Chapter 12 One hour. Just one more hour and this hiatus from Della would be over. The texts, the calls, just hadn't been enough. I missed her eyes. I missed touching her hair. I missed her in my bed. One hour to go. Then she was mine. Since I'd spoken to her earlier, time had slowed to a goddamn crawl. Every three minutes I checked the clock. I'd attempted to busy myself with work, answering emails and returning calls, but I was too keyed up to focus. "Hey, boss." Korbyn smirked as he passed by my open doorway. That smirk was because he was the only other person at Alcott who knew I'd signed papers with Hans today. Monday, Hans and I would make the official announcement to the staff, but I'd asked him to keep it quiet until next week. Tonight, I wanted to celebrate with Della. I wanted to tell Katy on Sunday after I picked her up from Rosalie's. For the weekend, I wanted this to be my quiet victory. Come Monday, I'd step into Hans's shoes. Hopefully, I'd be able to fill them. And the shoes Finn Alcott had left years ago. Would Finn care that I'd be running his former business? A week ago, Della and I had been talking about The Maysen Jar. How she'd discovered it in college. I'd had no idea that Finn's sister owned that restaurant. Maybe, with any luck, I'd bump into him. I could tell him myself that his namesake was under my charge. That I'd work my ass off to make this a success. I could do this, right? I could do this. When Hans had approached me about escalating our timeline, I'd almost told him no, to wait until the fall. But it had been Della's confidence that had made me agree. Her faith in me was humbling. I could do this. There was a mountain of things to worry about, but I was setting it aside until Monday. My phone rang on my desk, Katy's name on the screen. "Hey, Dandelion. How was the last day of school?" "Daddy." Her voice cracked and, with it, my heart. I was out of my chair in a flash, searching for my truck keys. "What's wrong?" "Mom r-read my diary." "Oh." I sank into my chair. Not an emergency. It would be for a twelve-year-old, but not one that meant I was racing across town. I dragged a hand through my hair, my heart climbing out of my throat. "Well, that's not good." She sniffled and then the sobbing began. "Take a deep breath." My poor girl. It hurt hearing her cry when I couldn't pull her into a hug. "It will be okay." "N-no, it won't. She went into the school." "Okay," I drawled, my spine stiffening. "What was in your diary?" "I-I saw you." "You saw me." "And M-miss Adler." Oh. Fuck. I shot out of the chair again, snagging my keys and bolting for the door. "What did you write, Katy? Be specific." "S-sorry." She sobbed harder. "It's okay." Like hell was this okay, but I kept my voice gentle despite my panic. I started jogging down the hall, heading straight for the doors and my truck parked outside. "What was in your diary?" "It was that weekend that she played games with us. I woke up early and snuck downstairs when I heard you talking. You were at the door and kissed her." Yep. We were fucked. Shit. If Della lost her job...I'd never forgive myself. I climbed in the truck, the phone still pressed to my ear as I reversed out of my space and tore down the lane toward town. "What did your mother do?" "I don't know." Katy hiccupped. "She told me to stay in the car and she went inside. Then she came out and was mad on the drive home. When I got here, she had my diary on the table." Damn it, Rosalie. "I'm sorry," Katy cried. "It's not your fault. It's mine." I should have talked to her about Della. I should have trusted her with the truth. "Was there anything else in the diary?" "I wrote some not nice things about Hailee." "That's it?" No crush on a boy? No smoking? No drinking? "And I, um..." Her voice quieted. "I wrote some bad stuff about Mom. How she isn't really sick, she just wants your attention and how selfish she can be and how sometimes she says mean stuff about you and it's not true and she knows it's not true but she says it anyway when she knows it bothers me because I don't like when she says mean things about you." I sighed. What a cluster. "I love you, Katy. I don't care if your mom says mean stuff about me." "You don't say mean stuff about her." No, I didn't. Not anymore. "It doesn't matter. All that matters is you." She sniffled and another sob choked loose. "I'm really sorry, Daddy. Will you talk to Miss Adler?" "Yeah, I'll talk to her. We'll figure this out." I made it a point not to lie to my daughter, but today, she needed that lie. "What are you doing right now?" "Sitting in my room. Mom took my phone." "So how are you calling me?" "My watch." "Ah." I nodded, hitting the turn signal as I raced through town. "I'm grounded," she muttered, a flare of anger breaking past the sadness in her little voice. "I wish it was Sunday." "I wish it was Sunday too." Then Katy would be at my house where she belonged. "Just hang tight." "Okay." She blew out a long breath. "This is going to suck." "Probably." "Are you going to see Miss Adler right now?" "Yep." "Will you tell her I'm sorry?" I loved this girl's heart. "Yeah, I'll tell her." "Thanks. I'd better go," Katy whispered. "I can hear Mom." In another situation, I might have encouraged Katy to make amends. To