Page 151 of Kylie

Avery nodded, her eyes on the skaters. “Yeah.”

“I bet it was the biggest one they had.”

“It was. We also got a slushy machine.”

“Slushies? What kind?”

“Grape.”

“Oh, man. Grape’s my favorite.”

She looked up at me but she didn’t smile. “Mine, too.”

“I’m so sorry I missed it.”

“You didn’t come to Kade’s birthday, either.”

There was no reason to acknowledge her statement because I could tell it wouldn’t help. She was upset with me. Rightfully so. In her mind, she believed I abandoned her. And my reasons for not giving her the hard truth were simple: I wanted to shield my daughter from the horrors of the world for as long as possible. If it meant she was angry with me for a little while, I had to bear that. With time, I hoped she would see that I wasn’t going anywhere.

Turning my attention to the skaters, I watched as they all whipped by, laughing and talking.

“I’ve got an idea,” I told Avery, peering down at her. I waited until she looked at me before I spoke. “What if we had a mini celebration for you, Kade, Haden, and Maddox?”

“Like a party?”

“Like some cake and ice cream one night this week,” I suggested. “We can celebrate all the birthdays I missed.”

“Dad’s birthday, too?”

“Yes.”

“Daddy-O’s?”

“Of course.”

Her light brown eyes remained locked on my face for a moment. I waited patiently for her to say something.

“Can we do it today?”

I chuckled. “I think we need to pick out a cake for the celebration, don’t you?”

“Can we have cupcakes instead?”

“Yes.”

That seemed to please her.

“Okay. Can we do it next Saturday?”

I tried to do a mental rundown of what might be on the calendar. I came up with nothing that we couldn’t shift around.

“Next Saturday sounds perfect.”

Avery nodded, her gaze swinging out to the rink once more.

We were both watching the skaters when she spoke up again.

“You didn’t get to have a birthday either.”