Authors: Mary Jane Morgan
“Yeah, it’s way beautiful,” Kayla
whispered as she leaned forward from her dad’s lap and stared at the water that
surrounded them. Ethan still had hold of Haley’s hand and she clung to it as
the submarine chugged away from land. Ryan pointed at everything he saw and
clapped with pure joy at all of it.
When they finally chugged by Nemo,
he bounced on her lap with glee. “Look. Look.”
Haley leaned over to Ethan. “I
thought it would be live fish,” she whispered in his ear, getting a whiff of
clean male.
“Me too, but look at that shark we
just about ran into. Just as well he’s not real.” Haley grinned and almost forgot
about being scared.
When the ride was over, Ethan led
her out of the submarine and into the bright, warm air. Her knees felt wobbly,
and she gulped in the fresh air. “Was anything in there real?” she asked, soft
enough so the kids wouldn’t hear her.
“The coral. At least I think it
was. Did you know coral only grows an inch a year?”
She shook her head. “I had no idea.
Guess I learned something. I’m glad you talked me into it.” She wiped damp hair
off of Ryan’s sweaty face.
“Let’s roam, maybe do some rides
and then hunt for food.” Ethan nodded to the left. “Let me go rent a stroller
and get some bottled water.”
He returned a minute later, handed
her a couple of bottles of water, stuck a few more bottles in the basket of the
stroller, and hoisted Ryan into the seat.
“Thank God for strollers,” Haley
said as they took off for their next adventure, Kayla leading the way.
Toward the end of the afternoon,
Haley was done with adventure and ready to sit and prop her feet up. Both kids
were tired and cranky and both grownups—if she read Ethan right—were doing
their best to hold in their own grumpiness.
Ethan let out a sigh as Kayla
continued to beg for ‘just one more’ ride.
“I heard that sigh,” Haley
whispered. “I commend you for keeping your cool. It’s been a good but long day.
It’s all I can do not to show my cranky side.”
“Thank God you’re managing.” Kayla suddenly
shot off like a jack rabbit into the crowd. “Kayla, get back here,” Ethan
yelled, but Kayla kept running.
“Mommy, Mommy,” she yelled as she
wove through the crowd, racing at breakneck speed toward a tall blonde woman
who was surrounded by men carrying large cameras.
Ethan sprinted after her, catching
her just as she reached the blonde beauty. Haley shoved the stroller closer so
she could hear.
Kayla yelled for her mom again. The
woman turned, a look of surprise on her face, then smiled and opened her arms. Kayla
hurled herself into the woman’s embrace, and Haley’s stomach knotted. There was
no way this could be anything but disaster for Kayla.
Kayla clung to her mother, and
Ethan’s heart hammered in his chest. He couldn’t believe they’d had the bad
damn luck to run into Ellie. He braced himself for the fallout he was positive
would come, but there really wasn’t any way he could prepare for this.
“Oh my goodness, Kayla, let Mommy
look at you.” Ellie shifted away from her crying daughter and ran her gaze over
Kayla. “I think you’ve grown a foot.” She smiled and it was all Ethan could do
not to grab Kayla up and run.
“Why haven’t you come to see me?”
Kayla asked around her tears.
“Oh, honey, I’ve meant to do that a
million times.” She swept her hand toward the camera men. “I’m doing a
commercial here today. We’re about to finish up, but I’ve just been swamped
with work.” Ellie gave her daughter her megawatt smile, and Ethan clenched his
jaw. “Would you like to be in the last take of my commercial?” Ellie asked.
Kayla jumped up and down with
excitement. “Yes! Yes! What do I do? Do I get to wear makeup?”
“It’s been a long day,” Ethan
interrupted, shooting Ellie a harsh look. “We were just leaving.” Ellie rolled
her eyes at him, as if he were the one who was out of touch with reality.
“It won’t take long, Ethan. We only
have one little part to film and Kayla would look so pretty. All her friends
would think this was really cool. You wouldn’t deny her that, would you?” she
asked, wrapping an arm around Kayla’s shoulders.
