Found My Love [Learning to Love 3] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Alison Mello

  “That’s perfect! Thank you so much, Chase. You have no idea how much I appreciate this.”

  “It’s no problem, T. I adore Katie, so know I wouldn’t try to leave her with someone who I thought couldn’t handle her. She’s a good girl, and Sam will love her. Plus I’m looking forward to some alone time with you, too.”

  “Aww, thanks, Chase. Does it bother you that I have a daughter?”

  “I wouldn’t say it bothers me because like I said I adore her but it I’m sure it isn’t always going to be easy, too, but I’m trying. Most of my frustration comes from Kyle being a dick, but like I said you seem to be doing a great job with her.”

  “I’m really trying. It’s so hard to be a single parent. I feel like Kyle undoes the things I teach her so she’ll be a well-behaved child, and it can be frustrating.”

  “Well, I hate to say it, but it sounds like he doesn’t really want to see her. Maybe now that you told him he has to contact you first to see her he’ll see her less. I know you think that sucks, but maybe it is a good thing.”

  “Maybe. It is hard to think about her not having the daddy’s-little-girl moments that I had and loved, but you’re right. He’s not much of a daddy sometimes,” I say with a yawn.

  “Okay, well, you sound like you’re getting tired, so I’ll let you go. Give me a call tomorrow, but I’ll plan to see you after Krav Maga for sure.”

  “Sounds good. Thanks for a great weekend, Chase.”

  “You’re very welcome, T. Good night.”

  “Good night, Chase.”

  Chapter 5

  My alarm is going off, and I need to get my butt in gear. It’s Katie’s first day school and I want to make sure that I leave enough time for a school pictures. I head into the kitchen, put a small pot of coffee on, and then head back to my room to get dressed. I quickly flat-iron my hair since that is all I can do with it after sleeping on it wet and throw on a little makeup.

  I make my cup of coffee and head into Katie’s room to wake her. I sing, “Happy first day of second grade, pretty girl!”

  She jumps up out of bed. “Oh my gosh! I forgot today is the first day of school!” she says all excited.

  I chuckle at her excitement. “Sweetie, you have plenty of time. Why don’t you put on the outfit we bought you while I start making your breakfast.”

  “Okay, Mommy!”

  I’m about to walk out of her room.

  “Mommy, can I just have Cheerios today? I’m a little nervous.”

  I smile at her. “Sure, sweetie. Get dressed, and I’ll have it on the table waiting for you.”

  I watch her move around for a moment before I leave, and at that moment, I realize how much she’s like me. She has my long brown hair and my big brown eyes. She’s tall and thin because she’s so active. I smile and head off into the kitchen to get her breakfast and she meets me at the kitchen table. “Eat up and I’ll do your hair when you’re done,” I say, and I head off to get what I need.

  After I finish her hair, I tell her to grab her backpack and when she returns she asks me if we can take a selfie together.

  I chuckle because I think it is funny my second grader is talking about selfies. “Sure, sweetie, come here.”

  I grab my phone and take a quick selfie of the two of us. Then I snap a few more pictures of her alone before I post them to Facebook with all the other first-day-of-school pictures.

  My phone rings, and it is Chase. “Good morning, Chase. What’s up?”

  “Nothing, I just wanted to wish Katie a good first day of school. Is that okay?”

  “Of course it is! Hold on one moment. Katie, it is for you.” I tell her it is Chase.

  “Hi, Chase!” she says, excited that she has a phone call.

  I can hear him talking to her but can’t really hear what he is saying to her. She smiles and nods like he can see her.

  “I will, Chase. I promise.”

  He continues, and she’s smiling more.

  “Okay. See you Friday!” She hands me back the phone.

  “What was all that about? She has a huge smile on her face,” I say curious at what has her so happy.

  “I just told her to have a good day at school. Then I said that if she does her best and tries hard, then on Friday I would to take her out to dinner and to the mall to buy any outfit she wants for school.”

  I smile. “Oh, you’re in trouble now. This girl is a tough little shopper. She loves clothes and loves to go to the mall.” A teenager has nothing on my daughter. As a matter of fact, I fear those years because I’m sure it can only get worse.

  “It’ll be fine. We’ll go to the mall and take her to eat somewhere there,” he says, full of confidence.

  “Okay. Well, I got to run because her bus will be here soon.”

  He says, “Have a great day, T,” and I hang up as I walk her outside to wait for her bus. Within a few minutes it is pulling up to the house. I take a few more pictures of her getting on the bus, and off she goes to school. I wave as it pulls away and then get into my car and head to work.

  I walk into the building and receive a bunch of good mornings as I walk to my office. As I sit down at my desk, I receive a text from my mom.

  I’ll pick up Katie after school.

  Thank you. I’ll see you when I get out of work. I’m still waiting to see if she gets into after-school care.

  Don’t stress it. You know I enjoy picking her up.

  Jack knocks on my door.

  “Good morning, Jack. What can I do for you?”

  He smiles at me. “I just wanted to see how Katie’s first day of school is starting off.”

  I smile. “Look.” I show him the pictures from this morning.

