by Ava Miles
Every fairy tale she’d spun about meeting her daddy again had turned to ash around her feet now that she was face to face with his ugliness. This was the man she’d hoped to give her away at her wedding? The one she’d dreamed would love and cherish her as the daughter of his heart? The one she hadn’t been able to completely give up hope on, even after the cowardly way he’d run from Vander? No wonder their mama had worked so hard to protect them all those years.
“He’s not worth the toilet paper you wipe with,” Shelby said, anger lacing her voice. “Sadie, you did good, telling him what for when he talked about Paige like that. Honey, are you okay?”
“He’s just like my mother,” Paige said, her eyes glassy with shock. “No wonder they…”
“Birds of a feather,” Susannah said, holding her stomach like she was going to retch. “He’s… You’re right. He’s nothing. The worst kind of excuse for a man. I’m glad he left us.”
In that moment, Sadie was too.
Chapter 27
The fallout over Sadie and Paige’s soul-crushing encounter with their father weighed heavily on Riley.
Beyond his obvious love for each of them and his hope to help them through the aftermath, he also feared Jess might encounter the same situation someday when she was older. Thank God she didn’t remember her mother’s disastrous “visit” on her first birthday.
He did what he could for the women he loved. For Paige, he brought out his full box of tricks. He drew comic strips about the birds in their yards carrying on irreverent commentary about the neighborhood. His favorite so far was of a husky cardinal saying to a down-on-her-luck robin, “The crazy guy in the cape must want to be a bird. But no one would adopt him.”
She’d laughed and kissed his cheek, and then hugged him something fierce when he told Mark to take Paige away for the weekend while he looked after Haley. They’d both returned renewed—Mark had been worried about his wife too—even if Paige still seemed a little vulnerable around the edges.
For the woman he now referred to in his mind as his future wife, he bought more vintage fabric for her treasure chest and met her for coffee or lunch whenever she had a break from work. He also poured his heart out in one drawing after another, sometimes drawing her as herself and sometimes as his new superhero, fighting the injustice of deadbeat dads with her fellow justice-seeker, defense attorney Nathaniel Gray. The idea of time continued to ping him, though now he found himself mulling over how time healed all wounds.
Beyond the drawings, he held Sadie when she cried and he made love to her with everything he had, more concerned with comforting her than with finding pleasure. She was teaching him about the power of love every day, and he’d never been more sure of their future than he was now.
While Jess and Haley didn’t know the reason for Paige and Sadie’s turbulent emotions—they’d agreed to tell them there had been some sad news about a family member on the visit to their grandma—the girls had also chipped in to improve the women’s spirits. Jess told him Sadie needed a feather boa because she was too big for a princess dress, and he’d bought her the pink one the girls had selected online. She’d loved it, so they’d bought one for Paige too. He’d loved watching the two girls host Sadie and Paige, both wearing their boas, in their fairytale castle in Jess’ playroom, pouring them tea and giving them grapes and wheat crackers to snack on.
He told Tyler to hold off on a visit, and then told his parents the same thing when they surprised him by suggesting a visit to meet her. They were all curious about the woman who’d captured his heart.
And she had…so much so that he got up one morning and designed an engagement ring. When he felt ready, he shared it with Mark and his brother. Mark told him he was blown away and slapped him on the back. Tyler had provided a couple of comments on the movement of the design. They’d always worked well together, and his suggestions only made it better. After the next draft, Riley found a jeweler in downtown Nashville to make it.
The day the ring arrived he made homemade pizza for Jess. Haley had gone home reluctantly since she’d seen the frozen dough he’d bought rising in a bowl on the counter. Jess had been equally miffed about Haley not staying, but he’d told her he wanted to have dinner with her all by himself. That had placated her some.
When they sat down to dinner, just the two of them, he immediately took a big bite of pizza, singeing his mouth. He yelped like someone had run over his foot with a bicycle.