“All her friends live in Tennessee.
They won’t even see it.” Ethan knew he sounded harsh, but he felt like wringing
this woman’s neck. How dare she try and draw Kayla into her world—a world she
had built for herself and only herself—a world she wanted bad enough to leave
her child for. Ethan would be damned if she was going to use Kayla because she
was a pretty little girl. She’d hurt his daughter enough.
“We have to go, Kayla.”
Ellie put her hands on her hips and
glared at him. “I can’t believe you won’t let Kayla be a part of her mother’s
commercial.”
“And I can’t believe you’re pulling
this crap. We haven’t seen or heard from you in over a year.”
Ellie bent down and hugged Kayla to
her. Ethan cringed at the look of sheer bliss on his daughter’s face. “Please,
Ethan. Let us do this together.”
He gritted his teeth so hard he was
surprised they didn’t crack. “How long will it take?”
“Please, please, pleeeeese, Daddy.
This is so exciting.” Kayla grabbed her mother’s hand. “And it’s with Mama.”
Ethan closed his eyes and tried to
calm himself. “You’ve got fifteen minutes.”
Ellie narrowed her gaze at him,
then guided Kayla over to the camera crew. She introduced Kayla and talked with
the crew for a minute in hushed tones. They nodded and one of them took Kayla over
to a group of kids gathered around Donald Duck.
Ethan turned away and locked gazes
with Haley. Rolling his eyes, he walked over to her and took Ryan. “I’ll hold
him. He must be getting heavy, and he’s about to conk out.”
“Thank you. He wanted out of the
stroller.”
“And I want out of here.” Ryan laid
his head on Ethan’s shoulder and his eyes fluttered shut.
“Your wife is gorgeous.”
“Ex-wife,” he bit out. “I didn’t
want to let Kayla do this, but as usual Ellie set me up to look like the bad
guy.”
“Poor Kayla. Do you think your ex
wants her back in her life?”
“Not a chance, but if she did it
would be over my dead body. Ellie is only doing this to look good. She’s using
Kayla because she’s pretty, and Ellie wants to make herself look good.”
Haley pressed her fingertips to her
mouth and shook her head. “Poor Kayla.”
Poor Kayla was right but what could
he do? He’d never felt so manipulated and helpless. It had been devastating to
Kayla when her mother had left, but this might be even worse, because Ethan had
no doubt that Ellie wanted zero responsibility where Kayla was concerned, and
his heart broke knowing what this would do to her.
He wanted to grab Kayla up and head
out of here, but he knew if he did that, Kayla would feel as if he’d kept her
from reuniting with her mom. There was no way for either him or Kayla to win in
this.
He kept his eye on his excited
daughter as the commercial was filmed, and the minute they were done he walked
over. “Come on, honey. We need to get Ryan down for a nap.”
Ellie arched her perfectly plucked
eyebrows. “So you’ve had another child?”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Yeah. He’s
almost two. That makes him born before you left us.”
Haley pushed the empty stroller
over to them, her gaze locking with Ellie’s. “I’m Kayla’s nanny and that’s my
son, Ryan.”
Ellie’s gaze ran up and down Haley
before she returned it to Ethan. “I see.”
“No, you don’t.” He eased Ryan into
the stroller and then held his hand out to Kayla. “Come on. Aunt Ashley will be
waiting on us.”
Kayla grabbed her mother’s arm with
both hands. Ellie bent down to her. “You better run on with your daddy, honey.
I have more work to do.”
Kayla’s brows pulled together. “But
I’ll see you some more, right?”
“I have loads of work scheduled
here this summer, Kayla, but I’ll send you the commercial and you can show all
your friends. How would that be?”
Kayla leaned into her mother. “But I
want
my friends to meet you.”
Ellie gave her a short hug. “Tell
you what. I’ll do my best to fly home soon and see you.”
Ethan stepped closer. “Don’t lie to
her,” he warned in a low voice.
