The Daddy Box Set

“No, don’t be sorry.” He sighed again. “I’m pretty sure she needed to get that out of her system. She hadn’t cried like that since she was a baby with colic.”

“So where do we go from here?”

“I really don’t know,” he said. “She is so distraught over this. It’s hard to think about anything but making her feel better.”

“I understand, but eventually, she has to learn that it will happen,” I said, trying not sound insensitive.

“I know, and I agree,” he said. “I can’t live my life based on what my daughter thinks is going to happen with her mother. At the same time, though, this was really bad. I really, really have intense feelings for you, Alissa. In fact, I care so deeply for you that it broke my heart knowing that Kayla wasn’t going to accept our relationship, at least not soon. I think that for now, it would be best if we stopped seeing each other. I don’t want to make that decision, but I have to do what is best for Kayla. Right now, what is best is being a father that understands what his daughter’s boundaries are and knowing that it will take time for her to understand her mother is not going to be part of this family again.”

I could hear the desperation in his voice, and I knew that he was telling the truth. I knew that this was really difficult for him to do and that he wished there was another option. I wanted to tell him no and fight back against what he was saying, but I also knew that it would make a difficult situation even worse. I could sit there all day and cuss Christina out, but it wouldn’t change a damn thing, except make me even more miserable. I had to be brave, be supportive, and show him that I would be okay, even if I wasn’t sure if I really would be.

“I understand,” I said reassuringly. “You are an amazing father for putting her needs before yours, and I would never want to be the cause of so much pain for Kayla. She is an amazing little girl, and hopefully, one day, when you and she are ready, we can try this again. I know that if she let me in her life, she would really enjoy our time together, just like she has with the decorating and babysitting that I’ve done with her.”

“Thank you so much, Alissa, for being so wonderful about this,” he said sadly. “I want you to know that I won’t give up on this. And if you are there when she is ready, I will be knocking down your door to beg you to take me back.”

“There won’t be any begging necessary,” I said, faking a laugh. “But I have to get going. I have a lot of work to do.”

“All right,” he said. “Talk to you soon.”

I hung up the phone and set it down on the table, pulling myself from the couch and walking toward the living room door. As soon as I reached the archway, I grabbed onto the doorframe and burst into tears, grabbing myself around the waist and sitting down right there on the floor. My heart felt like it was going to burst from my chest, and the sobs just kept coming, one after another, without control. I let myself have that moment, that moment of release that I didn’t even know that I would need to have. I leaned my head back against the doorframe, feeling the tears rolling down and splattering against my silk button-up dress shirt. I took in a deep breath and shook my head, closing my eyes. The emotions were so intense, worse than I had experienced before, and I knew that it was because I had fallen in love with Ryan, and I didn’t even realize it until that moment.

Chapter Twenty-One

Ryan

It was already creeping into early June, and it was brutally hot outside. Time was really starting to fly by. After I broke it off with Alissa, I kind of just put my head down and bulldozed forward, trying to ignore the nagging pain in my chest every morning when I woke up and every night before I went to bed.

Kayla was back to being relatively happy again, although she clearly didn’t understand the situation because she kept asking for Alissa to babysit her. Every time someone brought up Alissa’s name, I cringed, not because I disliked her, but because the memory of her was still burning strongly in my chest. That night, I was more than glad to be getting off a long day at work and heading over to the local bar to have a few drinks with Juan.

Life had been busy with the summer schedule kicking into full gear a week or so early, since the hot weather crept in without warning. Both my company and Juan’s were in crazy mode, and neither of us were getting much time to breathe, much less hang out to discuss life over a beer. It had been the first time I had seen him since I told him I was interested in someone, long before Alissa and I finally realized our feelings for each other. I had thought about calling him when I broke it off with her, but I knew he was happy with his new girlfriend, and I didn’t want to unload anymore of my tragic love life onto him. He had endured enough of that during the whole Christina thing.

When I got to the bar, I found Juan sitting in his normal spot on the left side of the bar, facing the door. He was eating what looked to be some sort of sandwich from the bar kitchen and sipping on his beer. I walked over, laughing and shaking my head.

“You know, eating food like that is what causes most of the health issues in the country today,” I said, patting him on the back.

“Hey,” he said with a jolly tone, looking down at his plate. “Yeah, well, Maria has me on this diet to lower my cholesterol, and I am seriously starving, man. Don’t tell her.”

“Your secret is safe with me, until you have a stroke,” I said, pretending to lock my mouth and put the key in my pocket. “How’s work?”

“Hell,” he said, laughing. “You?”

“Same,” I replied, wiping the sweat from my brow and ordering a beer. “It’s going to be a long next few months for me and my men working outside.”

“I know what you mean,” he said, looking up at the television playing the weather forecast. “It’s already in the triple digits out there, and it is just the beginning of June. I can’t even imagine what August is going to feel like. It’s a good thing I’m from Mexico, man. I have heat in my blood. You? I assume you’ll burst into flames.”

“I’ll be sure to keep the hose nearby.” I chuckled, swallowing a big gulp of my beer and letting the cold brew wash into my chest. “So, how are things? I mean, beyond Maria controlling your diet.”

“Good, man,” he said, smiling. “My sister is getting married soon.”

“Really? That is awesome. Please tell her congrats from Kayla and me,” I said, smiling. “She deserves to be happy.”

“You’ll be getting an invitation, though you might be the only white boy there.” He laughed. “Maria and I are still going strong. She really keeps me straight, you know? She makes sure that I am healthy, happy, and it’s probably the best I’ve felt for a really long time. She has opened up a whole new world for me, and I love going home and seeing her smiling face.”

“You two live together now?”

“Yeah,” he said, laughing. “She was at my place all the time, and it just made sense. Now, I get to come home to this beautiful woman wrapped in an apron, cooking something delicious, and giving me some major love. I really don’t know how I’ve survived all of these years without her.”

“By eating terrible bar food and playing a game of luck with your health.” I laughed. “She might have come right in the nick of time.”