Aria furrowed her brow for a moment as her eyes stared off at Alfie and Sammy in the distance. The naughty duo was still energetically chasing each other near the park bushes.

“Not really,” she said finally.

Her answer made my heart ache. To have a person you didn’t much like watching over you and controlling your every move wasn’t pleasant; that was for sure. Aria must have felt very constricted and unhappy.

“Why?” I asked weakly.

Aria pulled a face and said in distaste, “’Cause she’s weird. She makes me do things I don’t like.”

“Does she?” James asked.

From the corner of my eyes, I could see he had a hard expression on his face again.

“What type of things, Aria?” When he saw his daughter was about to evade his interrogation, he continued. “Sweetheart, Daddy wants to know everything. I love you, you understand? I don’t want anyone to hurt or upset you.”

Aria pulled her face again before succumbing to her father’s inquiry. “You promise you won’t tell on me?”

I frowned at this remark. Seriously? Tell on her? If Aria said that, then there was no doubt Sophie was threatening the little girl. Instantly I felt disgusted by the woman. How could she do that to Aria, a little girl who needed an older female’s approval and affection? More than that, an older female such as Sophie who should be a role model?

I knew it was hard for James to make such a childish promise, but he nodded regardless, just to ease his daughter’s fear. Truth be told, who was he going to tell anyway? Since there was no one bigger or more influential than James himself.

Aria cast her eyes downward and said, “Umm… Sophie keeps telling me I’m naughty and silly and that I’m a bad little girl. I have to behave because otherwise Daddy won’t love me. She said me if I keep being so naughty, like talking too much and running around too much and playing with Alfie and Sammy too much, then Daddy won’t come home to see me like Mommy won’t come home to me. That Daddy won’t buy me presents and won’t play with me and will run away and never come back like Mommy did. So I have to behave.”

She raised her head, a shameful look on her adorable face. “Mommy hates me because I’m naughty and talk too much; that’s why. But I’m really, really sorry, Daddy, because I can’t help myself when I’m with you, so I talk lots ’cause I’m so happy when I’m with you.”

She buried her face in the side of James’s neck and began to sob, ashamed of herself.

I felt my heart break right then and there for Aria and subconsciously stroked the little girl’s small back to ease her pain. For sure, it was the first time I’d ever heard Aria talking about her mother, whom I just surmised had run away from home.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” James said. “It’s Daddy’s fault Daddy wasn’t there for you.”

James was blaming himself for his daughter’s suffering under Sophie’s hands. His daughter was craving his affection and love, and she was lonely. I also knew that he wasn’t going to forgive himself.

There I sat, watching James clutching his daughter tight in his arms, his face a dark mask of fury. I could see the intense Prussian-blue fire in his eyes that signified his wrath.

He was hurting, and he was blaming himself for everything that went wrong in Aria’s life.

Ever since I’d known James, which hadn’t been very long, this was the first time I’d seen such raw emotion in those beautiful blue eyes of his. I knew without a doubt that he loved his daughter dearly. I selfishly prayed that one day that unconditional, deep, meaningful love would also extend to me.

Both Alfie and Sammy decided to end their tag game and join us then. The duo sat before us and watched us with curiosity. Oddly enough, they didn’t bark, just sat there quietly as if they understood Aria and her father were kind of in a melancholy mood.

I kept silent as Aria finally raised her face again and asked her dad meekly, “Daddy?”

“Yes, sweetheart?” James replied roughly.

Aria sniffed noisily and continued. “You’re not angry with me, are you? You won’t run away like Mommy did ’cause you hate me, will you? ’Cause that’s what Sophie said. That you’ll run away too, and I’m scared. Whenever you’re going away, I’m so scared of being alone. So I go into your room and sleep in your bed and pray to God you’ll come back soon. It makes me so happy when you call me and tell me you’ll buy me presents and you’ll come home soon.”

Tears were falling down the little girl’s cheeks as she confessed all to her father. Right here and now, Aria was pouring her heart out, telling him her feelings, which were raw and real.

I found I was in awe of the little girl. I was crying along with her, so taken by her primal emotions.

In a way, I fully recognized Aria’s feelings, which were the same as mine when I’d been young. That sense of emptiness, of not having your parents by your side and the fear of seeing them leave and never return. I knew those feelings, the terror of being alone, of not having anyone to love and no one to love you in return.

“No, sweetheart,” James said darkly, his voice hard and edgy. “Daddy will never, ever run away. I will always be by your side. I love you so much.”

Aria sniffed and asked, “Really? You promise?”

James nodded. “I promise.”

That seemed to ease Aria’s fear and brighten her up. She smiled once again and then gave her father a peck on his cheek. “Thank you, Daddy. I promise to be good so you won’t have to go away too often.”

I couldn’t help myself and chuckled at the little girl’s remark. Honestly, Aria truly had a talent for words because she could really come up with the cleverest comment that could knock you out of the park.

I wiped tears from my eyes and said, “Why don’t you tag along with him when he’s going away for business, Aria?”

“But I have school,” Aria said.

True enough. “You can always get a private tutor, but if you really love school, you can always tag along with your father when you’re on vacation.”

Aria nodded vigorously at this. “Can we do that, Daddy? Can we? Can we? Next time I’m on vacation, can I come along with you on your trip?”

James chuckled delightfully and nodded. “Of course.”

Aria then turned her attention to me and asked, “Am I a naughty little girl, Mia? ’Cause I talk too much?”

I chuckled. I couldn’t help myself. “No, of course not,” I said. “I like when you act yourself. That hyperactive, talkative Aria. You’re so adorable when you’re friendly and outgoing.” I shook my head. “I don’t like it when you’re quiet and have to behave stiffly like you have a stick up your backside.”

Aria cocked her head to one side. “I have a stick up my backside? What does that mean?”

I blushed and thought, Shit. I shouldn’t have used that phrase.

James came to my rescue and said, “She means she doesn’t like it when you act like Sophie. And to be frankly honest, neither do I.”

Aria widened her eyes at this revelation. “You don’t, Daddy?”

He nodded and said, “From now on, you be yourself, all right?”

“Even in front of Sophie?” Aria asked, uncertain.

James nodded. “Yes. No matter who you’re with and where you are, you be yourself, all right?”

Aria chuckled and nodded furiously. “I will, Daddy. Also, I don’t like behaving like Sophie, who has a stick up her backside. It must be very uncomfortable, right?”

At that, I burst out laughing, and Aria joined me.

After that heart-to-heart between James, Aria, and me, which oddly enough made me feel I was actually part of James’s family, we had our picnic lunch, which Martha, the house cook, prepared for us.

The club sandwiches and assortment of savories and sweets were divine, and we enjoyed the meal tremendously. Afterward, the three of us, as well as Sammy and Alfie, went for a long stroll, and then we all played tag, which, of course, James was it. He was extremely fast and caught up to Aria and me in no time. As before with Aria, once he seized us in his arms, he pulled us onto the grass with him, making us tumble and roll about with him, which was delightfully fun.

By the time we had called it quits, I was a disheveled mess, as were Aria and James and more so Sammy and Alfie. Their white fur had turned dirt brown, not surprisingly.

When we got home, I went straight to my room, intending to shower and change because I knew I wasn’t at all presentable, what with my shirt and jeans covered with dirt and my hair in a wild mess.

I was just heading into the walk-in closet to retrieve a new pair of jeans and shirt when I stopped short.