Read Conflicted (The Existing Series Book 2) for Free Online Page B

pouring off of her in waves. I need to start packing which is why I called, but I don’t know if she’s going to go with you. She won’t let me out of her sight for very long. You might have a terror on your hands, and I can’t ask you to handle that so I can get a handle on things here.”
    “The hell you can’t. You lean on your family during the rough times. Between your mother and I we can handle Grace. We handled you and your brothers just fine, let me remind you. She won’t even miss you we’ll keep her so busy. You have to do what you have to do so you can get where you’re going. You’re packing which is a good thing, but where are you going when you leave?”
    “Like you even have to ask. I’m coming home. I’ll find a place, and I’m going to open that shop I talked about a while ago. It may not work out, but it’s my new dream. Plus, I miss the country, and I’ve always wanted my kids to grow up where I did. To feel the way I felt about that place. I was never happy here,” I admitted as I kissed Grace’s soft hair.
    “I was waiting for you to say that. I suspected you weren’t happy, but who was I to ask. I always want to let my kids forge their own path and not meddle. I’m happy you’re coming back, but I’m sorry this is happening. It’s bittersweet.”
    Grace began to stir which caused us both to freeze. I hoped she didn’t freak when she fully woke, but more importantly I hoped she didn’t ask for her mom. She lifted her head and looked around, a small smile forming on her lips when her gaze met my dad’s figure standing in the doorway. She wiggled to get down and I let her, holding onto her until she had her balance on the floor.
    She ran over to my dad and jumped into his awaiting arms.
    “Pop Pop,” she giggled as he kissed her neck.
    “My pumpkin,” my dad laughed back as he tickled her.
    Hearing her laugh and her happiness made my heart swell and heal just a little bit from this morning’s events. Even if it was short lived, I needed to hear her laughter just as much as she needed to experience it.
    “You wanna go bye-bye with Pop-Pop?” he asked Grace, making me on edge. I’d told him I didn’t know if she’d be able to handle it, when in truth I was the one who didn’t want to be away from her. I wanted to protect her, dry every tear, fight every bad dream. But in order for us to move forward, I’d have to be away from her for a few days to get everything packed here.
    Grace was perched on his hip with her head laying on his chest, her thumb in her mouth, and the blanket up in her face. She looked content, but there was still worry in her eyes as she looked at me for approval. It wasn’t like her not to respond. Not to get excited to go to his and my mom’s house. This was another telltale sign that she was reacting to the situation.
    “You can go with Pop-Pop if you want to, pumpkin,” I coached in a soothing voice, hoping that if she heard my approval she’d be happier to leave.
    She looked over at my dad and with her thumb still in her mouth, she muttered, “Go bye-bye, Pop-Pop?”
    He looked down at her adoringly, and I could see just how much that little girl held his heart.
    “Yes, pumpkin. You want to go see Maw-Maw?” he questioned as he bounced her up and down on his hip.
    Suddenly her head perched up and just like that, she became the two-year-old I’d been dying to see for the past few days.
    “Maw-Maw,” she squealed as she fought to get out of his grasp. My dad sat her down and she ran over to me, stumbling into my legs after she tripped on the edge of her blanket.
    “Woah there, pumpkin. Be careful,” I warned as I steadied her.
    She grasped onto my finger and pulled with all of her little might as she demanded that I move to get her stuff.
    “You want to go to Pop-Pop’s?” I asked, trying to excite her about the trip.
    She turned and in typical sassy Grace fashion, put her hand on her hip and stomped her foot as she told me yes. God,