I understood why Zach didn’t want anything to do with his father. This entire situation had spun too far out of control, but I couldn’t shake Mr. Kent’s reaction in his office. I knew from the moment I first saw that man that he was hiding something, and I was right. So, I knew I could trust my gut on this. I had always been able to.
What I saw from Mr. Kent in his office that day was a true, vulnerable moment.
A part of me figured Mr. Kent deserved what ended up with. He deserved to have his family abandon him, and he deserved to live in the shadow of his actions forever. But another part of me enjoyed redemption. I believed people could change. It was part of what drew me to being a private investigator.
I also felt that Mr. Kent was seeking a second chance.
Why shouldn’t he get it? If he fucked it up, it was on him. Every single day, criminals around the world were released back into society. They were given a second chance to prove they could become productive members of society. If they got a second chance, why shouldn’t Kent get a shot, too?
“Miss Paige?”
I looked down at the little girl beside me as she tugged on my pants leg. I couldn’t get over how much she looked like her father. She had his same bright blue eyes and his exact raven-black hair. She had his curls and his intense stare. She even had his prominent jawline and his broad smile.
She also had his forehead. A forehead that belonged to Mr. Kent.
“Yes, sweetheart?” I asked.
“Can I tell you something?”
She lifted her arms up to me, and I picked her up just before another wave crashed around our ankles. Zach was tossing another seashell into the ocean before his eyes caught mine, and I watched the shock roll behind his beautiful gaze.
“Whatcha got for me?” I asked, smiling.
“I wanna go get some ice cream,” Blithe said.
“Ice cream, huh?” I asked as I grinned at Zach. “What kind of ice cream would you like?”
“Well, um. I like the pink one.”
I nodded. “The pink one? I’m usually a fan of the yellow one.”
“Eww, you eat the yellow one? Mommy told me never to do that.”
“Why not?” I asked. “Yellow ice cream is good.”
“Because someone peed in it!”
My eyes widened, and I laughed. I heard Zach chuckle like a rumbling thunderstorm off in the distance. I held his little girl close to me as she eyed me carefully, trying to figure out what was so funny.
“What?” Blithe asked.
“I think your Mom told you to never eat yellow snow,” I said.
Blithe shook her head vehemently. “She said never eat yellow ice cream.”
“You mean snow cream?” Zach asked.
“Yeah! Wait, what’s snow cream?”
“Great, now we’re all confused,” I said, giggling. “Well, how about this? We’ll go get ice cream, and I’ll get the purple one instead.”
“There’s purple ice cream?” Blithe asked. “What is it?”
“I don’t know, but we’ll figure it out together.”
“I take it I don’t get an opinion in this at all?” Zach asked.
“Nope,” Blithe said, smiling.
The three of us packed up and left the beach to go find an ice cream shop. I looked for one on my phone while Zach drove through town. Blithe was just as content as could be. She was looking out the window and watching the shops pass by, and every few minutes, she would point at something that caught her eye.
“Look at that!” she said. “Puppy!”
“Do you know what kind of puppy that is?” I asked.
“A black one,” she said.
“It’s a poodle,” I said.
“But it’s not small,” she said.
“Some poodles aren’t. Regular poodles are actually the size of a German shepherd.”
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Have you ever seen a dog that has golden brown hair and it stands really tall? With brown eyes and a really wet nose?”
“Yeah!”
“That’s a German shepherd,” I said as I eyed Zach.
There was a small grin on his face as he pulled into the first ice cream shop we came upon.
“Wow. That’s a big poodle. Daddy, could we get one?”
The car came to an abrupt halt in the parking space as Zach whipped his head around. Furrowing my brow, I watched the silent transaction that took place between the two. Blithe was looking at Zach right in his eyes as Zach’s eyes danced around his daughter.
It was like he was taking her in for the first time. I wondered if it was the first time she’d called him Daddy.
“Daddy?” Blithe asked.
“Yeah? Sorry. Um, we can talk about that later, okay?”
“Okay, I’ll help take care of him,” she said.
“I’m sure you will,” he said, his voice choked with emotion. “You’re a big helper around the apartment with keeping your room clean.”
He shut off the car, and I reached over to take his hand. His eyes slowly panned up to mine, and I could see the storm of confusion gathering behind his eyes. There was so much rolling around in his head, and I wanted to get him to talk to me. I wanted to be his sounding wall so he didn’t have to shoulder all of this alone.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. Let’s go get some ice cream.”
