Page 9 of Unexpected

“Hey, baby,” I said, helping her carry her stuff to the laundry room. “Did you have fun at Brooklyn’s?”

She nodded. “Tons. When’s Dad coming?” She skipped through the house, her presence like a ray of sunshine. I didn’t say anything, wishing this brief moment of bliss could’ve lasted longer.

“About that…” I finally said, knowing it was inevitable.

She stopped skipping, and her face fell. “He’s not coming?”

I shook my head slowly, crouching down to her level so I could peer into her beautiful blue eyes. They were so like her father’s. “Daddy loves you very much. And he wishes he could be with you more than anything, but he had to work.”

It wasn’t an outright lie, but it wasn’t the entire truth either. Still, I wanted Sophia to feel loved. I wanted her to know that her parents were there for her, supported her. It was one of the reasons I’d stayed with Cal long after I should’ve ended it.

A few tears slid down her cheeks, and I swiped them away with my thumbs. “Don’t cry, Soph. You’re going to have lots of fun this summer.”

“With Gabby?” she asked hopefully.

I gripped her shoulders, rubbing my thumbs back and forth. “No. Remember, she went home to visit her family. But you know what, I have someone new for you to play with.”

“You do?” Her eyes were wide, and I sensed her curiosity. “Who?”

“Well, his name is Preston, and he’s coming over this afternoon.”

“Does he go to my school too?” she asked, and I realized then that she thought he was her age.

“No.” I laughed. “But he’s friends with one of the boys at your school. And if you have fun with Preston, we’ll ask him to hang out for the summer. Okay?”

She nodded, but I sensed she was still upset about her dad. Understandably so.

“Besides,” I said, scrambling for something that would make up for it. Or at least give her something positive to focus on. “This gives us more time to plan your birthday party.” I ruffled her hair.

“Yay! Yay!” she shouted as she jumped around. “I want to do a pool party. With mermaids. And shells. And—”

I laughed. “Okay. We can do whatever you want.”

“Can we have Juliana help?” she asked, referring to my friend, a party planner to the stars and occasional wedding planner.

“Sure,” I said, relieved she was more focused on her birthday than Cal bailing. “But first, let’s go pick out an outfit for this meet-cute.”

She sped toward the stairs but then paused. “Mommy, what’s a meet-cute?”

I laughed, more at myself than anything else. “It’s when two people… You know what, never mind. Let’s just go pick out a cute outfit. ’Kay?”

“Okay!” she squealed and bounded up the stairs to her room.

The rest of the afternoon, Sophia played dress-up, while I worked on my laptop. “Mommy, Mommy,” she said.

I was so close to finishing this email, but she kept interrupting me. If this thing with Preston didn’t work out, I didn’t know what I was going to do all summer. As much as I loved Sophia, I didn’t have the time or luxury to dedicate my full attention to her right now. Work was just too busy.

“Yes?” I ground out, forcing a smile. It had only been a few hours, and already my patience was waning.

“Watch this!”

She did a cartwheel in her dress, then took a bow while I clapped. “Very nice. Look, Soph, Preston will be here soon. I need to finish up a few emails first. If you let me get some work done now, we can have fun later. Deal?”

“What kind of fun?”

I smirked. My daughter—the great negotiator. I couldn’t wait to see what she’d do with her life. She was full of potential. And I was working my ass off to provide her with the opportunities I’d never had. Opportunities I never could have dreamed of.

“Well,” I said. “We could go out to eat at Zaza’s.”