Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 130307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 130307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 652(@200wpm)___ 521(@250wpm)___ 434(@300wpm)
Eventually, Chloe turned to me, arching a brow with an encouraging dip of her chin. “Well, I’m going to use the restroom before we leave. I’ll be right back.”
She squeezed my shoulder as she left the room. We’d both decided that it would be better for me to tell Ava alone first, to give her a moment to process between the two of us.
But with Chloe gone now, I was as scared as ever. That woman really had become a lifeline to me.
I took a deep breath, leaning my elbows onto the table. “Before Daddy goes to the rink, there’s something we want to talk to you about.”
Ava was kicking her feet under the table, but they stopped swinging at that, her little eyes flicking to mine. It was wild, how kids could pick up energy like that. She knew what I had to say was big, that this wasn’t normal for us.
“Okay,” she said tentatively.
“You know how Chloe has been living out in the pool house? How we hired her to be your nanny back in January?”
Ava nodded with a wide grin. “It’s been the best.”
“It has been,” I agreed. “And we’ve all been hanging out a lot, haven’t we?”
“Mm-hmm,” Ava said. “We’re best friends!”
My heart squeezed, and I looked up at the ceiling a moment before bringing my gaze back to hers. “We sure are.”
I watched my daughter for a long moment, praying what I said next would bring her comfort and happiness and nothing else. But this was all foreign territory to me.
“What would you think about Daddy and Chloe maybe being more than friends?”
Ava frowned a bit, and I realized that wasn’t the best terminology. How the heck would my five-year-old daughter know what I meant when I said that?
Fortunately for me, Chloe slid back into the room then, leaning against the door frame with a soft smile.
“You know how we watched Tangled together, and how much you loved it?” she said, crossing the room to sit next to Ava again. Ava nodded excitedly, and Chloe smiled. “Well, your dad and I are like Rapunzel and Flynn.”
Ava’s eyes widened a bit, her gaze floating to me before she smiled and hid her face. “You mean you two like to kiss?!”
“Maybe,” Chloe teased, tickling Ava, who squirmed and laughed and finally dropped her hands from her face to look at us again.
“Do you love her, Daddy?”
My heart nearly burst out of my chest, and I blew out a long breath, reaching over to grab Chloe’s hand in mine. “I do,” I whispered. “Very much.”
Ava smiled, looking between us, and then she shrugged, kicking her feet. “Okay.”
“Okay?” I asked.
“Do you have any questions for us?” Chloe added. “Anything you want to know?”
“Does this mean you’re going to stay forever?”
Chloe smiled, running a hand through my daughter’s hair. “I think it means that’s a possibility, yes. And for now, I’m at least going to move into the house with you guys. Would that be okay?”
“Into my room?!” Ava clapped.
“No,” Chloe said on a laugh. “Into your dad’s room, but I’ll be up there every night with you to play and read before bed. Deal?”
“Deal.”
We talked for a while longer, Chloe knowing what questions to ask better than I did. But in the end, Ava was just excited. I knew one day she might have more questions — especially when it came to her mother. But I also knew that with Chloe by my side, we could handle it.
We could handle anything that came our way.
When it was time for me to head to the arena, I kissed Ava on the forehead, and then I brought Chloe into my arms, a little nervous to kiss her for the first time in front of Ava. But I did it, savoring each kiss like it was the first and the last and promising I’d find them after the game in the family lounge.
“Go get ’em,” she said, squeezing my arm when I released her.
But before I could walk out the door, Ava screamed, “Wait!”
She tugged at Chloe’s phone peeking out of her jean pocket — I couldn’t stare too long, because this woman in fucking jeans was apparently my ultimate undoing. She had gone on some shopping trip with Maven, Livia, and Grace last weekend, and if I thought seeing her in the custom-created dresses she made was torture, it was nothing compared to a well-fitted pair of denim.
Ava turned to me. “Before you go, can we take a family picture?”
I scrubbed a hand over my mouth, emotion strangling my next breath. All I could do was nod, and then she was running to get Chef Patel from where she was cleaning up in the kitchen after making me my pre-game meal.
Ava dragged Chef into the room and handed her the phone, and then Chloe was tucking herself under my arm, and I hiked Ava up in the other, and we leaned together for our first photo together.