Page 45 of The Loves We Lost

We sit at the end of the fenced lot on a beaten picnic table. Miles sits Avery down next to me and then takes a spot on the other side from us.

“Avery, sweetheart. I have something to tell you,” I start.

“We have to go home?” she asks, little frown lines appearing on her forehead.

I shake my head. “No, we’re staying here for a little while.”

“Yes,” she shouts. “With Mr. Miles.”

“Definitely,” Miles says.

“Well,thatwas easy,” she says, and Miles and I can’t help but laugh.

It breaks the tension a little. “You know how you once asked me who your daddy was, and I said he lived a long way away from us?”

I catch Miles raise an eyebrow, and I mouth the wordsorry.

“Yeah,” she says.

“Well, Miles is your daddy, sweetheart.”

She studies me for a second, then looks over at Miles. “You are?”

“I am,” Miles says and reaches across the table for her hand.

Avery lets him take it for a second, then drags it away. “Why do you never come and see me?”

God. This is where I tell my daughter it’s my fault, and her view of me changes forever. I open my mouth to explain, but Miles speaks first.

“I had some things I had to do, and it meant I couldn’t come see you. But your momma found out where I was and talked to me and told me all about you. About how clever you are. And how good you color. And about how you like cupcakes. And I’m close enough now that I can see you and get to know you and be your dad, if you’ll let me.”

Tears sting my eyes. He took the fall for me. Made it so I don’t need to tell my daughter what I did or why I did it. And deep down, I know he did it because he doesn’t want this to hurt either of us. Even though I hurt him.

A part of me wants to damn him for being a good man.

The rest of me is so undyingly grateful.

“You’ll be my daddy?” Avery asks.

“Iamyour daddy,” Miles replies. “And I’m gonna try to be a really good one.”

“Will you come live with us?” Avery asks.

Miles reaches for her hand again, but his eyes are on me for a moment. “I don’t know about that, but I intend to come see you often and hope that you can come see me.”

“Will you take me to Paris?” Avery asks.

“Oh my gosh, don’t get greedy,” I chide.

Miles laughs. “Don’t have a passport, sweetheart, but never say never. I like the idea of taking you and your momma somewhere.”

“Do I call youDaddy?”

Miles pinches the bridge of his nose, but I can see the word hit him squarely in his heart. He takes a moment to answer. “I’dlike that. But if it makes you more comfortable, you can keep calling meMiles.”

Avery thinks for a minute. “Does that make Mr. Niro my uncle?”

“I think you could ask him. His real name is Colton, so he might likeUncle Coltonmore.”