Ellie glared at him. “You always
have seen the worst in me, Ethan. I don’t know why that is.”
He narrowed his gaze on her. “Kayla
and I are leaving. Come on, honey.”
“I don’t want to go. I want to stay
with Mommy.” Kayla clung to Ellie’s leg, and Ethan’s heart ripped wide open.
“I know, sweetheart, but you have
to come with me. Your mother is working.”
And lying. And using you to get
attention.
He pulled in an unsteady breath and reached for Kayla, who
screamed and ducked behind her mother’s leg.
“Now, now,” Ellie said, pulling her
out from behind her. “You go with your daddy. I sure am glad I ran into you,
Kayla, but Mommy has to do her job now.”
Kayla’s shoulders slumped and her
eyes teared up. Ethan picked her up, tried to hold her close, but she shoved
away from him and reached for her mother. Barely hanging onto his temper, he caught
Haley’s eye and motioned toward the exit gate with his head. He couldn’t get
out of here fast enough. He headed out.
Kayla screamed for him to stop, but
he never broke his pace and hoped Haley was keeping up. Thank God the shuttle
was pulling up when they reached the exit gate. Haley took Ryan from the
stroller and followed him onto the shuttle. He grabbed a seat and tried to
soothe Kayla, but she fought him like she was demon possessed, and he supposed
she was. Ellie was one self-centered, mean woman to do this to her own
daughter.
“Sir? Sir?” Ethan turned to the
woman behind him. “Are you her father?”
“Of course I’m her father,” he
snapped, and faced forward again. Haley put a hand on his leg, and he took
several deep breaths in an effort to calm himself. By the time they reached
their car, Kayla had gone quiet.
Too quiet
, he thought, fear racing
through him. What would it take to undo the damage Ellie had, once again,
caused his child? And what could he do to make sure this never happened again?
Nothing
,
he thought with despair. He opened the car door and set Kayla inside, buckled
her seat belt and got in the front seat, determined to hire a lawyer and find
out exactly what he needed to do to keep that cold-hearted, self-absorbed woman
away from his daughter.
****
“I’ll come get you when dinner is
ready,” Ethan said to a stone-faced Kayla. Feeling totally wrung out, he
stepped out of the bedroom. He’d never felt so helpless in his entire life. No
matter what he said or did, he couldn’t get Kayla to open up to him. He’d never
seen her so dejected, or so angry with him, and it tore him up. Damn Ellie
anyway. How could she be so insensitive? The woman used everyone. It blew his
mind that he had actually married her. He started downstairs, his heart as
heavy as his steps and anger churning in his gut.
Thank God Haley had put Ryan down
for a late nap and volunteered to make something for dinner. He entered the
kitchen and Haley stepped into his arms, giving him a huge hug.
“How is she?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“Not good. She won’t even talk to me.”
“She needs you even if she’s not
showing it.”
“She told me to leave her alone.
Right now she’s mad as hell at me. Says I kept her from her mother.” He rubbed
the stubble on his jaw. “Ashley mentioned before our visit that Ellie had done
a few commercials at Disneyland. She should have warned me we might see her.”
“Please don’t take this out on
Ashley.” He glowered at Haley. Ignoring his glare, she took his hand and led
him to the couch. “This is not Ashley’s fault, Ethan. The odds of running into
Ellie were practically non-existent.”
“Probably so, but I shouldn’t have
brought Kayla here,” he muttered.
“Don’t say that. This is not your
fault either.” Haley glanced up as Kayla came downstairs, looking utterly
dejected. Ignoring her dad, she march over to Haley and sat close beside her.
Ethan had never felt such rejection, not even from Ellie the day she’d walked
out on them.
“I’m going to call Ashley, let her
know we don’t need her to babysit tonight.” He walked outside by the pool and
hit his sister’s number.
“I’m about to stop and get food,”
she answered cheerfully.
“Change of plans. Haley started
something for dinner. Looks like she and I won’t be going out tonight.”
