Page 44 of Worth the Try (Atlanta Granite #1)
Ansel
T here is absolutely nothing worse than seeing your daughter cry.
Actually, I take that back.
It’s bad to see your daughter cry. But it is gut-wrenching to know that you’re the reason she’s crying.
“Does she not love us anymore?” Rosie’s tear-filled eyes look up at me as I tuck her into bed.
I managed to distract Rosie from the fact that both Elodie and Cleocatra weren’t around all day, but now that it’s nighttime, all bets are off.
“Of course she still loves you,” I tell her softly. That’s not the problem.
“Us, Daddy. Does she still love us ?”
I grimace. How is she so damn perceptive? It’s both annoying and wonderful. But right now it’s mainly annoying. Still, I know the answer to the question. “Yes, sweetheart. She still loves us.”
“Then why isn’t she here?” Rosie clutches Violet to her chest, the lookalike doll still sporting braids from Elodie’s handiwork last week.
“I…. That’s hard to answer,” I admit.
Rosie pats my hand even as she sniffs her tears away. “It’s okay. Take your time and find your words.”
I huff a laugh. “That’s my saying.”
But she simply waits. And I’m filled with so much love for her that I might burst. “Okay,” I relent. “I think I messed up.”
“You never mess up, Daddy.”
“Oh, I mess up plenty,” I say wryly, bopping her nose with my finger. “I just keep it hidden from you.”
She sits up, adjusting the blanket around her and Violet. “You always tell me that everything is fixatle.”
“Fixa ble ,” I correct.
“Fixable,” she repeats, then looks at me expectantly.
Sighing, I meet her big hazel eyes. Eyes that remind me so much of Elodie it makes my heart hurt.
Does she really love me? After all this, I don’t see how she can. Lauren has done everything she can to come after me, and Elodie was a victim of circumstance. She’s been dragged through the mud and had more vicious things said about her than I can count.
But how can I ask her to stand beside me as I fight all this?
Especially after what I said to her. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t mean it, that I was scared and lashing out at the one person who’s been beside me through all of this.
How can she forgive me? What right do I have to ask her forgiveness?
“I said some really mean things to her. Things I didn’t mean.”
“Were you hungry when you said them? That’s when I say things I don’t mean,” Rosie says, nodding sagely.
“Maybe,” I admit. “But I think more than anything, I was scared.”
Rosie’s little brow furrows. “Why?”
“I’m still figuring all that out,” I say, evading the truth. She really is only five, and there’s only so much I can sort out to tell her.
“Sounds like you need to say sorry, Daddy.”
My shoulders fall. “You’re right. I do.”
She purses her lips. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow…what?”
“Tomorrow we go get her, and you apologize. And then we ask her to stay with us forever.” She gives a firm, decisive jerk of her chin before snuggling back under the covers.
I lean down and press a kiss to her forehead. “You’re right.”
“Good night, Daddy.”
“Good night, Rosalie. Sweet dreams.”
“Sleep tight.”
“I love you.”
“Love you, too.” She delivers it with a wide, cracking yawn.
Downstairs, I text the only person I can think of who might know where Elodie is.
Is she with you?
KARI
Sorry I’m not talking to meanies right now
Please.
KARI
Why should I tell you if she’s next to me, plastered out of her mind and holding a slice of cheesecake with her hand?
So she’s with you?
KARI
Why would I tell you that she’s been here all day?
I’m coming by in the morning.
KARI
I don’t know why you would because why would I tell you she probably needs to sleep it off till at least ten?
Thank you.
KARI
I don’t know what you’re talking about.