“I don’t have a mommy anymore.” She frowned but then took another bite of her cookie.
Oh, my God. Was Kyson a widower? And here I was making this little love talk about the mother she’d lost. I gritted my teeth and clenched my hands.
“You don’t?” I put my hand over my heart as my chest became tight.
She shook her head and chewed slowly, looking around my space as if she wasn’t really comfortable talking about it.
I felt like a jerk for bringing up something that might not be my place to know. “I’m sorry to hear that, sweetie.”
Hope shrugged. “It’s okay. I don’t remember her anyway.” She traced the edge of her milk cup, a bit of melancholy having come over the child before she looked up at me, smiled and said, “Can I have some more milk?”
“Of course you can. Would you like one more cookie?” A kidney. A cake. Whatever would make her smile with pure happiness at this point I was willing to give.
Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement. “Yes, please. I think a doodle cookie.”
I chuckled. “A snickerdoodle,” I clarified and pulled the biggest one from the tub. If it ruined her dinner, it would serve Kyson right for not telling me about her in the first place.
“Yes, that one.” She spun around in a circle then stopped when she made a full three-sixty back to her plate.
I’d just refilled her milk and given her another cookie when there was a knock at my door. Then Kyson’s solemn face appeared as he opened the door, entering without waiting for me to answer. I inhaled a full breath at the sight of a broken man I’d come to care for very much. His gait was slower as he approached us, shoulders slumped as though he were carrying a pile of bricks on his back. But it was his eyes that worried me. They were raw and filled with sadness.
“Hey, bug, whatcha eatin’?” He tugged on one of her pigtails.
“Doodle cookies! They are so yummy, Daddy.”
The side of his mouth tipped up into a half smile, but I could see the effort it took when it didn’t reach his eyes. “Looks good. Isabeau is an amazing baker.” His gaze came to mine, the blue orbs searching my face.
There was so much in that one look.
A plea for time to explain.
Acknowledgment that he’d screwed up.
An apology.
It was all right there before my eyes. I could choose to wail, scream, complain, moan and groan, or I could listen, bide my time and hear him out. Determine my feelings after he’d explained why he’d kept such an important part of his life a secret.
For him, and because little ears were present, I pressed my lips into a soft smile, saying without really saying anything at all that I’d give him the time he needed. “Any news on Frank?”
He sighed deeply. “Lincoln and Pops checked in with his wife. His injuries are serious, and it will be a long road to recovery. The club will descend on the hospital and they won’t know what hit them when thirty burly bikers show up and demand to see their brother.”
“Yikes. Though I imagine all that support will be good for his wife and kids.”
Kyson nodded and then ran his hand through his hair and let out a long sigh. “Isa, I’m sorry, I can’t... I don’t even know how to start right now.”
I shook my head and went over to his side; the pain he was feeling filled the small kitchen area like a thick fog. “It’s okay. We’ll talk later.”
“We will? You’re not running for the hills?” There was a hint of hope in his tone that I couldn’t bear hearing without touching him.
I cupped his cheek. “Running is not exactly my thing.”
He shifted his face and kissed the center of my palm. “What is your thing?”
“Eating. Cooking. Baking. I don’t even think I own running shoes.” I pursed my lips together.
“You wanna meet my daughter, baby?”
I grinned wide. “Kinda already did that.”
He closed his eyes. “Hope, Daddy wants you to meet a very important woman in his life.” He looped his arm around my waist and turned us toward his kid.
Hope frowned and tipped her head to the side, looking exactly like her father when he’s studying some building specs.
“But Daddy, I already know the cookie lady is your girlfriend. Do you have another girlfriend?” Her mouth dropped open and she shook her head, looking positively scandalized. “Nana says boys can only have one girlfriend or boyfriend they like at a time. And Pop-Pop said she was your girlfriend.”
Kyson chuckled and then tugged me tighter to his side. I rested my hand against his chest and sighed into the contentment I felt. We had a lot to talk about. A lot of things to go over. We were still new and there was much we didn’t know about one another. And yet, his having a daughter was not something that would put me off being in a relationship with the big lug. It was hiding her I didn’t agree with and didn’t understand.
“No, Daddy does not have any other girlfriends. Just Isabeau.” He ran his nose along my cheek.
“Whew. You could have gotten in big trouble for that.” She bit into her third cookie.
“Absolutely!” I playfully made a mad face until Kyson laughed. “Though you can call me Izzy, little miss.”
“Izzy. I like it,” she said through a mouth full of cookie.
I grinned. “I’m glad, sweetheart.”
“Now that my two best girls have met, I think our next date should be the three of us. What do you think, Hope?”
She nodded ecstatically.
“Isabeau? Would you be interested in having dinner with me and my daughter tomorrow night at our house?”
My heart started pounding and butterflies took flight in my stomach. “I’d love to. Do you cook?”
“Kinda have to, babe—have a child that needs to eat real food. She can’t live on pizza and burgers, as much as she’d disagree.” He chuckled and the sound made the air seem lighter.
“I so could! I love pizza and cheeseburgers!” The pitch of her voice climbed to a rather screechy timbre that could pierce straight through to your eardrum if you weren’t ready for it. Something I’d have to get used to.
“Cool it, bug.” He laughed. “How’s about your dad makes tacos?”
“Awesome,” she breathed. “Daddy makes the bestest tacos.”
I smiled. “I haven’t met a taco I didn’t like. How about I bring the dessert?”
Hope wiggled her bum on the stool then spun around in a much faster circle than she had before her dad was here. Perhaps the third cookie put the hyper meter over the top.