“Daddy, where is Vivi? She said she would be back after a week and it’s been more than a week. What if she doesn’t come back?” This was the third time today Norah had worked herself up into a tizzy worrying about Vivi’s whereabouts.

“She’s coming back, Norah. Vivi wouldn’t abandon her house. She loves that place.” At least I was pretty sure she did, but even Mae had expected her to return to Belle Musique two days ago and no one had heard a word from her. At least, I hadn’t. Not that I expected to hear from her. She made it pretty clear that she wanted nothing at all to do with me. When a woman left a Dear John letter with an infant or simply hid in the bathroom until you left her house, chances were good she didn’t want to be bothered with your sorry ass.

“But what if she doesn’t? Did you make her mad ‘cause I was hoping Vivi would be my forever mama.”

Well, shit. “You and Vivi will always be friends.”

“No! She is my friend but she would be such a cool mama, don’t you think? She knows how to cook and she smells real nice, like cookies and grass. She’s pretty and I know you think so too. And she loves me.” My little girl was so certain of her place in Vivi’s heart that I envied her. Me, the man who had no idea where I stood with the woman, who in such a short amount of time had become my best friend, my confidant.

My everything. “She would make a great mama, Norah. But that’s between us grownups.”

“Daddy,” she whined. “I want Vivi.”

Yeah, I wanted her too but that didn’t look like it was going to happen, not while she just decided to stay away from her own home just to avoid seeing me. “She’ll be home soon.” I hoped.

“Maddie! Max!” Norah stood and waved her arms as though she were at a football stadium instead of ten feet away from our table at the diner.

“Hey, Norah. You look pretty today,” Maddie said as she stopped at the table, sparing me a brief glance that told me nothing of what she thought of me even though I had no doubt she knew what had happened and where Vivi had been. “Nash. You’re looking…well.”

“Thank you, Maddie. I put this outfit together for Vivi but she’s still not home.” And that right there was why I should have absolutely avoided Vivi. Norah was miserable without her, more miserable than I was, and more importantly she wasn’t afraid to show it. Or broadcast it to the whole world.

“She is,” Max announced. “We got lunch for her,” he said proudly and then leaned in. “Vivi said she brought me something from her trip.”

Norah sucked in a breath and looked at me. “I know she got me something too Daddy, we have to go see her. I know, we’ll bring dessert!”

“Norah, we have to wait to be invited. What if she’s tired from her trip?”

“She’s not! Come on, please, Daddy?”

Like I could say no to my little girl. And maybe there was a small part of me that wanted to see Vivi too. “We’ll see.”

“How are you, Nash?”

I looked up, surprised she even addressed me, never mind with no malice or anger in her voice. “Making it through the day, Maddie, how about you?”

“Better than you,” she said when the kids huddled close and began whispering in earnest. “Then again, I’m not desperately fighting being in love so I think that gives me a leg up on you.”

“Gee, thanks. You really are a true friend.”

“I’m more than that. I am a great friend, and to prove how much, I’m going to stop by your house when Max and I are done visiting with Vivi.”

I didn’t know what her game was but I was no longer in the mood. “How will that help me?”

She grinned. “Because I’m going to watch Norah while you go over there and grovel. You do plan to grovel, don’t you?”

“Not sure I have anything to grovel for, Maddie.”

Her brown eyes flared with dissatisfaction. “Then I guess I’ll see you around town.” She stood and walked away with Max trailing behind her, shaking her head and probably muttering under her breath about what a dumbass I was. Or worse, what a disappointment I was. I hated disappointing people, and it seemed like my fate to forever do just that.

“You and Vivi are fighting,” Norah accused.

“We’re not fighting. Sometimes adults have disagreements, and Vivi and I have had one. We’ll figure it out.”

“You better, Daddy, because I love Vivi and I want her to stay.” Norah’s bottom lip jutted out and in that moment, I was reminded just how young she really was. Her maturity made it easy to forget she was just a girl, a precocious little girl with too much smarts, but still just a girl. “Why don’t you like Vivi anymore?”

“Where did you get that idea?”

“She left. Just like my mom, and Sally says her first dad left because her mama was mean to him because she didn’t like him anymore.”

“Sally talks too much,” I muttered under my breath, feeling silly that I had to justify my decisions to my kid because of her chatty little friend who knew far too much about her parents’ personal lives. “It’s nothing like that. Vivi needs to finish her book the same way you need to finish your play, and she wanted peace to do it. That’s all.”

“Vivi!” Norah was waving her little arms and shouting at the top of her breath, to no avail because Vivi couldn’t hear her through the glass and her gaze was focused on the ground in front of her. “Vivi! Vivi!” Before I could say anything, Norah was out of her seat and racing out the door towards the redheaded bombshell across the street.

My heart stopped when she darted across the street without even looking, and when the car starting honking and skidding on the street, I felt all the blood drain from my face. Time seemed to slow down as it all unfolded.

“Norah!” Vivi’s tortured voice rang out and everything fell from her hands as she darted out into the street, towards my daughter. No regard at all for her personal safety.

I was powerless to do anything but watch as Vivi dove towards my little girl and pushed her out of harms way, hell out of the way of certain danger. For her efforts, Vivi was rewarded with a crushing blow to her hip that sent her flying into the air before she hit the ground with a startling crack. The impact knocked her out cold.

My feet finally began to move and I hit the street moments later to find Norah crying over Vivi’s seemingly lifeless body. “Daddy, Vivi got hurt trying to save me. We have to help her, we have to!”

Looking down at my little girl with tears swimming in her eyes, it finally dawned on me that everything I’d done to protect her had really been to protect myself.