Page 160 of Small Town, Big Storm

Not to mention it’s affordable.

So yeah, it’s win-win all round.

But in this moment, my daughter doesn’t go on with facts about salmon or carnivorous plants.Instead, she falls silent for a long, long moment.

Then her eyes well with tears.

“Hey,” I say quickly, crouching down.“Are you too tired to skate today?We don’t have to go.”

We’d planned to make a short pit stop at the park to eat our ice cream then to cool down at the rink.

But maybe all that play has caught up to her and she needs an afternoon to chill.

“Do you love me?”she asks.

The words…fuck, they kill me.

“Of course I love you, peanut-who’s-not-a-peanut.”

“Then why am I not a Harrison?”

My heart twists.“Holly,” I say gently.“You’re a Baker.And that’s an awesome thing.”

It sure as shit is ten times better than being a Harrison.

“Are you going to become a Baker too?”

“I…” I hesitate because I truly haven’t thought about it.“I don’t know,” I admit.

She scowls.“All my friends have the same last names as their dads.”

Shit.

“Stuff like this gets complicated.”Her face falls.“But,” I add in a rush, “your mom and I can talk?—”

“Why weren’t you here?”

I blink at the abrupt question.“What?”

“Chloe says thatherdad told her that her mom still loves her even though she died.”A sniff.“He says that her mom would have done anything to still be here for her.But you didn’t die!”Her lungs hitch and she wails, “And you still weren’t here!”

Fuck.

Poppy and I talked about this potentially happening and we’ve done our best to explain what kept me away from Cedar Hollow in age-appropriate terms.

But nothing could have prepared me for this.

And Poppy isn’t here.

I’m flying solo.

What if I fuck this up?

Panic digs its claws in, tears me wide open and everything in me wants to run from this conversation.

But I can’t.

This is too important.