Lennon shivers slightly as a breeze whips through the air. Her eyes are full, round, and filling with tears, but it isn’t sadness I see, it’s pain. That’s heartache in its purest form shining back at me.
“Lennon.” I pull her into my arms, and she curls herself around me, holding on as though she’ll fall if she lets go. And that’s okay with me because I like her here. Scratch that, I love her here, in my arms where I can keep her safe and whisper away her demons. “Tell me what’s wrong. Did Nova do something to upset you?”
Shaking her head, Lennon pulls back and wipes a hand across her nose. “No. She’s been perfect. She’s in the other room having a tea party. It’s my mother.”
I nudge Lennon into the entryway of her house and shut the door. “What happened?”
“My mother happened.”
Shit. “Keep talking.”
“She called. I haven’t heard from her in a freaking month, Noah, and she called to tell me I need to give Mathis another chance.”
Just the mention of his name makes me angry. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Over my dead body will Lennon take him back. She’s mine. “After everything he did?”
Lennon nods, sniffling. “Can you believe that? Mathis and I broke up a year ago, and she still wants us together. She’s my mother, Noah…” Tears fill Lennon’s eyes again, spilling down her flushed cheeks, and I thread my fingers through her hair, holding her to me. “She should want me to be happy, but she…she threatened me, and—”
The hand I’ve been running along Lennon’s back stops. “What do you mean, she threatened you? With what?”
When Lennon untangles herself from my arms, her red, puffy eyes dart around the room, refusing to look at me. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing if it’s got you this worked up.”
Pressing her fingers to her eyes, she wipes away the wetness. She finally looks up at me, and for a moment I think she’s about to speak. But then…
“Daddy!” Nova zooms toward me, stopping short when she sees Lennon. “What’s wrong?” she asks.
Lennon bends down until she’s eye to eye with my little girl. “Nothing,” she lies. “I’m just having a sad moment, but you know what?”
Nova shakes her head, still looking unsure about Lennon’s tears.
Placing her hands on Nova’s arms, Lennon gives her a tremulous smile. “I had so much fun with you today. Can we do this again soon?”
Still looking uncertain, Nova nods. “I had fun today, too.” She takes a hesitant step forward and then another until she’s in Lennon’s arms. She wraps her arms around Lennon’s neck and squeezes with all her might. “Please don’t cry.”
Nova’s words have the opposite effect, and when Lennon squeezes her eyes shut, another wave of tears rushes down her face.
“I love you,” Nova whispers, glancing up at me.
Those three words from the heart of my daughter to the woman I’ve fallen for shatter me in the best possible way.
“I love you, too,” Lennon replies, running a hand down Nova’s back. “So much.”
Hearing this nearly causes me to lose my shit. Lennon had already knocked down the walls around my heart, but if there was even a chunk of concrete left, she just obliterated it.
After several long seconds, Lennon pulls back and once again wipes the wetness from her face. “You two should go home and get dinner started. Mikey will be over soon.”
“Nova, go gather your things,” I say, watching Lennon closely.
She looks about two seconds from breaking, and my skin prickles the same way it used to with Kim, leaving me to wonder if Lennon is hiding something from me. I quickly shake the thought away, because Lennon is nothing like Kim.
“What else did your mom say?” I ask softly.
Shaking her head, Lennon takes a step back. Her sad eyes find mine. “My mom was just being my mom.” Lennon glances at Nova as she runs back toward us, bag in hand. “I really don’t want to talk about it right now, if that’s okay with you?”
Placing my hand under her chin, I turn her face toward me. “But we will talk about it?”
Lennon nods.