talk to her mother. But not today. Rosalie had a right to be hurt. Whatever Katy wrote was probably ruthless. But instead of taking a look in the mirror, instead of realizing that our daughter had a point, she'd taken it out on Della. So as far as I was concerned, Rosalie could fuck off. "Bye," I said, ending the call. Then I focused on the road, getting to the school and parking in the drop-off loop. The building was quiet, relaxed, like it had let out a sigh having made it through the end of another year. My boots thudded on the floor as I strode to Della's classroom. She was sitting at her desk. There were two tote bags on top, each full of stuff she'd probably taken from her desk. "Hey." She blinked, her eyes glassy as she spun her chair my direction. Then her chin started to quiver as she stood, waiting for me to wrap her up. That was exactly what I did. I breathed her in, holding her tight as she sank into my chest. "I'm sorry, beautiful. I'm so sorry." "I missed your smell." Her arms snaked around my waist, banding tight. "What happened?" "Rosalie is kind of a bitch." I barked a laugh. "I'm aware." "But she didn't tell my boss." "She didn't?" I let her go. Okay, maybe I wasn't as pissed at Rosalie as I had been a minute ago. "No." Della gave me a sad smile. "But I did." Because she was the type of woman who admitted a mistake. It was one of many things I'd learned about her through those phone calls and texts over the past two months. Down to her core, Della Adler was pure light. A goodness unparalleled. Probably why I'd fallen for her so quickly. "Did you get fired?" "No." Her shoulders sagged. "Thank God. My principal said that because I've never had another incident that she'd only give me a warning and an official reprimand in my file. I promised her that we hit the brakes and haven't seen each other while we were waiting for the end of the year and I think she believed me. But Jeff, it was so humiliating. I hate getting in trouble." "But you didn't lose your job." She shook her head. "I didn't lose my job." "Thank fuck." I hauled her into my chest again, burying my nose in her hair. "I'm sorry." "It's okay. I knew it was a risk." She buried her nose in my shirt, her voice muffled. "How did Rosalie even find out?" "Katy. She saw us one morning. Wrote about it in her diary." Della gasped, leaning back. "And Rosalie read her diary? That is sacred." "Sacred?" "To a twelve-year-old girl? Absolutely." "So you're saying I shouldn't read Katy's diary," I teased. "Don't even joke about that." She pointed at my nose as I fought a grin. Damn, but she was beautiful. "Fuck, but I missed you." I framed her face with my hands and crushed my mouth to hers, sliding past those soft lips for the taste I'd been craving for months. A whimper escaped her throat as she melted, our tongues tangling. It was too short, too timid, for how I wanted to kiss her, but before I hiked up the hem of her dress and fucked her on her desk-that would definitely get her fired-I pulled away and nodded to the totes. "Saw those and thought you were packing up your desk." "Well, I am. That's everything I don't want to leave here this summer." "Ah." Della had a lot of packing in her future. She'd promised to tell that dumb fuck roommate of hers she was leaving this morning. Not that I wanted her living with him, but if I was lucky, I'd get her to the point where she was spending day and night at my house. Then maybe she'd realize there was no reason for her to rent a house on her own come September. Not when she belonged in mine. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that we'd make it. Something with Della had always felt right. Felt steady. But I'd give her time to catch up. "How long do you need to stay?" I asked. She glanced over her shoulder at the clock. "It's probably close enough. I'm ready to get out of here." I took the totes, looping them over a forearm, then with my free hand, I clasped hers, leading her out of the classroom. We'd just stepped into the hallway when Della stopped. Three doors down, Luka stood outside his own classroom. So I lifted Della's clasped hand to my lips, kissing her knuckles. Then I gave her a tug, leading her in the opposite direction. She giggled. "I told him to fuck off today." "How'd that feel?" "Good." She smiled up at me, those caramel eyes dancing. "I wish we didn't have to wait until Sunday to get Katy." That. Right there. That was why I'd fallen in love with Della. We walked outside and to my truck. The Jeep could stay at the school until tomorrow. And instead of taking her to my house, I drove the opposite direction. "Where are we going?" she asked. "Hungry?" "Yes. How'd you know?" Because I knew Della. In the past two months, I needed both hands and a foot to count the number of times she'd forgotten to eat lunch because she'd been wrapped up with a student or an assignment. Given today's situation, not a chance she'd remembered lunch. "Lucky guess." I gave her a wink, then I drove us to The Maysen Jar. That was the day I took the love of my life on our first date. In a romance-themed observation show, several participants undergo a series of interactions and conflicts filled with love, misunderstandings, and power struggles. In the end, one couple rises to over...