No Commitment (Capital Kingsmen #1) - Lisa Suzanne Page 0,88
with my dad on her heels.
I glance over at Dani, and she nods.
“She’s your granddaughter,” I say.
My mom gasps, and my dad’s eyes widen a little.
“What?” my mom asks. Tears fill her eyes as a hand flies to her chest. “I’m...I’m a grandma?”
I catch Dani’s eye as I smile. “Yep. You’re a nana. And you’re a papa,” I say to my dad.
“But she must be close to two!” my mom says.
“That’s, um, my fault,” Dani starts, and I swoop in because as much as she’s to blame, I’ve learned over the last few weeks that I am, too.
A sudden light dawns on me.
“She did what she had to do to take care of our baby while I was overseas,” I say, nodding at Dani to go along with the way I’m presenting it...because it’s true. She may have had the chance to unblock me and tell me sooner, but I don’t know what sort of dad I would have been capable of being when I was touring Europe, Australia, South America, and Asia.
She gave Luna a dad when I wasn’t able to be there. Was it the best route to take? No. But I’m forever grateful to Ford for being there for my girls. Both of them.
And that’s why I helped with his move to Denver. It’s why I paid for his new place. It’s why I’m quietly taking care of him. If he chooses to tell Dani, well, that’s his news to share. I want him to know that he will always have a place in Luna’s life. He was the first man she loved, and he won’t be replaced. There’s room for both of us in her life.
Her eyes sparkle with tears as she looks gratefully toward me, but my mom jumps into action and starts crying and my dad even gets a little misty-eyed, and then my mom wants to hold her and we’re still making introductions and the spaghetti’s ready.
It’s chaotic for a few beats, and it’s loud and boisterous, and it’s intense and crazy.
It’s all mine...and I couldn’t be happier about that.
* * *
It’s nearly three in the morning by the time I get back from my gig, and I stop into Luna’s room on my way to bed. I could just look at the monitor, but it isn’t the same as seeing her little body rise and fall with each breath she takes. Being away from her even for one night is hard. I have no idea how this tour’s going to go. We’ve talked about flying the two of them out for a few of the shows, but I already know how much I’ll hate being away from Luna. From Dani, too.
I close Luna’s door and check on Dani. She’s sleeping, her chest rising and falling with even breaths much like her daughter. I press a soft kiss to her temple as love fills me.
It’s not perfect, but it’s a start.
CHAPTER 43
TYLER
I shouldn’t have to defend myself in the shitstorm I wake up to the next morning—actually, the next afternoon—yet I feel the urge to.
Karl texted me the photo before I was even awake, and I want to show Dani for damage control. She’s in the kitchen with Luna when I saunter down, and the spoon filled with yogurt is an airplane halfway to Luna’s giggling mouth. I draw in the scene like a cleansing breath before I approach the table and slide into the chair across from Dani.
“I need to talk to you about something,” I say.
She zooms the spoon into Luna’s mouth before she looks over at me. “What is it?”
I glance at the clock. After lunch, Luna will go down for her nap, and this is probably a conversation better had without little ears listening in. “We can talk when she’s down.”
Dani’s brows dip a little as a little anxiety pinches them, but she nods. And once Luna is down and we’ve all eaten, I slide my phone across the table toward her with the incriminating photo. We’re out on the patio again, the tranquil place where we seem to have our best conversations, and she’s on the couch across from me. She glances down at it and back at me. She looks a little disappointed, and I click the picture off.
“No commitment, right?” she murmurs, pressing her lips together.
“I didn’t do anything with her,” I say.
Her surprised eyes meet mine, and she nods as hers start to sparkle. “I trust you,” she says.