Chapter 22

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Melodie's Sundays were predictable. Wake up with Daddy. Eat with Daddy. Play with Daddy. Rinse and repeat.

A perfect system.

But she's a big girl. She knows that, sometimes, Daddy has work–grown ups are very busy. On those days, she has to be a good hostess to BriBri. BriBri comes over, they play, they eat, rinse and repeat.

Melodie loved Sundays.

"Melodie! Hunter's here!"

Her lanky arms halt in tying up her hair. If Daddy was going to work today, where was BriBri? Hunter coming didn't add up. Still, Melodie knew that good hostesses always greet their guests. So, she left her hair as is and went to the front door. Hunter, Daddy's strong-looking friend, stepped inside. His eyes lingered on Daddy, using a stare she usually saw in Christmas romance movies before he gingerly took off his coat. That's when he noticed the child across the room.

"Hey Melodie, we're going to spend the day together! Does that sound fun?"

No BriBri?

No Daddy?

Melodie's smile fell. Before Hunter could ask what was wrong, she'd run back into her room.

Hunter's heart dropped to his feet. That was the first time Melodie hadn't hugged him since they first met. He looked at River, anxious, but only found an unfazed father.

"She's probably just embarrassed that her hair isn't done. She's pretty sensitive about it," he explained. River wasted no time in doing up his jacket and slipping on heavy duty snow boots. "Just give her a few minutes to get ready and she should be fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

One kiss and "goodbye" later, Hunter stood in the living room alone. Waiting for Melodie. The thing that always struck him about being around children was how mature they felt. The concept of a child he gathered from TV never matched the thoughtful, opinionated people that children turned out to be. If Melodie was an adult, he would have been unbothered by the wait.

But, Melodie wasn't an adult. She was six years old and he hadn't heard a sound from her room in almost five minutes. As the seconds ticked by, Hunter's mind came up with a million terrible things that could have happened to that little girl. He checked his phone. 6 minutes. He'd waited long enough.

"Hey Melodie, are you okay in there?"

Hunter stood just outside of her room, knocking first in his last attempt to preserve the child's privacy. A beat passed and Hunter wondered how hard he had to kick to crack open her door.

"Leave me alone!"

Hunter was relieved to hear her voice. But only marginally. She was okay, which was the most important thing. But she also seemed to want nothing to do with him and it was barely 10:30 am.

"Have you had breakfast?"

"Yes."

"Do you want to draw?"

Two responses seemed to be her limit. Drawing, games, Sofia the first, nothing could elicit another response from the child. With a grunt, Hunter sat across from the door, staring at Melodie's bedroom door. How had things gone sour so quickly? Why was he, the same person who'd always made her smile, suddenly not enough?

Hunter couldn't just leave her alone. He was the one watching her. Her safety was completely in his hands. But she refused to see him.

Hunter checked his phone again. 10:58. Fuck. Was it possible to mess up babysitting this quickly?

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