“Goodnight, Anna.”
“Goodnight, Justin,” I said.
And then he grabbed my face and kissed me. I could sense there was more there than just a ‘goodnight kiss.’ It was passionate, but I could feel what might be love. And when we finished kissing, I felt breathless.
“Drive safe,” I mumbled, my lips were numb from the passionate kiss.
“I will,” he said. He smiled at me before climbing into the car and driving away.
Chapter Twenty-One
Justin
The time we spent at the theme park with Anna’s parents and sister was amazing. It was great to get away and have some fun. I needed it, and most of all, so did Margie. She so rarely got days out like that, and I knew it was something she would always remember.
I spent Monday morning going over bills. It was just amazing to me that no matter what I did, no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t seem to get ahead. The bills kept piling up. Late fees stacked up one on top of the other causing a one-hundred-dollar bill to suddenly cost eleven hundred after a few years. I felt like I was drowning.
I needed this to work out. If it didn’t, I knew I was going to have to defend myself physically against Markie’s goons. That was something I never wanted to face. Ever.
“Are you okay, Daddy?” Margie asked and climbed onto the chair beside me. I was sitting at the dining room table with the table covered in past due bills.
“Yes, sweetheart.” It was a lie, but I couldn’t tell my four-year-old daughter about our money problems. It wouldn’t have been right. I was trying everything in my power to hide these things from her.
“You look like you’re gonna cry,” she said with worry in her voice.
It was strange that she picked up on those kinds of cues. I didn’t feel like I was about to cry, but I knew I might have looked like it. I was stressed and overwhelmed.
“I’m okay, baby,” I said and kissed her on her head. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” she said.
I went back to worrying about the bills, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that she looked like she wanted something.
“Is everything okay?” I asked her.
“Will you play with me?”
“Sure thing,” I said and followed her to the couch where she already had four dolls laying. She picked out two and handed them to me, then she took the other two, and we began to play. She had such a creative and imaginative mind. I loved that she used her imagination often.
“I’m glad you met Anna,” Margie said randomly, as she made her two dolls host a tea party for the two dolls I was playing with.
“Why is that?” I was curious as to what she might say.
“I love her so much.”
I was in awe. “I love her, too.”
“How come you never tell her?” she asked.
I didn’t know how to respond to that. So, instead, I distracted her from her real question. “I need to go to the gym to get ready for my next fight, would you like to come with me?” I knew it wasn’t fair to ignore her question, but it wasn’t really something I could or should discuss with my four-year-old daughter.
Margie’s eyes went wide. “Really? You want me to go with you?”
“Yeah, I think it could be fun.”
“Is Anna going to come with us?”
I wasn’t expecting her to ask that, but it was a good idea.