I grab her hand and lace our fingers together. She glances down at our hands, but thankfully doesn’t try to pull away.
“She doesn’t hate you. She was curious and concerned at first, but when I told her what happened, she understood.”
Her fingers twitch, and her head swings in my direction. “You told her about my attack?” she asks, her eyes expanding.
“I didn’t give her any details. Just that you were assaulted. I also gave her my part in that night. I never told her. She was so pissed, I thought she was going to kick me out of the house.”
She snorts out a laugh. “She would never do that. She adores you too much.”
I grunt. “If you had seen her face, you wouldn’t say that.”
She giggles.
“My brothers are going to be there. Trouble will be bringing his wife and son, and JW his girlfriend and sister.”
“Trouble has a son?” she inquires, sounding surprised.
“Biologically, he’s not Trouble’s, but in every other way that counts, he is. It’s a long story. Maybe Remi will tell you about it one day.”
“Maybe.”
I caress circles on her hand with my thumb. “You’ll like Remi and Eden.”
“I’m sure I will. I’m looking forward to meeting them.”
“Maisy!” I call. When she spins around, I swear my damn heart sighs. She’s such a beauty, and she’s my daughter. I point to the house Ellie and I are standing in front of. “We’re here!”
Her eyes grow big and her mouth forms an O. She turns to the house, her expression awestruck. The house isn’t really anything special to look at. It’s just a house. It’s who’s inside that has her captivated.
Ellie pulls her hand from mine when Maisy turns and slowly walks back toward us, her eyes still fixed on the house. I glance over, but she avoids my eyes. I get why she’s averse to showing any displays of affection in front of Maisy, but I don’t have to like it. In fact, I fucking hate it.
Reaching out, I ruffle Maisy’s hair. “You ready to go meet your grandmother?”
“Yeah,” she whispers.
Grinning like the fucking Cheshire cat, I grab her hand and walk us up the driveway. Ellie falls into step beside us, looking all kinds of nervous again. She’ll see she has nothing to be worried about. Mae loves the hell out of Ellie, despite her keeping Maisy from me.
We’re almost to the steps when the door is flung open and Mae steps out, a huge grin on her face. When she spots Maisy, she lays her hands on her chest.
“Oh, my precious,” she breathes, her eyes flickering back and forth between my daughter and me.
Maisy squeezes my hand as we walk up the steps. I squeeze hers back. When we stop in front of Mae, she tilts her head back.
“Hi,” she says in a small voice.
“You are just the most beautiful darling I’ve ever seen.” Mae bends slightly and surrounds Maisy’s cheeks with her hands, tears glistening in her eyes. “I’m so very glad to meet you, Maisy.”
That brings a smile to Maisy’s face. “I’m glad to meet you too.”
“Would it be too weird if I hugged you?”
Maisy giggles and shakes her head. Not wanting to throw the chance away, Mae immediately engulfs Maisy in her embrace. The sight has my own throat clogging. The hug lasts for several seconds. When she pulls back, she brushes a few strands of hair from Maisy’s face, love already shining from her eyes.
She straightens back up, and her eyes come to Ellie, who’s standing beside me.
“I don’t need to ask for permission to get a hug from you. Get up here, young lady.”
Ellie laughs, some of the tension I felt radiating off her body evaporating as she walks up and does Mae’s bidding. Ellie nods when Mae says something in her ear. Mae does the same as she did to Maisy when she pulls back, pushing back the hair from her face. Her eyes drop to the barely visible scars on the underside of Ellie’s jaw, and something painful crosses her face. She wipes the look away and smiles.