Chapter 17

~ Gabrielle ~

Present Day

“I’m sorry, Dani. You can’t go to ballet today.” I grabbed the hair falling into my face in frustration, brushed it back, and tied it into a ponytail, ignoring the daggers shooting out of her eyes.

“Why not?” she whined.

“Because, like I explained to you before, until I get a full-time job, I can’t afford to pay for your classes. We paid only up to this month. So, you’ll have to be patient. I’m sorry, honey, I really am.”

She glared at me again, before stomping down the hallway and slamming the door to our shared bedroom. I slumped back on the couch, letting out a blustery breath, and closed my eyes. We’d been at Kat’s for a few weeks, and so far, I hadn’t been able to find a job close to Dani’s school, or allowing flexibility in my schedule so I could drop off and pick her up when the school year started.

I took another deep breath and tried to muster the energy to go through the websites again, but my motivation waned. I had no idea what I was going to do. I needed more than the part-time transcription job I’d been doing, but finding a company that would take someone with only a GED and a lackluster work history was proving to be difficult, especially one with the pay I needed so I could afford my own place along with benefits, but I had to do something quick. Kat would never say anything, but I wanted to get an apartment soon before we overstayed our welcome.

I lifted my head when the bedroom door opened and Dani came walking back into the room. “Can I call Daddy?”

I frowned, but sat up as I patted the papers scattered over the coffee table, looking for my cell phone. “Uh, sure. I’m not sure if he’ll be available, but you can try.”

I scrolled through my contact list and selected Danny’s number, before placing the phone in her waiting hand. She listened for him to answer, her eyes brightening when he did.

“Hi, Daddy!” I couldn’t hear what he was saying, and Dani turned back into the bedroom, her giggles trailing behind her.

I closed my eyes and let out a heavy sigh. I was so happy she had her father in her life, but it was still a knife to my heart to be in contact with him again. It took everything I had to keep things on a neutral level, even though a part of me burned to scream at him, demanding to know what had changed, and then cry for all we’d missed from the years apart. But since he’d made it clear he’d moved on, never mentioning anything about our past, I followed suit.

Soon, everything would be different, after we came to a custody agreement and I wouldn’t have to see him as much. Dani would spend a few weekends with him, and I needn’t be there. Once that happened, my life could go back to the way it was before Danny had re-entered it—out of sight, somewhat out of mind.

“Mommy.” Dani returned and handed me the phone. “Daddy wants to talk to you.”

I took a calming breath. “Hello?”

“What the hell is going on? Why are you at Kat’s?” he said, dismissing the preliminaries.

“Uh…what?”

“What the hell is going on, G? Why is Dani calling me, asking me to pay for her ballet classes and telling me you’re now living at Kat’s?”

“She what?” I stared in shock at her smug expression before narrowing my eyes. “Oh my God. I’m sorry, Danny. I had no idea that was why she wanted to call you.”

“I don’t care about that, just tell me where to mail the fucking check, but I want to know why you’re at Kat’s, and why she’s saying you can’t afford her classes.”

My face flushed in embarrassment. “Uh, things are a little tight, that’s all. It will work itself out.”

“Stop beating around the fucking bush, G. I’ll be right there,” he yelled to someone in the background before coming back on the line. “I’m in the middle of recording right now.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I won’t keep you any longer.” I was more than anxious to get off the phone with him.

“Fuck them, they can wait. What’s going on? Where’s Brad?” His voice tightened at Brad’s name.

“I, uh…I left him.”

“You left him, huh?” He sounded happy at the news. “So now you’re at Kat’s?”

“Yes, but only until I can find a job and get us a place to live…” I trailed off. When he said nothing for a few seconds, I thought I’d lost him. “Hello?”

“I’m still here.” He paused and then cleared his throat. “Look, this is BS. You’re not going to stay with Kat. You and Dani, pack up your things and go to my place.”

“What?” There was no way I could live in the same house as him. “We can’t do that, Danny. That’s ridiculous.”

“What’s ridiculous about it? My house is big enough, plus it will give me more time to spend with Dani. That’s what we want, right?”

“Well, I guess…”

“It’s only for a while, right? Until you find something. Believe me, I have more than enough room for you two. This way, you guys have your own space to do what you want, I can spend more time with Dani, and we’ll see what we can do about these ballet classes she wants to go to.”

“I don’t know, Danny…”

The last thing I could do was live with him. What was he trying to do, torture me? But what he said was true. This arrangement would give him more time with Dani, and I wouldn’t have to lose any. In addition, I wouldn’t feel pressured to find a job as soon as possible in order to get out of Kat’s small apartment.

