Page 40 of Reluctant to Love

19

Eleanor

I’ve never been a violent person, but Famke crossed a line. She deserved what she got and so much more.

“Mama,” Izzy whines softly.

Her voice shakes me from my own heated thoughts, and I stop. Izzy must have heard.

I crouch in front of my daughter. “What’s wrong, Izzy bear?”

“That lady was mean,” she pouts.

“Yes, she was.” We both look up to see Roderick towering over us like some Celtic knight in shining armor. “And I’m very sorry you had to experience that.”

She shuffles over to him and wraps her tiny body around his much larger frame. “I knew it,” she breathes out with a happy smile on her lips.

His large hand strokes her hair slowly. “Knew what?”

She looks up at him, her lone dimple on full display. “My daddy,” she sighs right before she hugs him tightly.

I sigh because this is going to be a big conversation.

“Why don’t we get some dinner and take it back to the loft?” I suggest.

“Okay,” Izzy says, as if she didn’t just find out Roderick was her father. “I want chicken nuggets!”

She hops in front of us and takes the lead, twirling and swirling around like nothing happened. Like some Evil Queen type didn’t just try and crush both of our hearts. I wish I was young and innocent like her.

Roderick comes up beside me and reaches for my hand but I’m not ready to make nice. “You are not off the hook,” I tell him.

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” he says defensively.

“How could you marry someone like her?”

“Because I hadn’t met you yet.”

I stop and glare at him. “Don’t be cute.”

“I’m not trying to be cute, sweets. It’s the truth.”

I ignore him and yell to Izzy to slow down before she gets too far ahead of us. Izzy may know the truth and Roderick may claim to love us both forever, but the walls around my heart have not completely tumbled. Some refuse to budge and I’m not sure what will bring them down.

We make two stops for dinner. Roderick is not taking any chances with Izzy tonight. It’s sweet how she’s already got him wrapped around her little finger. When we get back to the loft, we settle around the dining table and there’s an uncomfortable silence. The only person who is oblivious is Izzy.

Roderick clears his throat and looks in her direction. “Izzy,” he begins. “Do you want to talk about anything you heard today?”

She pauses mid-chew and looks up thoughtfully. “No,” she says.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“Yep,” she responds.

Roderick and I both look at each other. We’re both stunned.

“That mean lady said something very important thought,” I press on.

“Mama,” Izzy says, looking at me with a serious expression. “Stop talking.”