  “Oh my, Theresa. She’s getting so big, and she looks just like you.”

  “Thanks, Jack. You know how much I adore her. She’s my life.”

  “I know she is. Well I was just seeing how it went. I’ll see you at ten.”

  “Sure, thing. I have some journals I need to finish before I get to our meeting, and it is already nine.” I glance up at the clock on my wall.

  “Okay. Well, get to it,” he bellows as he’s walking away from my office.

  * * * *

  “Theresa, our first interview is here are you ready?”

  I look up at the clock. “Holy crap. It is three already?”

  “Yes, it is.” She hands me a copy of the first person’s resume as we walk toward the conference room. We are not overly thrilled with this candidate, but we felt she was worth the interview. We walk into the conference room together to introduce ourselves, and I inwardly sigh at the fact that I will not get any more work done today because we have three interviews back-to-back, filling the rest of the day.

  Once our last interview is gone I say, “What do you think so far?”

  A bit frustrated she says, “Well, Connie, our last candidate, was the better of the three, so I would say we interview her again, and hopefully either one or both of tomorrow’s.”

  “I agree. We also got about five more resumes in today, so we could also look those over. If any of them look good, maybe we can get them in for a last-minute interview tomorrow.”

  “Sure do you want to grab them and we can look them over quick right now?”

  “Sure. Be right back.” I walk out and my phone vibrates. It is a text from Chase.

  Hope you’re having a good day?

  Long day. In a meeting with Abbey trying to find a replacement for one of the AP people that quit while she was away.

  Oh that sucks. Well I’ll let you get back to it. Tell Abbey I said hi and give me a shout later.

  Talk to you later.

  I walk back into the conference room. “Chase was just texting me. He says hi.” I throw two resumes on the table.

  “Oh that’s cool,” she says as she’s looking at one of the resumes. “This one is actually pretty good,” Abbey says. “Her name is Julie. She doesn’t have a ton of experience but sometimes that is better because s
he will listen and I can show her the ropes.” She sends the resume my way, and I hand her the last one.

  “This one is overqualified and it makes me feel like he’s desperate. Not to mention he will probably quit when he finds something that suits him better,” she says, tossing it to the side.

  “Let’s call Julie right now and see if she can come in tomorrow at three.” I hit the speaker button on the console in the middle of the table and dial her number. A woman picks up instantly.

  “Hi. Is Julie available?”

  “This is Julie. May I ask who’s calling?”

  “Hi, Julie, you’re on speakerphone. This is Theresa and Abbey from Coastal Engineering. How are you today?”

  “I’m well thanks. How are you?”

  “We are doing well, thanks. Listen, we are calling because we were wondering if you were available for an interview tomorrow. I know it’s last minute, but we are doing a round of interviews and wanted to include you after we saw your resume today.”

  “Sure! What time would you like me to come in?”

  “How does three work for you?”

  “That is perfect. Thank you so much!”

  “Okay, Julie. We will see you tomorrow at three.”

  “Thanks again.”

  We hang up, and Abbey is smiling at me. “She sounds sweet,” she says to me.

  “We shall see tomorrow. It is getting late. Let’s get out of here. I want to get home and see how Katie’s first day of second grade went.” I jump up from my chair, grab my paperwork, and head back to my office as Abbey goes off to her cubicle to collect her things, and we walk out together.

  I get to my mom’s, and I’m so excited that I rush inside and nearly trip. “I’m here,” I shout as I walk through the door.

  “Mommy!” Katie shouts as she comes running toward me.

  “Hey, baby girl. How was your day at school?”

  “It was great! One of my friends from last year is in my class. We have a ton of papers the teacher sent home. She said they are very important papers and I’m to give them to you as soon as I get home.” She’s hugging me tight.

  I laugh over her enthusiasm/ “Mommy will go over the papers tonight once you’re in bed and have them ready for you to take back tomorrow.” I rub her back.

  “How was your day at work, sweetie?” my mom asks and kisses me on the cheek.

  “It was good. Thanks for getting Katie from school. I know you don’t mind picking her up, but she’s a busy kid and will tire you out. That is why I put in for after-school care.”

  “It is fine. I’ll pick her up as long as you need me to. She’s good for me. She keeps me moving. I made meatloaf for dinner, so come sit and eat before you head home.”

  “Mom, you didn’t have to cook for us. I could have made dinner when I got home,” I say feeling bad that she has made dinner for us.

  “No sense in arguing with her,” my dad says from the dining room. “You know how she is.”

  “Hi, Daddy.” I lean in to give him a kiss. “Daddy, are you feeling all right? You look a bit pale today.”

  “I’m fine! Your mother has been hounding me all day. I’m an old man,” he says plainly.

  I head into the kitchen to help my mother with the plates. I tell her that I agree with her. My dad looks off, and I ask her to please keep a close eye on him. She promises me that she is and tells me he has a checkup next week. “Okay. Please just let me know what the doctor says.”

  She nods at me as we head into the dining room with plates in our hands. Katie is sitting on my dad’s lap, and he’s bouncing her up and down. I notice he looks really tired as well as pale, but that doesn’t stop him from enjoying time with his granddaughter.

