Unexpected Love (Timid Souls Book 3) Read Online Free PDF

her.
    She offered a soft, almost sad, smile and I knew what she was thinking. “No issues, no,” she responded. “She colored a lot by herself but she enjoyed it.”
    My chest tightened at hearing that. Penny didn’t have a lot of friends at school and it absolutely broke my heart. Ever since Vanessa and I divorced, she had become a more sedate kid, not quite as outgoing as she once was. It was the worst whenever I picked her up from Vanessa’s. It usually took me a couple of days to get my Penny back and then she would start smiling again and talking more.
    The teachers at school always told me that Penny was pretty reserved around the other kids, not talking a whole lot and staying by herself most of the time at recess. The kid whose birthday party I told Vanessa about earlier I think only invited Penny out of obligation more than anything else because he was in her class. She was a bright, wonderful kid. I just didn’t think that other kids always knew how to handle her when she was quiet and somewhat closed off.
    I felt overwhelming guilt about the situation because I knew that it was mine and Vanessa’s fault for whatever was going on with her.
    But I was sure Vanessa didn’t care and probably hadn’t even noticed the changes in her daughter.
    “Okay, thanks,” I told Ms. Henderson. “See you tomorrow,” I called over my shoulder as I headed back to the car before she tried to spark up a conversation.
    I took Penny’s backpack off, placed her in her booster seat, and a minute later was off to our soon-to-be-ex-apartment. The place had only been temporary until I could get our new house built and designed. Now, it was mostly completed and we were going to be moving in a matter of weeks.
    I couldn’t wait to finally feel settled somewhere.
    It would be a welcome transition.
    I cooked us a healthy dinner of grilled chicken and asparagus, rice, baby carrots, and fruit for dessert. And because she’d been a good girl and had eaten all of her vegetables, I let Penny have a Popsicle afterwards. Take that, Vanessa.
    I worked on the living room couch while Penny watched Minions for the twelve thousandth time this month, but I didn’t mind. Her constant giggles throughout the whole movie were music to my ears, so she could watch it as much as her little heart desired if I got to see that happy smile on her face.
    Our bedtime ritual went the same as always with giving her a bath, combing her hair and brushing her teeth, followed by her attempts to prolong having to actually go to bed like most children her age often did.
    “Read me a story, Daddy. Please?”
    Yeah, she had me wrapped around her little finger and she knew it. But I still set boundaries and established rules, despite what Vanessa wanted to believe.
    “Okay, but just one and then you have to go to sleep.”
    She nodded her agreement and lay back in bed with an excited smile on her face. She looked like both me and Vanessa. She had her mother’s jet black hair but my nose and hazel eyes. She was my little angel.
    “Which one do you want me to read?”
    She looked down at her nightstand where her favorite books were kept and pointed to the one I read pretty much every other night. “That one.”
    Halfway into the story, she was passed out and I was tiptoeing out of the room so as not to wake her, ensuring that her nightlight was on and shining brightly before I left. It didn’t take me long to fall asleep that night either, with thoughts of a sexy little blonde with blue eyes and a sweetheart face swirling around in my head.
    After I dropped off Penny at school the next morning, I decided that I would take a few more boxes over to the new house before work. I figured moving might be a little less stressful if I took over a little at a time.
    I parked in the side driveway instead of in front of the garage because it was closer to the back door which was right beside my office. I dropped the boxes on the floor and took in the disorganized mess of the