Sean

Waiting in my car a block away from the Dresden house, I checked the clock, and seeing as I had a few minutes, I fired off another text to Anna.

Talk to me, baby. I’m right outside.

While I waited for a reply that would probably never come, I scrolled through the last batch of messages I’d sent.

I didn’t know what the lawyer was going to do.

Let me explain.

All I wanted to do was protect you.

I didn’t even mention Kimber. The lawsuit and threat to wrangle custody of our daughter was enough.

When the clock on the dash read 8:00 a.m., I pulled alongside the house, then got out of the car and made the trek up the rose-lined path.

After climbing the steps, I stood at the front door and looked around. The same porch swing hung in the corner, and I could practically feel the wooden slats against my back from all the hours Anna and I had spent in that very spot.

What the hell are you doing here?

As if by magic, the door swung open and my question was answered.

“Sen!”

Willow reached for me, but she was firmly entrenched in her grandfather’s arms, and Brian looked pissed as hell, so I made no move to grab her.

“Hey, Willow-baby.” I shifted my attention to Anna’s father and smiled grimly. “Brian.”

He set Willow on her feet, and she coiled her fingers around mine, but Brian seemed intent on blocking my path.

In a menacing tone, too low for Willow to hear, he growled, “You don’t seem too sure of yourself, son. If you changed your mind, I’d be happy to show you to your car.”

The nineteen-year age gap separating Anna’s father and me seemed more pronounced when I was young. Brian was always imposing with his broad shoulders and thickly muscled arms, but back then, I thought he was old, and I laughed off his thinly veiled threats.

Don’t ever hurt my daughter or there won’t be enough of your body left to identify, we clear, son?

Brian’s comments usually earned him a light slap on the arm from Alecia and an eye roll from Anna.

But now, glimpsing the ink peeking from the sleeve of his T-shirt, I didn’t notice the gray hair dusting his temples or the faint lines around his eyes. All I saw was a man of similar height and build, ready to show me the business end of his rather large fists.

Weighing the options—a knockdown, drag-out fight on the porch of his home while my daughter watched, or taking Willow to Melissa’s, I prepared to exercise the out-clause Anna had given me.

“Listen, Brian,” I began. “I think it would be better—”

Alecia shoved her husband out of the way. “Quit glaring at the boy, Brian.” She faced me with a forced smile. “Please come in, Sean.”

There was pleading in her eyes that I couldn’t ignore.

“Thanks,” I said, letting Willow pull me into the house.

After I took a seat on the couch, Willow flopped on the floor a few feet away, leaving me to deal with her grandparents.

“Go get us some sweet tea,” Alecia said to Brian, shooing him away. “And grab Willow some of that organic pear juice.”

Once he was gone, Alecia turned her emerald gaze on me. “I want you to tell me right now if this is some kind of game.”

Propping my elbows on my knees, I clasped my hands and looked down at the carpet. “No game.”

Alecia heaved out a breath. “Why couldn’t you just be honest with Anna? Tricking her, telling her you loved her, that was cruel, Sean.”

I felt Anna’s presence, and I knew she was probably hovering on the staircase. So I sat up and spoke only for her.

“I didn’t lie about loving Anna. I’ve never loved another woman.”

And I never will. I left that part out because some truths were too painful to admit.

Alecia folded her arms over her chest and sat back, silently urging me to continue.

“I didn’t know Scott was preparing that summons. Or the DNA test. None of it.” Cursing the weary sigh that tripped from my lips, I shook my head. “I’m not going to fight Anna for custody. I just wanted to know my daughter. Give her my name.” I glanced at Alecia. “Is that too much to ask?”

Her lips parted like she was about to let loose, and I prepared for her wrath. But then Anna’s picture lit up the screen on the phone in Alecia’s hand.

I heard the patter of footsteps on the stairs, and then Brian took off like a shot, following his little girl. The same way I’d follow mine.

Alecia shoved to her feet and left the room to take the call. Anna was saving me again, and fuck, I didn’t deserve it.

Willow gave me the side-eye, and accepting her invitation, I slid onto the floor and crawled to her side.

“What are you doing, Willow-baby?”

“Payin wiff bocks.”

I eased onto my stomach. “Need some help?”

She didn’t answer, but after a moment she tapped my arm. Dropping a block into my hand, she waited while I chose a spot. After several more exchanges, she leaned against me, surveying our handiwork with a most serious expression.

“It’s goo.” Her little brow knit and she amended, “It’s gooda.”

She peered over at me for confirmation, and I smiled. “That’s right, baby, it’s good.”

Grabbing her coloring book, she slid onto her belly right next to me. “Cowor now.”

She smoothed the page before examining the box of Crayolas. Handing me a blue crayon, she smiled. “Buue.”

Shoulder to shoulder, we worked in silence, and when the portrait was complete, I picked up a discarded brown crayon.

Willow’s lips formed a little o as I sketched a tree in the corner right below where I wrote her name. She watched intently as I sorted through the crayons for just the right color.

“Green.” Swallowing over the lump in my throat, I lovingly filled in the leaves on every branch. “Like mommy’s eyes.”