Chapter 35

Iwoke to the smell of something burning. I threw my blankets off and rushed to the kitchen where smoke had filled the air.

"Sorry," Sloane said. "My Pop Tart got stuck in the toaster."

My heart had nearly stopped, thinking about how I was going to get Sloane out of the apartment to outrun a fire.

"It's fine," I said and turned on the hood over the stove. "You're up already?"

"Yep. I did the stupid bath thing and am ready to go."

"You're going to school today?"

"I feel fine," she said. "You said I could take Advil at school, right?"

"Yes." I nodded. "Okay."

I started my coffee and watched Sloane. She hadn't been outwardly angry with me, but there had still been some distance.

"What?" she asked.

I shook my head. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay. With everything."

"I'm fine. I'm not mad at you anymore. Not really. But you should have told me."

"I'm really glad to hear that." I smiled, my voice catching slightly with emotion. "I only ever wanted what was best for you, Sloane. You have to understand, I was just a young girl when I had you. I was only four years older than you are right now when I found out I was pregnant. And my father?" I paused, swallowing back the bitterness that threatened to rise up within me. "Well, he made everything seem like it was Graham's fault. It took me a long time to realize that it wasn't all his fault. When I decided not to tell him about you, I was a scared kid that had no idea what I was going to do."

"I get it." She shrugged. "I wish I would have known him before."

"I know and I will always regret those years you guys lost, but I promise I will not get in the way of your relationship ever again. I want you to know your father."

"And my grandmother?"

"Absolutely," I said. "Jackie is a good woman. She loves you. She is probably going to spoil you rotten. I'm not even going to stop her."

"Thanks."

"I need to get ready for work. I'm going to have Michael take you to school and pick you up until you're cleared by the doctor. I'll take a cab."

"Mom, I can?—"

"Nope. The car. You are not going to re-injure that foot. Trust me, you might feel okay right now, but if you put any pressure on it, you're going to be in a lot of pain. And you want to heal up right so you can swim again."

"I know, I know."

"Good. I'll grab my robe and walk you down."

"Mom, no!"

"People do it all the time," I told her.

"Not my mom."

I smiled. "I've never got to do this before. This will be fun. If only I had curlers to put in my hair."

She groaned and buried her face in her hands. I laughed and went to get my robe. Her embarrassment was satisfying. Michael pulled up in the car. His familiar grin greeted us as he opened the door for Sloane.

"I'll take care of the pickup after school," he said.

"Thank you, Michael," I said.

I waved goodbye before rushing back upstairs to shower and get ready for work. I felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief. Sloane was happy with me. It seemed like Graham was well on his way to acknowledging my existence again. The storm wasn't over, but it felt like we had weathered the worst of it. It wasn't going to be easy, but we were on our way back to finding a new normal.

I went to work and spotted Graham waiting for me with coffee. Another sign things were thawing.

"Thank you." I smiled at him.

We fell into our usual routine. We were both a little behind with the time off earlier in the week. I wanted to talk to Graham and see where things stood, but I didn't know how to broach the subject. The morning and the afternoon were a blur of meetings, phone calls, and paperwork.

At the end of the day, I took in a couple of files. For once, he wasn't on the phone or doing a Zoom call with a client. I decided it was a good time to talk. I needed to try at least. I couldn't just leave things in this weird, vague space. I wanted to know exactly where we stood. I didn't want my heart broken again.

"Hey, Graham," I said nervously.

He looked up from his screen. "Yes?"

"Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure. What is it?"

I took a deep breath. "I need to know where we stand," I said quietly. I wasn't sure I wanted to know the answer, but I hated being in limbo. "Do you think you're ready to forgive me?"

He paused and said nothing for several seconds. "Yes," he answered. "I already have."

I felt a rush of relief wash over me at his words, a weight lifting from my shoulders that I hadn't even realized I'd been carrying. And then I felt the tears well in my eyes. "Thank you."

"And last night…" he began, his voice trailing off as he searched for the right words. "I wanted nothing more than to kiss you. Hell, I want to kiss you now. But we're at work, and I didn't want to cross any lines. We need to be professional here."

"I wanted that too," I confessed, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "But I understand why we can't now and why we didn't then."

He smiled. "We won't always be at work."

