Page 57 of The Thief

No.

I listened because I loved hearing them interact with each other. Because seeing them together gave me a special feeling. A safe feeling.

And something else.

Something that I’d never felt before.

Like my little family of two was taking root, changing.

It scared me, but it excited me too.

I leaned against the wall, putting my head close to the door, and I could hear Ava choosing her favourite book. My smile grew wider as Tyler read to her, doing special voices for all theanimals, and cackling every time he came to the witch’s part. It was beyond cute. It warmed my heart, and I could’ve listened to them chatter all day.

But then it changed.

Ava said something about a woman mistaking Tyler for her daddy in the dessert shop, and when she asked him if he was, that warmth in my heart was snuffed out in an instant. My chest constricted as I held my breath.

My poor girl.

What had I done?

I should’ve been honest with her from the start.

She was so confused.

I thought I was doing the right thing, not telling her too much about her real dad. He wasn’t a good guy, but I didn’t want her to know that. I just thought keeping him a mystery was better than the reality; that he left me when I was heavily pregnant to move to Spain with a girl he’d been cheating on me with throughout the whole relationship. That I’d told him when Ava had been born and he’d told me not to contact him again. He didn’t give a fuck and didn’t want to be involved. He’d threatened me back then, telling me if I tried coming to him for money, he’d take care of me in a way that insinuated he’d hurt me or Ava.

I’d been so stupid, so blind, getting involved with a man like him. But I couldn’t change that now. I just had to make the best of the situation, which I thought I’d done. But here I was, standing on my landing, listening to my daughter ask Tyler if he was secretly her daddy.

I’d fucked up.

I tried not to make a sound as I held the tears in my eyes.Tyler’s response was so flipping perfect it made me want to cry. He barely knew my little girl, but he spoke to her with more love and respect than her real father ever would. And I was beyond grateful for how considerately and delicately he dealt with the situation. So grateful that I mouthed a silent ‘thank you’ that I needed to say, even though he couldn’t hear it.

Then they started talking about Ava’s key, and Tyler reassured her that she was safe, and my already shredded nerves shattered completely. I knew I was barely holding it together, keeping my little family in a bubble, when maybe that wasn’t the best thing. Maybe Ava did need to speak to someone, like Mum had suggested.

I heard Tyler say goodnight, then turn the main light off in Ava’s room, and I panicked, not wanting him to find me skulking outside, listening in on their moment.

So, I turned and crept away, heading for the stairs. Halfway down, I wondered what I was doing, sneaking around my own house. There was nothing wrong with me listening in. She was my daughter. This was my house. My family. My rules.

But as I stood there, ready to walk back up, Tyler appeared at the top of the stairs.

“She’s all tucked in, ready for her mum to kiss her goodnight,” he said, and I nodded.

“Thanks.” Then I passed him on the stairs as I went to see her.

Tyler made his way downstairs and I closed my eyes.

Tomorrow was another day.

Time to be better, do better, and give Ava what she needed.

After kissing her goodnight, I headed back downstairs to find Tyler standing in the hallway by the front door.

“Thank you for tonight,” I said, then added. “Thank you for today. For everything.”

“You never have to thank me,” he replied. “I’m glad I can be here. That you let me in here. I thought you might slam the door in my face when I first showed up.”

“Are you kidding? I’d never slam the door in your face. I was so pleased to see you.”