I squeezed my eyes shut and took a deep breath. I couldn’t believe I was considering it. “I guess it could work—”

“I’ll text you my address after I hang up. I won’t be back until late tonight, but I’ll send T there to meet you guys. See you.”

I stared at the phone in my hand after he hung up, wondering what in the hell I agreed to.

* * *

I pulled up to a heavy black gate and gaped in disbelief. The address on the gray stone column at the end of the driveway matched the one he’d given me, so I had the right place, but a gate? He lived behind a gate?

I opened my window and hit the square red button on a silver box that stood next to a column, housing a speaker and a camera. I waited a few seconds before it squawked.

“Hey, girl! You made it,” Teddy’s voice boomed out of the box. “I’ll open the gate for you. Pull up the front drive by the main door.”

I waited as the large gate swung around before driving up the long, curvy driveway. When I came over a small crest, the house came into view and I slammed on the brakes as my mouth fell open. I knew he was successful, but for some reason, I never pictured him in a mansion. Standing before me was the most beautiful house I’d ever seen, and I couldn’t believe this is where Danny now lived. He’d come a long way from his trailer home.

It was a huge colonial, layered in bricks, in all different shades of deep red. The center stood tall, at least three stories, and off each side, wings spread out and wound around. A high arch of curved block glass framed the beveled glass door with long frosted windows lining the sides, emitting a soft glow from the lights within.

The driveway continued straight and disappeared around the side of one wing, while another leg cut left to create a circle drive. The grounds, landscaped with beautiful, overflowing flowerbeds, lined the front of the house and followed along each wing and out of sight. Acres of grass flowed in all directions as far as the eye could see, making me wonder how much land he owned.

I tried to take everything in, but found it was almost too much to believe. I glanced at Dani; her eyes were big and round, and her mouth formed a small circle as she stared at everything. The door swung open and Big T walked out, waving us up. I took a deep breath and removed my foot from the brake.

Stepping out of the car, I shook my head. “Oh my God, Teddy.”

He chuckled as he reached in to grab our bags out of the trunk. “The boy’s done good. He’s done real good. Come on. Let’s go in.”

We followed him in and I didn’t know where to look first. The tile floors gleamed under the bright lights; everything neat and clean, with nothing out of place, and all the furniture appeared to be brand new and unused. Canvases of art hung on walls, displaying Danny’s eclectic tastes as everything ranged from conservative to racy. Each room I passed showed a different side of him; the living room sleek and sophisticated in blacks and whites, while the dining room was dark and seductive with its large mahogany table and deep red walls.

Big T took us into an expansive kitchen, which had shiny, stainless steel appliances between white marble counters under white washed cabinets. “Help yourself to whatever you want. We can go this way up the back stairs,” he said to us as we trailed behind him.

“The back stairs?” I asked. A large winding staircase had sat by the front door.

“Yeah, your rooms are closer to this one, but you can use the other one, if you want.”

“I can’t believe there are two,” I muttered, but he heard me and chuckled.

We went up the narrow stairwell and emerged on the second floor at the end of a long hallway. Big T nodded toward the opposite end, which turned the corner and held only one door. “That’s D’s room, but both of you are down here.” He stopped outside a closed door and smiled down at Dani. “You ready to see your room, little D?”

She grinned and giggled, as she always did at the moniker. Dani followed him into the room, and her eyes popped and her jaw dropped. I stepped in and almost did the same.

A light ballet pink colored the walls, and soft white drapes billowed above the windows. A double bed sat in the corner, dressed in different shades of pink with a sheer white netting hanging down from the canopy. One wall was all mirrors, and a freestanding ballet barre stood nearby.

I glanced through a door into the huge walk-in closet already housing tutus and dress-up costumes. A private bathroom connected to that. Danny had had his daughter in mind when he decorated this room. “When did he do this?”

“He started as soon as he found out about her. She was wearing pink ballet stuff the day he met her.”

“Oh my…” I clamped my mouth shut, afraid I would break down.

“I love it!” Dani exclaimed, and she raced around, trying to take in everything. She touched every stuffed animal and ran her fingers over the ballet art hanging on the walls. She even did a couple pliés at the barre in front of the mirror.

“I’ll never get her to leave.” I followed Big T out to another room a short distance down the hall, but that much closer to Danny’s. I tried to ignore how near it was and reminded myself I could do this for our daughter.

