they did is because of us.”

“That may not be true,” I told her gently.

“It’s true,” she returned swiftly. “They wanted Dad. They didn’t want us.”

I closed my mouth for I knew from Jake this was not wrong.

It just pained me to know Amber and Conner knew it.

“But we all come together,” she stated.

“I know that, my lovely.”

She didn’t nod. She didn’t give any indication she believed me.

She just repeated, “Don’t screw Dad over, Josie.”

I drew in a breath, pulled up my courage and walked to her.

She didn’t draw away so I lifted my hands, framed her face and moved mine close to hers.

“Your father and I had an unpleasant discussion,” I shared carefully. “I reacted to this badly. I have not had a good deal of experience with relationships, my lovely girl, but that’s no excuse. When I say I reacted to it badly, what I mean is that I overreacted. But I’ve thought things through since then and I love your father, I love you kids, and I’ve learned not to do that again.”

She didn’t touch me, didn’t say anything, but she did keep her gaze steady on mine so I felt it safe to continue.

“Things will not be smooth sailing, Amber. Life is life and we’ll all have issues crop up out there as well as amongst ourselves. But I’m hoping we’re building a foundation where we’ll weather all those storms. The last two days, I learned that I need to stand strong and weather those storms. I’m so sorry I went away. It was the wrong thing to do. The only thing I can promise is that I won’t do it again.”

“Ever?” she asked.

And when she did, I thought about it for I knew my answer was crucial and it also had to be completely honest.

But even as I thought about it, I knew.

I knew Jake would not hit me. Jake would not wound me with words. Jake would not cheat on me. Jake would not lie to me. Jake would not gamble or steal or throw away money or go out and rape and pillage.

So I knew.

“Ever,” I promised her.

When I did, she closed her eyes and dropped her head forward so her forehead rested on my mouth, her hands coming up so she could wrap her fingers around my wrists.

“I love you, my sweet girl,” I whispered against her skin, pressing in with my hands.

She pulled away, caught my eyes and squeezed my wrists. “Back at cha, Josie.”

I smiled.

She smiled back.

Thank goodness.

We let each other go and I went back to the plates. I handed her one and she got down to the business of preparing it for Conner as I went to the drawer to get the cutlery.

I was counting out forks and knives when her phone in her back pocket sounded the alert she had a text.

I looked to her and saw her pull out her phone, look at it, then shove it back into her pocket.

Unusual.

Amber usually responded to texts immediately unless she was at school.

“Everything okay?” I asked.

“Yep,” she answered.

“Amber,” I called, seeing the stiffness in her frame.

She looked to me.

“Is everything okay?” I repeated.

“Mom keeps bugging me,” she told me.

I was uncertain how to proceed so I did it cautiously, “Bugging you how?”

“Wants to go to a movie this weekend.”

“Ah,” I murmured.

“Said no and it’s like she doesn’t get it. But she hasn’t asked about the movie again. She just texts and asks how it’s going. Wants to know if I wanna get a coffee. She even sent me a picture of a sweater at Lucky she thought would look good on me and asked if I’d like to have it.”

“You said?” I prompted when she spoke no more.

“I texted back, ‘whatever,’” she shared.

“Did you like the sweater?”

She focused on preparing Conner’s plate and answered, “It was kind of kick-butt.”

I grinned as I moved to the pantry to get napkins.

“She’s bugging Con too,” she told me while I was on the move.

“Is that so?” I asked from inside the pantry.

It was when I came out that I felt her eyes on me so I looked to her.

“You did this,” she stated.

It wasn’t an accusation even when it kind of was.

“Yes,” I confirmed honestly.

Her face set stubbornly. “I’ll take the sweater, Josie, because it was cool. But I’m not goin’ to a movie with her or coffee or whatever.”