“Dad! You always tell me to let it cool first.” Jess gestured to the slice of pepperoni she’d left untouched on her plate.
“I know.” Nerves like this made you forget all the rules—even your own. “I got excited. So, I wanted to tell you something. You know I love Sadie, right? And, well, she loves me.”
“You’re girlfriend and boyfriend,” Jess said, rising and tucking her knees under her seat. “I know that, Dad.”
“That’s because you’re smart. So, I’ve kinda decided I want Sadie to be my girlfriend forever,” he said, using the wording he’d heard Paige use before.
Jess blinked a few times. Riley tried to gauge if that was a good thing.
“You mean, like, married?”
“Yes, and while she’ll be my wife, she won’t ever take the place of your mother, okay? I know that kid at school, Betty, has been telling you about how things changed at home when her dad got remarried, but I promise you our lives will only get better after Sadie joins our family. I mean, you like Sadie, right? She’s nice and funny, and she’s like super-duper family, what with being Haley’s aunt, right?”
God, he was dying here under the green-eyed stare of his daughter.
“And you’ll always be my number one girl. That won’t change when Sadie moves in with us. We’ll still play together. She’ll just…play with us. Okay?”
How many times could he say “right” and “okay” in one conversation?
“Oh, and we’ll still live here. Next to the Bradshaws. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“Dad,” Jess finally said. “It’s okay if you marry Sadie.”
He blew out the breath he’d been holding. “Whew! You had me on pins and needles there, kid. I thought I was going to need Batman to come in and rescue me or something.”
“You’re such a baby.”
“Guilty.”
“Dad, I knew you were thinking about this. Haley and I found the drawings of her engagement ring,” Jess informed him, confirming there was nothing sacred in their house. “You must love her a lot to ask Mr. Bradshaw and Uncle Tyler for help.”
“I do, Jess. Almost as much as I love you.” He gave her a smile. “I love her as much as I love the Bradshaws.”
“That’s a lot,” Jess declared, pushing her slice of pizza around. “It’s a beautiful ring. Maybe you can make one for me when I get older.”
Oh, his little girl. “Sounds like a plan. Do you want to see it? I found someone to make it, and it’s finally arrived.”
She nodded, and he went to retrieve it from his sock drawer. He’d hadn’t felt right about hiding it in his underwear drawer. That had felt weird.
“Oh, it’s so pretty,” Jess breathed out when he returned and opened the box.
Because he felt like she would want a traditional diamond, he’d gone with a marquise cut and then had a wedding ring quilt design engraved into the platinum band. The shape of the diamond complemented the quilt pattern.
“Can I touch it?” Jess asked, reaching for it.
“Of course,” he said, a bit surprised by her reluctance. “You can always touch nice things. This is a famous quilt pattern for weddings. I thought she’d like it. What do you think?”
“Oh, she’ll love it for sure,” Jess said, almost cooing. “Look how it sparkles.”
She held it up to the light, and he got all choked up seeing his daughter hold the ring he planned to give to the other woman he loved.
“I also wrote something on the inside of the ring,” he told her, fighting the last of his discomfort over the che
ese factor. “‘You’re the fabric of my life.’”
God, he hoped no one was going to laugh at him, but the phrase had come to him, and it had simply seemed right.
“It’s not too much, right? The phrase.”
“No, she gets your humor, Dad. I think it’s sweet.” It wouldn’t have surprised him if she’d patted him on the cheek like a comforting adult. “Sadie likes sweet,” she added. “Like Haley. I can’t wait for you to show her the ring. Can we call her over?”
“Ah…I kinda want to keep it a surprise,” Riley said.
“Dad, Haley can keep a secret. She keeps mine all the time.”
That alarmed him. He didn’t like hearing his daughter had secrets. “Like what?”
“Oh, Dad,” Jess said. “When are you going to ask her?” she said, purposefully changing the subject, he had no doubt.