It was nice, but a standard guest room. It didn’t matter, however, just as long as I was near Dani and had my own space, which I did. We wouldn’t be here long, anyway.

I stayed in my room after Big T left, unpacking my things into the dresser, and hung others in the closet. I stepped into the bathroom to splash cool water on my face before returning to Dani’s room to help her. Deciding we were hungry, we retraced our steps and went into the kitchen.

I sat her on one of the bar stools lining the front of the island, and scrounged through the large sub-zero fridge for something to eat. Having expected it to be full of beer and liquor, I was surprised to find the shelves stocked with food, including fruits and vegetables, as well as many options of juices. I was digging through its contents when a door opened from around the corner and a group emerged, all talking and laughing at once as they strolled by the kitchen.

They stopped when they spotted Dani at the counter and then their eyes met mine where I stood with my hand on the fridge door, watching them. It was a mixed group, all of whom I had never seen before. The men eyed me with interest while the women narrowed their eyes.

“Who are you?” one of them asked.

“Uh, I’m Gabrielle and this is Dani.”

A woman wearing heavy makeup with her blonde hair in a high ponytail and her body squeezed into a tight red spandex dress, stared at Dani and gasped. “Is she…?”

“Yes, she’s Danny’s…I mean, D’s…I mean, DOA’s daughter.” I had no idea what to call him anymore.

One of her friends cackled. “Oh my, Cassie! Looks like you’ve got competition now.”

The rest of the group laughed, but Cassie didn’t join in. Instead, she straightened and glared at me. “Are you her mama?”

“Uh…” I started to answer, but Danny interrupted me when he rushed in from some other door out of view.

“Hey, you made it. Good. I was able to get out of there earlier than I thought. Hey, baby, how are you?” He lifted Dani into his arms and gave her a tight squeeze.

“D, what is going on?” Cassie stood with her hand on her hip and an expectant expression on her caked face.

“Oh, hey, Cass. How’s it going?” He glanced at her without interest before walking over to the fridge next to me with Dani. “Everything all right? You find everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything’s fine. Great.” I gave him a weak smile, trying to ignore the glare boring into me from across the room. “I was just looking for something for us to eat.”

“I told them to stock up. What do you want, baby? I’m sure we’ve got it.”

“Chicken nuggets,” she said.

“Nuggets, huh? Yeah, we’ve got that.” He opened the freezer and dug through its contents.

I reached over to pull Dani out of his arms and lowered her to the floor, but kept her by my side. “It’s okay, Danny. Maybe we should get out of your way, so you can be with your company.”

He stopped and frowned. “My company?” I rolled my eyes toward the group still standing there watching us with frank curiosity, and his frowned deepened. “They’re not my company. What are you all doing?” He hitched his head toward the back door. “Go on, get out of here.”

“Danny!” I said, embarrassed by his rudeness.

“D!” Cassie exclaimed, shocked he would be so crass to her.

“What?” He ignored Cassie. “I’m telling you, they’re here all the time. They’re Dollar’s crew, not mine.”

He moved over to direct them out. “Go home. Get out of here. Go.”

Cassie pushed herself away from the group and stomped over to him. “Can I talk to you privately, please?”

Danny sighed and walked out of the kitchen with her rushing behind him. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but didn’t miss when their voices rose. I glanced down at Dani, her eyes wide with alarm, and was about to take us both back upstairs when Cassie stormed through the kitchen and slammed out the door. Danny returned, rubbing his hands together with a big smile on his face.

“Okay, where were we? Chicken nuggets, right?” He opened the freezer again.

I frowned. “Danny?”

He continued to rummage through the shelves. “What?”

“I hope we didn’t cause any problems by being here.”

“No. No problems. Everything’s cool.”

“Are you sure? Because we can go back to Kat’s if we’re—”

He shot upright and grabbed my arms. “No!” He took a deep breath. “No,” he repeated. “I don’t want you guys to go. Everything’s fine. Trust me.”

I studied his face before nodding. “Okay, if you’re sure.”

He smiled and pulled Dani over to him. “Now, we’ve got to find nuggets for my girl…”

I watched them laughing with each other as he played “find the chicken nugget” until they located some. I didn’t know what was going on or what the story was with Cassie, but I hoped his house wasn’t a constant party like the ones we’d gone to in the past. Those had been nothing but trouble, and filled with danger, and I wouldn’t subject Dani to that.

Watching the two of them together, father and daughter, however, I forgot all the ugly memories and my heart broke a bit realizing this family scene wasn’t reality, and how much I wanted it. Too bad it wasn’t meant to be.