Page 48 of Bad Decisions & Back Roads

The older woman folded a kitchen towel with the kind of precision that suggested resistance was pointless.“You can call me Lisa.Are you not hungry?Do you have big plans tonight?”

“No.”I opened my mouth, scrambling for something convincing to get out of dinner.“I?—”

“Then you’re staying.It’s settled.”That didn’t feel like a suggestion.She raised her voice.“Sofia, dear, Dr.Gia is here.Once she’s done with Buck, can you be a good host and show her the house while I’m preparing dinner?”

There was a thunder of small feet.Sofia flew down the stairs at a speed that made my safety instincts flare.Miraculously, she didn’t fall.

Her face lit up when she saw me.“Are you done yet?”

“Give me a few minutes with Buck.”I smiled.

“Okay.”She immediately began bouncing in a tight, impatient circle.

My attempt to remove Buck’s sutures turned into a test of focus while Sofia narrated every second of my progress and asked at least twelve times if I was done yet.By the eighth time, even Buck looked concerned for me.Mr.Hurst helped keep Buck still and held his tail for me.

“There,” I said rolling back on my feet.“It’s healed great.Sutures are out.I’m done.”

“I’m going to show you the best part.Myhouse.”Sofia grabbed my hand and dragged me outside into the late-afternoon heat.I paused just long enough to take in the sweep of never-ending pasture beyond the house and the golden light washing over the fields like something out of a painting.

Sofia kept tugging me.Her long dark hair with a light curl bounced with every step.She pulled until we reached a two-story treehouse.It started at ground level with an enclosed staircase that wound upward.The bottom floor held scattered toys, books, and a bench.But the second floor?—

Magic.

Soft strings of lights glowed along the walls with the flick of a switch.Wisps of gauzy fabric draped from the ceiling beams like a tiny woodland castle.Pillows in every shade of pink, purple, and mint were piled in corners.Fairy wings hung on hooks by the door.

Big, gruff, permanently annoyed Timothy had built his daughter a dream escape.

“Sit,” Sofia ordered, pointing at a tiny green sofa.

I eyed it suspiciously.“Do you think that thing can hold me?”

“Holds Daddy.”

Well.If it could survive Timothy Hurst, it could survive me.

I sat.My knees ended up at shoulder level.

Within minutes, Sofia had rearranged a little table, seated herself across from me, and dragged over two more chairs—one occupied by an oversized pink axolotl, and the other by a giant stuffed sheep.She poured water into plastic teacups with grave seriousness.

Then, in the solemn voice of a queen holding court, she asked, “Has Daddy done his mad face at you?”

“Not recently.”Not since the barn.Not since the kisses my stupid brain replayed like a favorite song.

“Good.”She nodded, sipping tea in that awkward little pretend-grown-up way kids had.Then her face fell.“My mommy left town with someone she loved more than me.Daddy’s sad.I don’t think he’s sad about her leaving, but about me not having a mommy.”

My heart squeezed.“Oh, sweetheart.You have so many wonderful people here like your grandma who love you.”

She tipped her head, considering that.Then quietly, “Now that Mommy left, Daddy will find a new mommy.Then he might not love me anymore.Like my mommy.”

That hit me square in the gut.Not because she was scared, but somewhere along the way, this sweet little girl had been given the idea that love ran out.

I looked around at the glowing lights, the princess drapes and the ridiculous mountain of pillows.Every inch of this place was built by a man who had probably worked himself half to death just to see her smile.

“Your daddy has a lot of love for you and all the other people in his life.That kind of thing doesn’t run out.”I leaned forward.“Sofia, look at this place.Your daddy built you a whole fairy kingdom.”

She looked around.

“That man has a lot of love for you,” I said, meaning every word.“Not regular love.Big, stubborn, impossible-to-shake love.The kind that sticks forever.Even if some day he loves someone else enough to want to make her a mommy for you, it will never take away one single piece of the love he has for you.He has a really big heart with a lot of space in it.”