“Daddy, look!”

We both snap out of it and turn quickly to Macy who is holding up a gorgeous, yellow rose.

“That’s real pretty, baby,” he says, smiling down at her.

“Do you like roses?” she asks me, showing me the flower.

I kneel down. “I love them. I have my very own rose garden at home.”

“Can I see it?” she cries.

“Perhaps one day you can.”

I look up at Nate, whose jaw is tight and every now and then it tics. He’s really down tonight, and I don’t know him well enough to be able to make that better or offer the right advice, but I can try and make him happier.

“Look,” I say, pointing over the road. “There’s the ice cream shop.”

Macy looks over and squeals with delight, then she takes Nate’s hand and pulls him with full force towards the shop. We get ice cream and Nate offers to walk me the few extra blocks to my house. By the time we get there, Macy is looking sleepy, her face covered in ice cream. I turn to Nate.

“Thank you for tonight.”

He smiles, but it’s distant and distracted. “No, thanks for keeping us company. Maybe we can catch up soon?”

I get to my front gate and turn to him, smiling.

“Maybe.”

CHAPTER 5

NATE

“I’m so sorry,” Lena sobs, her hands fisted in my shirt.

I’m trying to forgive her, trying to see both sides to this story. Maybe she is the way she is because of me; maybe my career is ruining my family. Maybe I’m not giving her what I used to give her.

“It’s done with,” I bite out, trying to calm my voice.

“You’re still angry at me,” she whispers, looking up at me, tears running down her cheeks.

“I’m disappointed and you’re going to have to give me time, but I’m not angry.”

She blinks a few times, lets go of my shirt and swipes her eyes, and then croaks out, “I keep fucking up, Nathaniel. I don’t know why. I want to be a better mom, I love her . . . I do.”

I sigh. “I know. Maybe it’s my fault. Maybe we need to get away for a while? A holiday?”

Her eyes light up. “We could go to Paris! Remember when we first started dating and we went there?”

Those were better days, when she was everything. I try to imagine her there again, holding her hand, dancing with her in the streets—but I can’t. It’s not her I see, and that scares the fucking hell out of me. I wish for someone else—anyone else. I smile at her though, because even through the sadness I still made a commitment to at least try. Broken things can be fixed—I can’t give up for the sake of my little girl. I know what it was like growing up with parents who divorced and it’s not okay to do the same. We brought Macy into this world and it’s up to us to give her the best we can.

“Maybe,” I force a smile. “Or maybe we can go somewhere different.”

She leans up on her toes and kisses me.

“I’ll try harder, Nate. You’ll see.”

God, I hope she’s right.

~*~*~*~

AVERY

“Why was he dropping you home?”

I squeal and spin around when I hear the voice coming from the darkness. I’m just about to unlock my front door when he speaks. I put a hand over my heart and take a few steady breaths. It’s just Liam. He’s been sitting here the whole time? I’ve watered my flowers and stood by the fence for at least half an hour, just thinking about tonight. All that time he didn’t care to make it known he was there? Why? Was he waiting to see if Nate would come back?

“Why have you been sitting here this whole time, Liam? Are you crazy?”

“I wanted to see what you were doing.”

“I was watering my flowers!” I cry, throwing my hands up. “There was no need for you to turn stalkerish and watch me.”

“Why did he drop you home?” he asks again.

I unlock the front door, angry. I shove it open and step inside, flicking on the lights. Liam follows me. When I turn to him, I cringe. He looks awful. His face is drained of any decent color and his eyes look a little sunken. He’s wearing a shirt with a hole in it, and jeans that have seen better days.

“You look like shit, Li.”

He ignores me. “Why did he drop you home?”

“For shit’s sake,” I snap. “Since when did you become my father?”

He gives me a hard stare but doesn’t answer me.

I sigh and mutter, “I saw him when I was walking home from Dad’s. I joined him and his daughter for some ice cream and we walked home.”

“He’s married,” he says, matter-of-factly.

“I know that. What do you think we were doing?”

He narrows his eyes at me. “You were at Dad’s?”

Talk about rapid subject change.

I put my hands on my hips. “Yes, Jacob wanted to go there. It lasted all of five minutes before I left.”

“So nothing has changed then,” he says, walking past me and stepping into my kitchen. He opens the fridge and pulls out my carton of orange juice, opening it and taking a large swig.

“Do you mind?” I say, feeling my blood boil. It’s never okay to drink right out of the carton.

He shoves it back in and slams the door shut, before turning to me. “Nope.”

“Why are you here? I’m sure it’s not to apologize for the other night.”