“So you’re completely okay with this?” he asked one last time. “If you need to talk to me—”
“It’s going to be okay,” Jess said. “I know she’ll be my stepmom.”
“But not a nasty stepmom like in a Disney movie,” he felt compelled to add.
“Of course not! You’d have to be a nasty person first, and Sadie is great. Come on, Dad. Give me some credit.”
All of his worries about Jess’ recent emotions about her real mom started to dissipate. Maybe Mark had been right. He’d needed to stop being afraid for Jess to do the same. They had a plan now, and he knew every kid needed structure like that.
“Right. I’m being a little crazy.”
Jess put the ring back in the box, but kept the lid open. “A little. Dad…are you and Sadie going to have more kids?”
He wanted to gulp. He’d hoped she wouldn’t ask serious questions like that. “Yes, we’d like to. I mean, I love you to pieces, and Haley too. Sadie loves her nieces and nephew. And little Boone.”
“She’s crazy about Boone!” Jess said dramatically. “But I am too. He’s so cute. Even when he poops his pants.”
Leave it to his daughter to ground him in the realities of dirty diapers. Memories of those days with Jess could still make him shudder. The toxic waste that had come out of his kid had horrified him.
“Does this mean you’d be okay having some brothers and sisters to play with?”
“Yeah, sure,” Jess said. “And Haley can play with them too. She doesn’t think she’s going to get any.”
How did she know about that? Paige and Mark had always told her they hoped God would send them another baby. Then he stopped himself. These kids practically had telepathic powers. “Why does she think that?”
“Her mom cries when she gets her period sometime,” Jess said. “Yuck, by the way. Haley and I so don’t want to get our periods, Dad.”
Not the period talk. He wasn’t sure he could take that and the engagement talk in the same day. “You’re a girl. It’s not like you have any choice. It’s like having a superpower. Except only girls have it.” Thank God, if you asked him.
“Having a period is so not a superpower.”
Riley couldn’t help but smile as he tried to spin it around. “Sure it is. It’s part of the process of a woman having a baby, which is an incredible power. But let’s not get off topic. Is Haley sad she doesn’t have a brother or sister? Has she talked to her mom or dad about it?”
“She talks to me,” Jess said. “Sure, she wishes she had one. Mostly for her mom and dad. But she’s not sad because she has me. I’m like her sister.”
“Yes, you are.” Someone was looking out for them for sure.
“When are you going to ask Sadie?” She picked her pizza up and took a healthy bite.
“Well, I was wondering if you wanted to ask her with me.”
She shook her head and set her pizza down. “Dad, that is so not how you’re supposed to do it. You’re supposed to do something romantic and get down on one knee. Not bring your kid along. Do I have to explain everything?”
It took every effort not to start laughing. “Okay, you told me. Would you help pick out my outfit then? I want to make a good impression.”
He was going to have to do some more thinking about that. Of course, he still needed to ask for J.P.’s and Louisa’s permission. Okay, he didn’t need to, but he felt Sadie would love that, and it might even make her cry in a good way. Those were serious points.
“Of course, I’m going to help you.” She took another bite of pizza. “Aren’t I your partner in crime?”
He loved it when she said that. “Yep. Always.”
“Okay, now tell me everything you’ve planned so far. Then I’m going to tell you what you need to change. I mean, I’ve watched more romantic movies than you, Dad.”
“Word.”
Jess ended up making more changes to his plan than his brother had to the ring, but that’s why she was his girl.
Chapter 28
“Riley, you seriously can’t expect me to keep this blindfold on for the whole car trip.”
“You agreed to trust me,” she heard him say.
Of course she did, but she couldn’t see anything under the official black blindfold he’d insisted she wear. They were going away for the weekend at his suggestion. Two whole days with him was going to be the best tonic for her still-healing heart. She was still dreaming about meeting her dad, and sometimes she woke up crying. Sometimes Riley was with her, and he’d hold her. Sometimes she had to face the hurt alone.