We got out of the car, and Blithe jumped into Zach’s arms. He carried her into the ice cream shop, and we picked out what we wanted. Then we sat at a table and ate our cones. Blithe was already covered in the pink and blue swirled ice cream she chose, and Zach was smiling at her as he ate his chocolate chip cookie dough flavor.
My eyes were on Zach, making sure he was okay and that he didn’t need anything from me.
“Miss Paige?”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Are you staying?” Blithe asked.
My eyes flickered over to Zach before I cleared my throat.
“Why’s that?” I asked.
“Huh?”
“I meant, why are you asking?”
“Oh. Well, Daddy brushed my hair this morning, but it hurt.”
“You didn’t tell me that,” Zach said.
“I didn’t wanna hurt you,” Blithe said.
I could see the defeated look rise up in Zach’s eyes as he set his ice cream on the table. “Sweetheart, look at me.”
Blithe turned her body toward Zach before she looked up at him from underneath her long eyelashes.
Holy hell, she was a beautiful child.
“If I’m ever hurting you, for any reason, I need you to tell me, okay?” he asked.
“I know you didn’t mean to,” Blithe said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Zach said. “Promise me. If I’m ever hurting you, you say something.”
“Okay.”
Zach’s shoulders heaved with a sigh before he pulled his daughter into his lap. “I’m so sorry,” he said as he kissed the top of her head.
My heart leapt in my chest at the sight of Zach cradling his daughter. She turned her gaze back to me.
“Will you stay and do my hair?” she asked.
“Blithe, I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I said. “I mean, your father wants to spend time with you.”
“But who will do my hair?” Blithe asked.
“I could teach your dad how to do your hair,” I said.
“And what about clothes?” she asked.
“What about them?”
“Daddy doesn’t know clothes,” she said.
“What makes you think that? I think what your daddy’s got on looks nice on him.” I felt Zach’s eyes bore into the side of my head as I locked my eyes with Blithe.
“But not girl clothes,” she said.
“She’s right,” Zach said. “I’m not good with girl clothes. Or how to manage her curly hair. It’s a lot coarser than mine is. She wakes up every morning with mats and knots that take me forever to get out.”
“I’m sure there’s some kind of hair product you could buy for her hair to make it easier,” I said. “I’ll take you to a store, and we can try out some things.”
“So, you’ll stay and go shopping?” Blithe asked.
“Well, I mean, I’m not sure—”
“Paige,” Zach said.
I looked up into his eyes as I struggled to find the words to explain myself to Blithe.
“When it comes to all this stuff, I’m clueless,” he said. “It might be nice for you to stick around and help out with the things I don’t understand. And it might help Blithe transition. She’s used to having a female figure around. Now, she’s been dumped with a man, and it might be a help to her. Plus, I learn better watching than being told.”
“Well, if it’s not a big deal, I’m sure I could get a hotel somewhere. I mean, I don’t have anywhere I have to be right now.”
“Why not?” Blithe asked.
“I’ve just got some free time is all,” I said.
“So you’ll stay?” she asked.
“I guess so,” I said, smiling.
“Yay! No more hurts!”
I giggled at Blithe as she bounced around in Zach’s lap. She threw her arms around her father before she scurried to me and threw her arms around my neck as well. I held her close and took in the innocence of her gestures before I started rocking her from side to side, our ice cream long forgotten about.
Then, I had an idea.
“Zach?” I asked.
“Yep?”
“If I stay, will you consider something for me?”
He picked up his ice cream and took a bite. “Drop it,” Zach said quietly.
“I just want you to consider it,” I said.
“And you have my answer,” he said.
“Thank you,” Blithe said as she pulled my attention away.
“You’re very welcome,” I said. “Now, are you gonna finish your ice cream cone? Or is it gonna melt away?”
“No!” Blithe said. “Gotta finish.”
I put her down, and she scrambled back up into her seat before she picked up her melting cone. I went back to eating the scoop I’d gotten, but my eyes kept stealing glances at Zach. I wanted him to consider meeting up with his father, but it wasn’t up to me. I couldn’t make Zach do anything like that, no matter how good I knew it would be for him and no matter how much I felt Mr. Kent deserved at least a chance to look his son in the eye. It wasn’t my call.
We all finished our ice cream and cleaned ourselves up. Then we made our way back to the car with Blithe holding both of our hands.
I could’ve sworn I saw the shadow of a grin on Zach’s face.