Page 7 of Protecting Addison
“Right. If things get bad, don’t hesitate to call your mom or me,” Ricky told her.
Ellory rolled her eyes. “I know.”
Her daughter was growing up before her eyes. Addison didn’t know whether she should reprimand her for being disrespectful or laugh at the exasperation in her tone.
“I know I’m not your father, but I care,” Ricky told her seriously.
Ellory tilted her head as she stared at the man in front of her. “Why?”
“Why do I care?”
“Yeah. Like you said, you aren’t my dad. And you haven’t known me or my mom very long.” Her voice lowered, so the three other kids couldn’t hear. Addison herself had to strain to hear what she was saying. “And I know you married my mom so she could have insurance for me, and you could have a babysitter for the others. So…why doyoucare if I hurt or not?”
Addison’s gut clenched. She hadn’t really wanted Ellory to know the circumstances behind her marriage, but she also didn’t like lying to her daughter. So when Ellory approached her one night, wanting to know why she’d married Ricky when they hadn’t even dated, Addison was completely honest. Well…as honest as she could be, leaving out the part about loving the man.
“I didnotmarry your mom for those reasons alone,” Ricky told her.
Addison held her breath.
“Yes, us being married made things easier in regard to you getting the healthcare you need. And yes, having her here is a tremendous help with Artem, Borysko, and Yana. But I married your mom because I like and respect her. We’ve actually known each other a while now, and there wasn’t anyone else I even considered marrying.”
It was kind of a non-answer, but it still made Addison feel warm and gooey inside.
“Do you love her?” Ellory asked almost nonchalantly.
The warm feeling disappeared in a puff of smoke. She wanted to rush over to where her daughter was standing with Ricky and laugh off her question. She both wanted to hear his answer and was terrified of it at the same time.
His gaze lifted at that moment and met her own. Addison swallowed hard as she stared back. He only looked at her for a heartbeat, but it felt as if something momentous happened in that short span of time.
“Your mom is one of the most generous, talented, and beautiful women I’ve ever met. She would do anything for you, for her friends. She puts everyone else first, even if it means she goes without. She’s got more love in her little finger than many people have in their entire bodies. I would bend over backward for her. I’ll protect her, and you, with every breath in my body. And before you ask why again, it’s because she’s got a pure soul. And she makes me a better man. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”
Addison felt as if she was going to pass out. People had told her she had pretty hair, that she was lucky she had such a slender frame, that she was nice. But what Ricky just said? It floored her. He hadn’t come right out and said he loved her, but obviously he’d satisfied Ellory. Because she nodded.
“Okay?” Ricky asked.
“Okay,” Ellory told him.
“No more talk about doubting whether I care about you or your mom, all right?”
“Yeah.”
“Will you help get Yana ready for school while I talk to your mom real fast?”
“Sure.” Ellory spun toward the table and held out her hand to the little girl. “Come on, Yana. Do you want to wear your Elsa shirt or the Little Mermaid?”
“Elsa!” Yana practically shrieked.
Ellory laughed and headed down the hall toward their room hand-in-hand with the little girl. Artem and Borysko had finished putting their dirty dishes in the dishwasher and ran down the hallway more rambunctiously than the girls had, pushing and shoving each other to try to be first to get to their room to grab their backpacks.
Addison knew she and Ricky only had a couple of minutes before the kids would be back, and they’d all have to leave to get to school on time. She held her breath as Ricky walked toward her.
“I’m sorry.”
Addison frowned, her brows furrowed.
“I didn’t mean to overstep there. I just…I hate thinking of her in pain. I hope you aren’t offended by what I said.”
That wasn’t what she was feeling. “Offended? No, not at all.”