“I didn’t expect it to take this long!” she protested. “We’ve been in the car for at least an hour.”
“Maybe,” Riley answered. “It’s hard to tell when you’re blindfolded. This is the only way I could think of to make sure our trip was a surprise. Settle back, Sadiekins, and get excited. You’re going to love this!”
He’d taken to calling her Sadiekins in moments of teasing, alongside his other endearments of ‘sweetheart’ and ‘my girl’. She rather liked it.
“Fine,” she said. “I’ll just settle back and look at nothing.”
He had the gall to laugh. “I’ll turn some of that infernal country music on as a compromise.”
“That would be big of you,” she responded. “Please do so.”
His groan filled the car, and she gave a dark chuckle. Served him right. She sang at the top of her lungs, pulling out her most honeyed Southern drawl and twang. After learning the real reason he disliked country music, she’d battled with feeling guilty about listening to it around him, but she wasn’t going to let Mandy ruin it for her. Maybe someday the association would change for him too, and he’d think of her and Rye and Jake when he thought of country music, not the woman who’d hurt him and his daughter.
Riley was silent until the car stopped, breaking the music off in mid-refrain. “Remind me to never agree to that form of compromise,” he said. “I’m not sure my ears will ever be the same.”
“Are we here then? Show me already.”
“Bossy, aren’t you? The more time we spend together, the more sides of yourself you show me. And I love them all. Sadie, welcome to your magical weekend.”
He undid the blindfold, and she screamed like a little kid when she spotted her creative nirvana through the windshield.
“The National Quilt Museum!” She bounced in her seat and then turned to face him. “You took me to Paducah, Kentucky! Oh, Riley, how did you know?”
“I did some research,” he said, caressing her cheek. “I wanted to give you something special. It’s an artist’s paradise, you know.”
She undid her seatbelt and slid across the console to hug him. “I know! I’d been thinking about bringing my quilting class here for a tour. You’re the best.”
He was grinning. “Excellent. Shall we go inside? Or do you want to head over to the cabin I rented first and come back later?”
“I want to go now!” She took another look at the museum. The brick building looked like it stretched the length of a few street blocks. “Oh, I can’t believe it. And a cabin? You rented a cabin?”
“I thought it might be nice to be on the Ohio River,” he said, waggling his brows, “lots of creative inspiration. I might come up with a water monster or something. You never know.”
And he would too. She loved that big, beautiful imagination of his. “Riley, you are the best. Quite simply the best.”
“Shall we?” he asked, and together they went inside.
She felt like a little kid, squirming with excitement and impatience, as they checked in and paid their admission. The sparkle in Riley’s eyes told her he didn’t mind any. They held hands as they approached the first display. “Oh, the colors. My God. They’re so beautiful.”
There was an assortment of quilts staged on the wall in perfect harmony with each other. They made their way to each of them. Sometimes the designs contrasted in ways that grabbed her by the throat. Other showpieces blended together, so much so that a deep sense of peace and wonder settled over her, the same kind she experienced while looking at a sunset or watching an eagle taking flight.
At one point, she had to release Riley’s hand. The quilt depicting what looked like a planet in outer space surrounded by a swirling ball of fire demanded her complete attention. She wanted to touch it, and the urge was so strong, she had to fist her hands together.
“My God,” she breathed. “The colors. The shape. The depth. The motion. It’s…there aren’t words.”
“This is my favorite so far,” he said. “It’s like something out of Thor.”
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” she said. “It never dawned on me to model a quilt after something outside of our earth.”
“Do I feel a birthday present coming on?” he joked. “Mine is April 23 if you recall.”
“What?” She had to shake herself out of the reverie. “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea.”
“Sadie, I was kidding,” he said. “You don’t need to make me a quilt.”
Little did he know she was already fussing with Jess’ princess quilt and the plans for his superhero one. “I’ll do what I like. Oh, Riley. This is truly…magnificent. Thank you!”