you.”
“I really do love you,” I say again.
He is such a wonderful father, and it’s the biggest turn-on ever.
He bends down and kisses my forehead.
And I close my eyes and enjoy it.
* * *
“So guess who contacted me today?” Nadia asks, sitting down on my couch. She came to spend some time with me and Quinn, and I’m happy to have her here.
“Who?” I ask.
“Anne, Jean’s daughter. She wants me to help her find her. Apparently she’s gone missing or something.”
I sit up straighter. “Jean’s gone missing?”
In the end Jean was telling the truth about Jasper and her daughter, and she has left us alone since then. I wonder where she is—her poor daughter must be so worried. Her disappearance can’t have anything to do with Jasper, who is behind bars, so I have no idea what could have happened to her. Although he might still have people who work for him, so maybe he’s calling the shots from prison?
“What are you going to do?” I ask Nadia. “Do you think you can locate her?”
It’s so weird to think that if my dad were alive, this news would potentially upset him. It makes me want to help find her, even though he’s not even here.
It doesn’t really make any sense.
“I could try. What do you think? I don’t want to upset you, so if you don’t want me to take this case, I won’t.”
“If you want to, then go for it,” I say. “I don’t think Jean is a threat at all, and to be honest, I kind of want to make sure that she’s okay.”
“I don’t either,” she agrees. “This whole time we all just assumed they stayed together, but apparently Jean sent Anne off to her new college, set her up, stayed for a while but eventually ended up leaving. She hasn’t seen or heard from her since, and Anne is very worried.”
“Weird,” I mutter. The whole thing makes no sense. I hope she didn’t have an accident or something. Or maybe she has a reason she needs to hide out right now. “Where are you going to start with this one?”
Quinn starts fussing in my arms, so I grab her bottle from the coffee table and see if she wants to drink. She does, latching on. “Hungry little girl.”
“I’ll do an online search and see what I can find, and then go from there. Social media might give me a few clues,” Nadia says, shrugging and watching Quinn. “She is so beautiful, Bronte.”
“I know.” I beam, sighing in contentment. “She is everything I’ve ever wanted. I’m so lucky Molly picked me to be her mom.”
“I think Quinn is the lucky one,” Nadia adds, making me smile.
“Do you want some help with this case?” I ask. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss the private investigator work, and although I love being a mother more than anything, it might be nice to get out of the house and do something else every once in a while. Plus, this case is a little personal, and I wouldn’t mind seeing it through.
“Sure. I’ll dive in and let you know what I find and we can go from there,” she says, holding her arms out as Quinn stops drinking. “Now let me have one more cuddle before I have to go back to work.”
Nadia leaves, and I sit down with Quinn, whose blue eyes are looking right at me. “Your granddad would have loved you so much, you know that? His name was Freddy, and he would have spoiled you. He was a good person and a wonderful parent, and hopefully one day you will say the same about me. And your aunt Billie, well, she would have adored you so much, too. And she would have been the one bailing you out of any trouble you got into, and probably not telling me about it. But you know what? They are both looking over us, and they’re here with us still. I can feel them.”
Quinn farts.
Lovely.
If they are watching over us right now, I’m sure they are both laughing.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Crow and I decide to have a much-needed day date. With Quinn consuming our lives for the last three months, we’ve had little to no alone time, and we both want to make sure we make time for ourselves. It’s hard leaving a newborn baby, though, and I’m trying not to let my anxiety kick in.
We sit side by side, his arm around me as we wait for our