"No. No, we won't."

"So, maybe I could take you out for dinner," he said, shrugging.

"We can't rush into this just because of Sloane," I said. "We both need to want it, and we need to figure each other out first. And I don't want our relationship to get in the way of you getting to know your daughter. I think some might say we're putting the cart before the horse here. We had a kid and now we're going to date."

"Technically, we were dating and then we had a kid."

"True." I laughed. "I just don't want her to think we're together and she gets this idea of a happy family, just to have it fall apart."

Graham nodded in understanding. "You're right. We need to take it slow for Sloane's sake. But I also want to make sure we're on the same page here. I don't want to lose you again, Dora. I need you in my life."

"I need you too, Graham," I admitted, feeling a warmth spread through me. "Let's take it slow and see where this goes. My focus is on being good parents to Sloane."

"Agreed, but I want you to know that I'm serious about this, Isadora. I want us to be a family."

"I want that too," I replied softly, my heart pounding in my chest. "Maybe it's best that Sloane doesn't know about us until we're ready to be serious."

"We'll take it one step at a time, together."

"Thank you for—well, you know," I said.

"No matter what happens, Isadora, I want a family. I always have. Even back then I wanted a family. I've never been one of those guys that didn't want to settle down. I knew from a young age that I wanted to find someone to build a life with, to have children with. And even though things didn't go as planned before, I still want that with you if that's possible. I know there are a lot of hurdles we have to overcome, but I hope we can have that one day."

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes again, but this time they were tears of happiness. "I want that too, Graham. I want it more than anything."

"Then let's do this right. Let's take it slow, let's be sure, and let's make sure Sloane's happiness comes first above all else."

A lump formed in my throat at his words. Emotion welled up inside me at the thought of finally having the family I'd always longed for. "Thank you," I whispered, my voice barely above a breath. "That means more to me than you'll ever know. I hope we can make this work. I know Sloane would be ecstatic."

We both got to our feet. There was a magnetic pull between us, drawing us together. I thought we were both going to break the professional rule. This was a moment that required a kiss. But the moment was interrupted by the shrill ring of a phone, breaking the spell and bringing us back to reality.

"I should go," I said, clearing my throat.

"Wait."

He picked up the phone, said a few words, and then hung up. "Did Sloane happen to talk to you about tonight?" he asked. "She told me she did, but I want to make sure it's okay with you."

I smiled. "You're coming over tonight, right?"

"She did tell you."

"She texted me at lunch." I nodded.

"And you're okay with it?"

"Yes, of course, I'll be making dinner."

"You're going to cook?" he asked, looking impressed.

"Absolutely," I replied. "I know Sloane loves my chicken parmesan."

"Wow," he said.

"Hey! I can cook. I'll have you know I took cooking lessons just so I could cook for Sloane." I shrugged. "I don't always have time for a good homecooked meal, but I try."

Graham chuckled, his eyes twinkling. "Well, in that case, I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"I better get going," I said, checking the time. "I want to be home when Sloane gets there just in case her leg is hurting. I just hope none of her friends wrote any curse words on her cast."

He laughed and shook his head. "Kids, man. It's one surprise after another, isn't it?"

"Yup," I said, laughing too. "Nothing can prepare you for a child. You just have to roll with the punches."

He smiled. "Should I bring anything tonight?"

"I think we have everything we need for dinner," I replied, glancing at him. "Just bring your sexy self and maybe a good bottle of wine if you'd like. Maybe after Sloane goes to bed, we can pop the cork."

"Consider it done," he said, smiling back at me. "I'll see you tonight then."

I walked away with a grin on my face, nearly floating on air. This could be the fresh start we all needed, a chance to finally build the family each of us wanted without any secrets hanging over our heads.

I hoped like hell my dinner wasn't garbage. After everything we had gone through, it couldn't be my cooking that finally drove him away for good. My chicken parm was pretty darn tasty, though. If I somehow managed to ruin it, maybe I could tempt him with something else.

On the cab ride home, I went over what I needed to do first. The prospect of having Graham over for dinner felt both nerve-wracking and exciting.

I wasn't sure if Sloane was playing matchmaker or if this was really about her spending more time with her father. I had a feeling it was a combination of both, and I was more than okay with that.