The Chauffeur [Complete]

Chapter 24

"Be careful!" I yelled, watching my daughter swing from the monkey bars.

As soon as her school day ended, we headed straight for the park. And on the way there, I told her about our new temporary living arrangements. Surprisingly, she took it pretty well. Of course, with school and all the time she spends with her best friend Zoe, I doubt I'll be seeing much of her.

I finally gave Sam a call. I didn't bring up wanting a divorce or about anything that happened. I only called for my daughter. She asked about him, wondering if she was going to see him today.

So when I called, I made sure Sam knew that the only way he was to see his daughter was if his secretary wasn't around. Everly does not need to see her father all over another woman. Besides, I haven't even figured out how I'm going to explain all this to her. She's only six.

Sam agreed to my request. So after Everly and I are done spending time together, she goes back home to spend the night with her dad. Which means, once again, I won't be seeing her until tomorrow afternoon.

I can already tell I'm going to hate co-parenting. I'm used to seeing my daughter every day. And now, depending on how this divorce goes, I won't be seeing her as much.

"Weee!" I heard my little girl belt out, giggling.

I looked up from my phone, seeing her sitting on the swings while Rade pushed her. He didn't exactly have a smile on his face, but they still looked adorable together.

"Higher," she kept telling him. And higher she went. Ever since Rade's arrival, Everly has been asking about Harvey less and less.

She still cares about him. Still misses him, of course. But she understands that we can't visit him in the hospital every day. He's still in a coma, and unless doctors say it's okay, we aren't allowed into the room.

The days we aren't able to come in, Thalia keeps us updated. Harvey's vitals are still strong, and the doctor's hope regarding whether or not Harvey will wake hasn't wavered.

I've tried bringing up in conversation with Rade because [ know he's getting the same amount of information, but either ignores me or walks away.

I don't know what kind of relationship Rade has with his dad, but I'm starting to think it's strained. I've seen that muscle in his jaw flex more than once whenever Harvey is mentioned.

And every time I open my mouth to ask him about it, nothing comes out. I hesitate, that voice in my head telling me to stay out of his business. That asking him will only upset him.

So I've given him his space just like he had given me last night. And I've decided that until he brings it up himself, I'm going to be more careful about discussing Harvey around him.

Every now and then, I catch Rade looking at me. There isn't any emotion on his face or in his eyes that help me to decipher what he's thinking about. He's really good at that. Hiding his feelings.

Rade holds onto the swing, forcing it to a stop so Everly can hop out. She turns, a bright smile on her face as she leaps up to give him a high-five. I catch a hint of a smile, and my heart flutters.

"Mommy, can we get ice cream now?" Everly asks, racing over to me. She lands in my arms, looking up at me with her father's eyes.

I try not to think about it all. The cheating. The kid I never knew he had, and the one that's about to be born. The divorce and all the shit that were going to have to go through with that. Thinking about it makes my head hurt and the tears well, so I try not to.

Instead, I do my best to think about my daughter and how happy she makes me. And sometimes, I think about Rade. I think about all he's done for me since he was hired and how much I appreciate it. This might be selfish of me, but I never want him to leave.

Sam fired him, effective immediately as of this morning. Rade didn't seem to care at all. Which still makes me wonder what he was doing before he started driving me and Everly around.

His house isn't a mansion or anything like that, but it's definitely made for someone who has the funds for it.

"Mommy!" My daughter shouts in a sing-song voice, severing me from my inner thoughts.

"Huh?" I blink down at her in confusion until I remember what she had asked me just a second ago. "Oh, right. Ice cream." I stand to my feet, taking her hand in my mine. "Come on."

Exiting the park, we make it onto the sidewalk. The ice cream parlor is just across the street. And considering how beautiful the day is, I don't mind walking and enjoying the sun some more.

As we're waiting at the end of the sidewalk for the pixelated sign to give us the okay to cross the street, I glance at Everly. A smile reaches my lips when I see her take Rade's hand in hers.

His gaze drops to hers, and her little fingers tighten around his much bigger hand.

Their interactions are always so heartwarming to see. They don't talk much when they're together, but they seem to understand each other. And when Everly does become a chatterbox like me, he simply listens. It's cute and, at times, reminds me of Everly and Harvey. Except there's less talking from Rade.

When the little white man on the crosswalk starts to move, we make our way across the street and into the ice cream parlor.

Everly pulls away from me, tugging Rade over to the glass box with all the different ice cream options. I direct my attention to the menu above, written in colored chalk. I already had two lemon bars today. But the heart wants what it wants.

Rejoining Rade and Everly, they let the worker know what they want. Everly chooses birthday cake ice cream, and Rade chooses cookies and cream. I decided on a raspberry sherbet.

After our order is prepared and Rade insists on paying, we shift back outside to sit at one of the tables.

Everly starts wiggling the loose tooth in her mouth with her tongue. She's been playing with it all day ever since she discovered another one of her teeth was getting ready to fall out. She's already lost two just this year alone. One on the bottom left row and another on the upper right row. Now her front tooth is missing.

"Do you think it will fall out before tonight?" I ask her.

She nods. "Then I put it under my pillow, and the tooth fairy will come."

"How much do you think she will give you this time?"

"One trillion million dollars!" She holds out her arms to really emphasize the amount.

I laugh softly at her overly exaggerated number. Why do kids always go for the highest numbers? Some of them don't even exist.

"Fingers crossed," I tell her, crossing my index with my middle. She mimics me, smiling wide before resuming her ice cream.

I take another spoonful of my own treat, suddenly feeling hotter than I did a second ago. You would think the ice cream would help, but it did nothing to cool me down.

I slowly lift my eyes. Rade's staring at me. My face warms, and my cheeks flush. We haven't really spoken since this morning in his gym.

I couldn't believe he spoke fluent Spanish this whole time and never told me. I'd basically embarrassed myself by making a comment about his head game. Out loud!

I haven't heard any complaints.

Those were his words. A response to my very embarrassing statement. I'm trying not to be a pervert while he's eating that ice cream. But now I'm wanting to see for myself. Wanting to see what his mouth would feel like on me. I have no doubt in my mind that he could ruin me. And I'm starting to think that I might let him.

I eyed my bare ring finger. Even though Sam and I are separated, we are still legally married. But he cheated. So why should I feel guilty for considering doing the same?