Disappointment lay heavy, but he shoved it away. Kayla was way more important
than a dinner date.
“Okaaaay,” Ashley drawled. “What’s
the deal?”
“Kayla saw Ellie today at Disneyland.
Her mom asked her to be an extra in her commercial, and then sent her on her
way.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
“Don’t I wish.”
“OMG! If I ever see that woman
she’ll never know what hit her.”
Ethan rubbed the back of his neck
and walked farther outside. “Did you know they were filming a commercial today
and that Ellie was in it? For God sakes, Ashley, this is a nightmare I’d just
as soon not be having.”
“Don’t insult me, big brother. The
State Tourism Department was there to film a commercial. I had no idea Ellie
would be in it. Like I told you before you came, she’s done a couple of
commercials here. That’s all.”
Ethan sank onto a lounge chair, his
back to the townhouse. “Sorry. I shouldn’t take this out on you, but I’m
beyond upset for Kayla.”
“Of course you are, but it’s not
your fault. Or mine. Do you want me to tell the Tourism Bureau that we don’t
want Ellie in any more of their commercials?”
“That sounds grand. And petty as
hell. Leave her be. It’ll only make things worse.”
“I’m so sorry, Ethan.”
“Yeah, me too. Talk with you
later.” Ethan pocketed his phone and rested his pounding head in his hands. He
wanted to ring Ellie’s neck. He’d been a total idiot to ever fall for her. The
woman was so cold-hearted that she’d deserted her husband and daughter and
never made contact again except to call one day out of the blue and leave a
message saying she’d moved to California to pursue her dream of acting.
Cursing, he shoved to his feet and
headed back toward the townhouse. Taking a fortifying breath, he went inside
and sat down next to Kayla, sandwiching her between him and Haley. “I just
talked with your Aunt Ashley. She’s going to come over another night and play
with you and Ryan.”
Kayla shrugged without looking at
him. Haley ran her fingers through Kayla’s thick dark hair, then kissed the top
of her head.
Ethan picked Kayla up and set her
on his lap, holding her close, glad she at least wasn’t fighting him. “You
still mad at me?”
She nodded, but didn’t look at him.
Her eyes filled with tears and spilled down her cheeks. “What did I do wrong?”
she asked brokenly.
“Oh, honey, you did absolutely
nothing wrong. Your mom’s messed up, but I promise it has absolutely nothing to
do with you.”
Kayla buried her face in Ethan’s chest
and sobbed. It was all he could do not to join her—but not because he missed
Ellie. He leaned his head back against the couch and swallowed back his anger,
knowing Ellie wouldn’t even care that she’d crushed Kayla today. As always,
Ellie’s only concern was herself.
Haley touched his leg and stood.
“I’m going to finish dinner.”
He reached for her hand and
squeezed it, wishing she’d stay. This was way too much for Kayla to have to
deal with—for any child to have to deal with—and he felt totally inept.
Haley squeezed his hand back and
then headed for the kitchen. “Haley?”
She turned around. “Yes.”
“Thank you.” She smiled at him and his
tension eased ever so slightly. Haley was a good woman. She cared about Kayla
and he hoped that at some point they could move their friendship forward, but
he wouldn’t press her. She needed this time to heal, and he needed to put all
his energy and time into taking care of Kayla.
He stroked his daughter’s back as
she cried. Finally her tears stopped and she sat up. “Feel any better?” he asked,
kissing her forehead.
She shrugged. He pulled her close
and she kissed his cheek. “I’m sorry I was mean to you,” she said staring down
at her lap. “I’m glad you’re my daddy.”
Emotion clogged his throat. “And
I’m glad you’re my little girl. You’re the best little girl anyone could ever
want.”
She wrapped her arms around his
neck, and his heart melted. He would do anything to protect his daughter. He
wished like hell he could have kept her from being hurt by her mother today.
God help him, but right now he wished he could hurt Ellie just as badly as
she’d hurt Kayla.