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“Set Amberly and River up with a place there,” I tell her. “I’ll pay for it.”
Do you see the look of shock on Amberly’s face? She thinks I’ve lost my mind. “No, you won’t.”
River catches my attention. She’s sitting on the ground with Berlin on her lap. They don’t even know each other, yet they’re playing together.
Willa catches my eyes, softly saying, “You got a choice here, Tiller. You gotta step up, or step back. What’s it going to be?”
“Step up.” Notice how there’s no hesitation in my voice? Willa does. Amberly’s not sure what to make of it.
“Are you sure you’re the father?” Willa looks to me, then Amberly, waiting for one of us to say something.
“Ava told me in a letter Tiller is her father—and look at her.” She motions to River, now blowing bubbles in Berlin’s face. “She’s the spitting image of him.”
I smile. I don’t know why, but I smile and fucking mean it. What the fuck is wrong with me?
“Okay, well if you guys are going to fight this, you need to show a united front,” Willa tells us, typing on her phone. “If Ava left custody to you, Amberly, they’re not just going to take her away from you without cause. Tiller’s lawyer will represent you, too, but any judge out there is going to side with you. They don’t want to disrupt her life any more than what’s already been done. But if Doug and Regina can prove you’re incompetent. . . well then, they may have reason to believe the child’s in danger with you and intervene.” Willa pauses, looking from Amberly, to me. “This is your reality check. You have to make choices and show that you can provide a stable environment for the kid.” She means me more than Amberly. I’m sure of it. “You need to find an apartment with two bedrooms.” She holds up her phone, showing Amberly a two-bedroom model at the Andalucia apartments. “I can get you into this one tomorrow afternoon. Will that work?”
Money isn’t an issue for me. I have plenty to help her find a bigger place to live. “Yes, it’ll do,” I tell Willa, handing her my credit card. “Set it up so the rent charges to my card every month.”
Amberly places her hand on mine, trying to force the card back to me. “I can’t let you do that, Tiller.”
“She’s my daughter and you’re raising her. It’s the least I can do.” Holy shit. . . who am I? What’s happened to me? Am I having some sort of out-of-body experience?
And I think back, and it’s the incident with her dad and the shit with the kid trying to race me that changed it for me. I wish Scarlet was out here to hear this. Maybe then she’d take back what she said about me earlier.
Or maybe not.
“So we’ll send a moving truck over to the house today,” Willa tells Amberly. “I just need you to go sign some papers today and everything will be taken care of. You just need to move it.”
“It happens that fast?”
“With money it does,” I point out, knowing Amberly’s certainly never been deprived of money in her life, but she also ran away from home at seventeen and hasn’t taken a penny from her dad since. She’s worked for everything she has, even if it’s not that much.
“Can you watch her for the weekend?”
“Excuse me?” Willa asks, wide-eyed. “You’re not serious, are you?”
I don’t say anything, but I too look at her like she’s lost her mind. Me watching River for the weekend? Are your eyes wide too?
Amberly looks at me, then Willa. “I think so. You don’t think he can do it?”
Willa laughs. Just laughs. And leaves it at that and walks inside the house leaving me and Amberly alone. Well, aside from the kids still playing. And before you fuckin’ freak out over the kids near water, don’t. Berlin can swim and it’s not like we’d let the kids drown should they fall in. I only turn my head when Roan is drowning.
That’s when Amberly leans forward, bumping her hand to my knee. “If you don’t feel comfortable, I can get Tracy to watch her.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Who’s Tracy?” I suddenly feel the need to know everyone in her life. Actually, IknowI need to know. I don’t want any crazy fucks around my kid. Hell, maybe they should move in here so I know exactlywho’saround them at all times? Christ, listen to me. I’m the ring leader of crazy fucks and I’m her goddamn dad.
Welcome to the shit show, kid.
“Tracy is the neighbor’s girl who watches her sometimes.”
Nodding, I lean forward, reaching for Amberly’s hand. “I think I can handle it. What’s a day or two?”
Her smile catches, the side of her face lit up by the afternoon sun. “Do you think this is a good idea?”
“Me watching her? No, it’s a terrible idea, but I’ll do it.”
She laughs, slouching in the chair. “This is going to be a disaster.”