Free Curves in the Road (The Southern Devotion Series Book 2) by Amy K. Mcclung Page A

guys in over a day. I got distracted." 
    Distracted? I distracted him from thinking of his daughter and pulled him two hundred miles away from her when she needs him. This is my fault and I needed to fix it. Katelyn is the most important person in Derrick's life and she always should come first and if our relationship is interfering with that then I have to end it.
    While Derrick finished his phone call, I packed his bag and placed it by the door. I heard him say goodbye and he came rushing into the bedroom. "I need to pa…" He stopped when he saw his bag sitting by the door. "Oh."
    "You need to go. I'll check us out of here and take care of everything. Katelyn needs you."  To say I wasn’t disappointed to end our weekend would be a lie. We would lose a few hours together but Katelyn's health was most important. While he goes home to take care of Katelyn I'll use the time to really think things over about whether or not we can even continue this long distance relationship.
    Derrick wrapped me in his arms and kissed me.  "I love you, MJ. Thank you for understanding. You're amazing, you know that?" I smiled and Derrick grabbed his backpack and threw it over his shoulder.  "I'll call you when I get home and I'll let you know how Katelyn is because I know you'll be worried."
     
    And once he walked out that door, I wouldn’t see him face to face again for another year. We tried to continue our long distance chats, talking on the phone every night for a little while. Things were going fine except for the fact that we missed each other so much. Then two months after our Atlanta trip and after a long conversation with Cameron, I came to a decision on what needed to be done.
    With a trembling hand, I dialed Derrick’s number. It took me four tries to hit the correct name in my contacts list. When it finally went through, Derrick answered on the second ring, “Hey baby. I was just thinking about you. ” The emotions I’d been holding in, spilled out in my voice. “What’s wrong MJ? Are you crying sweetheart?”
    “Do you have time to talk?” I managed to ask.
    “I always have time for you. What’s wrong? Hold on a second,” Derrick set the phone down for a moment. He was talking to Katelyn. He said, “Sweetie, MJ’s upset right now and needs to talk to daddy about grown up stuff. I’ll let you talk to her another time, ok?”
    I heard Katelyn’s small voice say, “Maybe I can cheer her up. Please let me say hi, daddy.”
    It broke my heart to know what I was about to do. Talking to Katelyn could make this decision that much harder. Even hearing her voice right now was making me question what I really wanted.
    Derrick picked up the phone, “Do you mind if Katelyn says hello?”
    “Of course not,” I lied.
    “Hi MJ. Daddy said you’re sad right now. I wanted to come on here and tell you that I’m going to draw you a picture and have daddy text it to you. Is that ok?” How could I tell her no? Once this call ended I knew I’d never see that picture, but I couldn’t turn her down.
    “That would be wonderful Katie -cat.” 
    Her next words tore my heart in two. “I love you MJ.” I loved Katelyn as though she were my own daughter. “Does that make you smile?”
    A smile, that if seen would be heartbreaking to a small girl, spread over my face as the tears fell. “Yes, baby girl, that makes me smile so much. I love you too, never forget that.”
    Derrick came back on the line and said, “She’s a great girl isn’t she?”
    “Definitely. She takes after her daddy for sure.” I said.
    “Yep, you know what else we have in common. I love you, only it’s probably a lot more than she does.” He whispered the last part and my heart shattered. It was too much to handle doing this over the phone.  “You’re quiet, sweetheart. Did I say something wrong?”
    “Nope. You never do. I’m sorry Derrick.”
    “Sorry for what?”
    “The reason I’m calling is that this isn’t working for me.”   My