Softhearted (Deep in the Heart Book 2) by Kim Law

Author:Kim Law [Law, Kim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503901346
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Published: 2018-04-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

“Don’t count on love from others.”

—Waylon Peterson, seven years old

As was typical of Rose, she hadn’t stopped moving since she’d climbed from her bed that morning. Waylon followed along behind her every few minutes, cleaning up whatever mess she’d left in her wake, while at the same time asking himself why he was letting it bother him so much. And it wasn’t Rose’s scattered toys that were the issue. It was the reason he was working so hard to pick up the toys.

“Is it time yet?” Rose asked while bouncing onto the scuffed toes of her pink cowboy boots.

Waylon checked the clock hanging over the recliner. “It’s almost time.”

“And then we’re going to go meet all the new people, right?”

Pleasure expanded inside Waylon. His daughter was a lot like him. She loved meeting new people, and she loved feeling like she belonged in the middle of them. “And then we’re going to go meet all the new people,” he reaffirmed.

He picked up a doll that hadn’t been on the living room floor only two minutes earlier, but before he could get it tucked away in Rose’s bedroom, the doorbell rang.

“It’s Grampa!” Rose shouted at the top of her lungs, and as had happened the previous weekend when Heather showed up, Rose was at the door, pulling it open before Waylon could remind her that he needed to be with her.

“Rosie,” Waylon’s dad said as soon as he laid eyes on his granddaughter.

Rose giggled with uninhibited glee. “It’s not Rosie, Grampa. It’s Rose!” She threw herself against his legs. “And I’ve missed you so, so much.”

Charlie Peterson scooped up his only grandchild. “I’ve missed you, too, sweet thing.”

Waylon watched with only a hint of bitterness as his dad hugged his daughter tight. His father loved Rose. That could never be disputed. Just as Rose was mad about her grandfather. The two of them hadn’t seen each other since before Waylon had been put in the hospital, and along with his guilt at losing temporary custody of his daughter, Waylon hated the span of time she’d had to go without seeing his dad.

They’d actually only seen each other in person a handful of times in Rose’s four years. A few instances when his dad had traveled either to Vegas or Texas to visit, and several others when Waylon and Rose had gone to him. But the two had talked via video phone since before Rose could speak. And in fact, his dad had been at the hospital the day Rose had come into the world.

Waylon knew that fact should matter even more than it did. His mother hadn’t been there, and Rose had been almost three months old before she’d made it out from Tennessee.

But childhood hurts were hard things to overcome.

“We’re going to meet all the new people today, Grampa. We’ll have lunch in town, and then dessert, then we get to walk around the whole town and make new friends.” Rose scurried out of her grandfather’s arms. “I’m going to make ten new friends.

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