The Daddy Box Set

And with that, he was gone.

My chest tightened. Other than signing our contract, I never mentioned money to him. It was understood that he would work it out. Now I felt like another one of his employees instead of, what? His girlfriend? Whatever we were was more than a working relationship, yet his words suggested that’s all we were.

I slid into the chair in the hallway and listened to his car start up and pull out of the driveway. He was obviously still pissed about our conversation from last night. And here I was about to accept his apology. Apparently, I was delusional.

I wallowed for a minute before brushing it off and chalking it up to stress. I’d give him a few days if he needed it. He always gave me time when I was upset about something. I had to keep reminding myself that this was temporary.

It had to be.

I got up from the chair and went into the kitchen to start on breakfast for Gina, all the while thinking of the things I would say to Noah when he finally wanted to talk to me like an adult.

Later that afternoon, Gina and I were working on the quilt again. We’d played a lot that morning and even though she’d already taken a nap, her eyes were heavy and it wasn’t even dinner time yet. The jet lag hadn’t affected me that much, but the Stones were quite the opposite. I didn’t intend on giving in to an earlier bedtime, though. The best way to combat it was to keep to a normal schedule no matter how tired she felt.

“We’re almost done,” I said, rolling out the finished part of the quilt.

“Cool,” Gina said flatly.

“I thought you would be more excited?” I said, ruffling her hair.

“I wanted to save Daddy’s square for last,” she said.

“You still can,” I said, confused by why she was so upset.

“He’s not even going to be here to see it!” she said, crossing her arms.

Now we were getting somewhere. Not seeing Noah for more than a day was getting to her, and mixed with a crabby attitude from sleep deprivation, it was making the little angel more upset than usual.

“He has to catch up on the work he missed when we were gone,” I explained, lightly tickling her knee.

She didn’t even flinch at my touch. Usually that would send her into a fit of giggles. “But he doesn’t even call to say good night. Or call you.”

She was right. While I’d sent Noah pictures of us throughout the day yesterday and today, I’d yet to hear a response. I wasn’t even sure if he was getting my messages or if he was too busy to look at his phone. Though I was sure if some client or employee called, he would pick up right away.

My anger from last night returned, but I remained calm for Gina’s sake. She tended to mirror my moods, so making sure that she stayed calm was my priority. “I’m sure everything will be okay soon.”

“I want to go back to Australia,” she said. “Daddy didn’t ignore me there.”

“He’s not ignoring you,” I said. “He’s working.”

She sighed heavily. “He’s always working.”

A tear slipped down Gina’s little rosy red cheek, and my heart broke. I reached out to her, and she launched herself into my arms. I rocked her and smoothed her hair. “It’s going to be okay.”

She sat back and looked into my eyes. “If we go back to Australia, then Daddy would have to go, right?”

“I think it might be a while before that’s possible. It’s not easy for him to take that much time off.”

“Daddy has money and says he can do anything,” Gina said.

I sucked in a breath as I got a glimpse of a future bratty, spoiled teenager. It wasn’t going to happen while I was around. No matter how much Noah was obsessed with money, I didn’t want her to follow in that path.

“Money can’t buy happiness,” I said. It was a stupid cliché, but I wanted her to know that. So what if Noah grew up poor, a lot of people had issues growing up. But I wasn’t going to let his twisted mentality taint this sweet little girl.

I put Gina down to bed right on time that night. After our discussion, while working on the quilt, she’d been in a dour mood for the rest of the day, but didn’t mention Noah and Australia again. Though I knew it was in the back of her mind. What had happened to us in Australia had burrowed itself into her brain. She saw the happiness that we had as a little trio; even though we weren’t a traditional family, we were something. And for her to see that and miss it, it broke my heart.

I read her several more books than I normally did, silently hoping that Noah would come home in the middle of a book and surprise us both. I sensed that she wanted the same thing, but at some point, she could no longer fight it and fell asleep.

I left her to rest and went to clean up the house for when Noah did finally return home.