  “Have you talked to Chelsea lately?” I ask, knowing my sister wouldn’t call them, but my mom tries to call her often to see how she’s doing. My sister is two years older than me but is as snobby as hell. She married a rich doctor and is now a “busy” stay-at-home mom of two. She’s constantly telling my mom that she has no time to visit, but if my dad is getting sick, I’m going to have to call her and talk to her about bringing the girls to see them.

  “Mom, this is really good.” I’m so hungry that I’m surprised I even taste it. “Katie, finish up your dinner. I’m going to help Grammy clean up, and then we have to get home so I can get you to bed.”

  After I’ve scraped my plate and loaded it into the dishwasher, I start packing the rest of the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and corn into containers before putting them in the fridge. My mom comes in with the rest of the plates, so I rinse those for the dishwasher. I then quickly clean the dirty pots and pans in the sink. I look at my watch and know I have to wrap up here so I can get Katie home.

  As soon as we get home, I take Katie in and put her in the tub. I quickly wash her so she can play for a little bit. While she’s playing around, I go through the paperwork in her backpack. I fill out and sign what needs to be signed before placing it back into her backpack so it is all set for the morning. I head into the bathroom to check on Katie. Of course, she’s still playing with her toys.

  “Okay, sweetie, it is time to get out and head to bed.”

  She collects her toys to put them into the net. She climbs out, and I wrap her in her towel to quickly dry her off. She puts on her PJs and climbs onto her bed.

  My phone rings. “Hey, Chase. How are you?”

  “Hey, baby. What’s wrong? You sound off.”

  “It was a long day at work. Then I got to my mom’s house to pick up Katie and something seemed off with my dad. He looked really pale and tired.”

  “I’m sorry, T. Did you ask him if he was feeling okay?”

  “Yeah and he just kept saying that he’s fine, that he’s an old man, and that we need to leave him alone, but deep down, I know something is wrong.”

  “Well did you talk to your mom about it?”

  “Yeah she said he has a checkup next week, so I’m going to try to put it out of my mind for now. Oh, and Katie wanted me to tell you that she was a good girl at school today, so she can’t wait to go out shopping on Friday.”

  He bursts into laughter. “Your daughter is too funny, and I will apologize now if she drives you crazy all week,” he says and chuckles again.

  “Yeah well, I may just send her to your house until Friday,” I say, smirking, waiting for his response.

  “That would go up Kyle’s ass sideways. I have two spare rooms at my house, so you two are welcome to stay at my house at any time. I can even paint one all girly for her.”

  “That just reminded me. I have to sign her up for dance school this week. She has been begging me to go to dance, and I keep forgetting.”

  “Oh, that will be cute. She will be a little ham up on stage. I can picture her up there in a little tutu.”

  I can hear the smile in his voice. “How was your day?” I want to change the subject.

  “It was good. I had a meeting with Seth, and we signed with two new companies today, so I guess it was a good day. The only thing that would have made it better would have been to see you.”

  “Oh really,” I reply shyly.

  “Really. I can’t wait for Wednesday night. Do you want to spend the night at my house since your mom has Katie all night?”

  “Is that what you want? Do you want me to come to your house for the night?” I ask with a smile.

  “Of course, I want you to come spend the night with me.”

  “Okay, I’ll bring an overnight bag to work with me so we can go straight to your house after our weekly dinner,” I say, excited to see his house.

  “That’s great, babe. I can’t wait.” I can tell he’s smiling and genuinely thrilled that I’m going to his house.

  “Okay, well I’m going to let you go because my phone is pinging in my ear, and I need to get ready for tomorrow, but I’ll see you Wednesday.”

  “Have a good night, T.”

  “You, too, Chase.” I hang up and see that I have four text messages from Kyle.


  I tried calling you earlier. Why didn’t you answer?

  I’m not planning on taking Katie this weekend.

  I have a chance to work so I’m going to.

  Why aren’t you answering me?

  This guy is unreal, acting like I actually have to respond to him just because he decided to send me a text.

  I was at work when you called me earlier, and unlike you I have our daughter to take care of so I have to put her first. I told you to just call me or text me when you want to take her again or I’ll assume you’re not taking her. Since you’re not taking her you do not need to text me.

  Why are you being a bitch?

  I’m not being a bitch, but you act like I have to jump because you’re texting me.

  My daughter does live with you.

  Hahaha, she may be your daughter by blood, but you do not treat her like she’s your daughter, and just because she lives with me it doesn’t mean I need to answer to you. I’m done with this conversation. I need to get ready for work tomorrow. Good night!

  Fuck you!

  Chapter 6

  Hey just want to let you know that Kyle texted me to confirm he’s not taking Katie Saturday.

  That’s fine. We’ll go back to your house after the cookout. How is your day going otherwise?

  It’s fine. I just had lunch with Abbey to discuss 2nd round interviews for the AP position. How about you?

  It’s fine. I can’t wait to see you tonight.

  Oh man I forgot my overnight bag at home.

  Really??? I guess I’ll have to go home and pack one before we meet up with you so I can stay at your place.