Page 190 of The Path to Loving Him
Ryland:I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think it would be okay.
Mac shoves the rest of her green beans in her mouth, and I just shake my head at her. I don’t think there will ever be any controlling this girl—which I think in the long run will be a goodthing. She’s going to need her independence and strength to get through life.
Gabby:Are you sure?
Ryland:Listen, she’s relentless. If I don’t invite you over, I’m sure she’d find a way to sneak out and knock on your door. Come over . . . dressed, preferably in a turtleneck tucked into a pair of very unflattering pants.
Gabby:Coming over I can do. The unflattering pants is not an option, sorry.
Smiling, I set my phone down and say, “Gabby said she can come over and play.”
“Really?” Mac says, mouth still full of green beans.
“Really,” I say.
And then, she tucks her head and starts shoveling food into her mouth.
“Hey, slow down. It will be a few minutes before she’s here. You have time. No choking.”
She smiles at me and chews. And that smile right there? I will do anything to keep that smile around, anything to make this little girl happy, because she’s the most important thing in my life.
As long as I’m making her happy, that’s all that matters, then I’m doing my job, and letting Cassidy’s legacy live on.
“Say goodbye to Gabby,” I say to Mac who’s pouting on the stairs, fresh from her bath that we sped through because Mac wanted Gabby to read her a book before bed.
“Can’t she spend the night?” Mac asks.
I mean, I wouldn’t mind her spending the night, but I know we’re not there yet.
“Where would she sleep?” I ask, not wanting to say no right away.
“With you,” Mac says. “Uncle Wyatt sleeps with Aunt Aubree, and Uncle Hayes sleeps with Aunt Hattie. Adults share beds all the time.”
I pull on my neck and look at Gabby, who squats down to Mac’s eye level and takes her hand in hers. “I had so much fun with you tonight, Mac. You’re so good at playing, and I love the pictures we drew, but I have to go back to my place because I have to get ready for school tomorrow.”
“You go to school?” she asks.
“I teach at your uncle Ryland’s school, and I help him coach the baseball team too.”
“You do?” she asks, eyes bright. “Do you play baseball?”
“I do.”
“Are you good?”
Gabby smirks at me and whispers, “Better than your uncle Ryland.”
Mac gives me a side-eye accompanied with a smirk. “I’m better at baseball than him too.”
“Ooo, I bet you are. Maybe next time we hang out, we can throw a ball around.”
Mac jumps up and down and nods her head. “Yes. Yes. Yes.”
“Sounds perfect, then.” Gabby cutely holds her hand out and says, “Shake on it.”
They make a deal, and Mac throws her arms around Gabby and gives her a big hug.
I stand there in awe, watching the entire thing unfold like I did when they were playing tonight. Mac’s fascinated with Gabby, almost like the same way she’s infatuated with Wyatt. And Gabby, Jesus, the way she spoke to Mac all night, was able to remain in imaginative play for a couple of hours, never breaking, and following Mac around the house, dressed up andready to defend the Chewys who sat in the middle of the room, vulnerable to Godzilla Plus. Gabby was so good with her that it cracked a hole in my wall, a big hole, a Gabby-shaped hole.
