The Single Dad: Girl’s Sexual Awakening

“I’ll come home.” There was movement in the background. “I’ll call the pilot and get the plane on the tarmac in less than an hour.”

“Ford, no. You don’t have to do that. You know kids get sick all the time. This could be nothing. Let’s see how she feels in a couple hours or maybe even the morning.” When he didn’t respond, I added, “I promise I have this handled. I’m not going to let anything happen to her.”

“I’ve never been away from her when she’s sick.” His voice was so quiet. Grittier than normal.

I couldn’t just hear the struggle; I could sense it.

“Her stomach seems to be fine,” I said, giving him more reassurance. “She’s not coughing or sneezing, and she doesn’t have a runny nose. She was rubbing her ear a bit and complaining that her head hurt, and that’s what triggered me to take her temp.” I paused, waiting for a reaction, but all I heard was his breathing. “I made some soup that I found in the pantry, and she ate a little in bed. We were cuddling, and she fell asleep.”

“Fuck.” A one-worded response that dripped with so much concern. “She gets ear infections. She has since she was a baby. They don’t happen as often as they used to, but she averages a few a year.”

I paced the hallway, and with each pass, I looked into Eve’s bedroom to make sure she hadn’t stirred. “Don’t worry; she’s not leaving my sight. If I sense things are getting even the tiniest bit worse, I’ll call the doctor.”

“Sydney …” He exhaled. “This isn’t easy for me.”

I knew that.

And I had known the moment he read my text, he was going to react this way.

If I were a parent, I was positive I’d do the same.

But the amount of vulnerability in his voice was making my heart ache. I couldn’t imagine what it would feel like to have half my soul in a different state and know she was sick.

I couldn’t fix this.

But I could try to make him feel a little better.

“I’m going to call you on FaceTime, so you can see her.”

I hit the button to FaceTime him, and as soon as the video connected, the scenery behind his head told me he was outside, that he’d left the restaurant to talk to me. Even with little backlight, as I stared at him, something was still so apparent.

And each time he’d FaceTimed with Everly since he’d left LA, I’d seen the same look on him.

He appeared beat, agitated.

Completely drained.

But this was the first time Everly wasn’t in the room.

The first time we’d been alone and I could bring it up.

“Ford, you look so tired.”

“I am.”

Something was bothering him that went beyond his concern for Everly.

“Are you all right?”

He ran his hand through his hair, glancing away from the phone. “It’s been a long … day.”

“Are you sure that’s it?”This belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - ©.

I’d seen his long days. The moment he walked through the door and set his eyes on Everly, the stress would evaporate. But none of those days had ever looked like this.

This was different.

This was deeper.

He didn’t respond to my question, so I got more specific and asked, “Is it your clients? The traveling? Something else?”

He continued to stay silent.

“Ford, tell me how I can help.”

He finally looked at the screen again, his gaze covering my entire face while he said absolutely nothing. “Sydney …” He shook his head, like the words were on the verge of coming out but he just wasn’t ready to voice them.

Was this about us?

What had happened that night?

Was it eating at him? Causing more guilt? Triggering something else?

I watched him take several deep breaths, the angst in his expression building until I heard, “I just need to see her.”

I was wrong.

This was all about Everly.

Before the disappointment came crashing into me, I held my finger to my lips. “Okay, but shh. I don’t want to wake her.”

As I walked into her bedroom, I flipped the camera around, so he could view her. She was in the same position as when I’d left-sleeping on her side, the blanket pulled up to her neck, her little wisps covering her cheek. The cutest sounds still coming through her parted lips.

I kept the phone pointed at her for several seconds, giving him plenty of time to see her, and then I turned it back toward me, and I returned to the hallway.

“See? She’s all cozy and comfortable. There’s nothing to worry about.” I could tell he wasn’t convinced. “I will call you the second something changes even if that means I have to stay up all night.”

“I don’t want you to stay up all night, Sydney.”

“But I will.”

He sighed. “I know.”

He was still outside and made no attempt to get off the phone and return to his client. I didn’t want to leave him feeling like this. If I were there, I’d pour him a drink. But I was here, and all I had were words.

“Do you want to talk about it? Or do you want to go back inside and drink your face off, pretending to listen to your client blab when you’re really not hearing a word they say?”

He chuckled.

It was short, but that noise was better than any he’d made so far tonight.

“I want to hear about your day.”

“My day?” I smiled. My God, he was beautiful. “Let’s see …” I moved several paces away from the door, making sure my voice wouldn’t carry. “We made muffins with fresh blueberries that we’d picked up from the store today-where she loves going, by the way.” I paused, looking to see if there was a change in his eyes but there wasn’t. “We made three dozen, so we brought some over to your next-door neighbor, who’s really lovely. She was planting flowers outside her gate when we went on our walk, and Eve asked her if she would like some. Your daughter’s quite the social butterfly.”

He smiled.

And the movement made me remember just how his lips had felt when he kissed me.

The strength of them.

The way they had tasted just like wine.

“In exchange for the muffins, your neighbor gave us some lemons from her tree, so we came home and made fresh lemonade. It was around that time that her ear started bothering her. I popped some soup into the microwave, and now, she’s in bed. Surrounded by all her animals.” I smiled, hoping it would lighten things a little. “Yesterday was a bit more interesting.”