His voice was tight as he fought to control his anger. “The app you created for her. It has her contact info.”

Sarah shook her head, but then her eyes widened. “Shit, it must have gotten hacked. Her info was only on the secure seller’s page.”

“Obviously it wasn’t very secure.”

“Unfortunately, there’s only so much you can do when things are online,” Sarah said, sounding remorseful but as though this couldn’t have been prevented.

He stared at her. “That’s why I didn’t want her online.”

Sarah’s gaze registered his anger, and she seemed to retreat slightly. “Right, but this hardly ever happens…”

“It happens often enough,” he said, his voice cold. “This is exactly the kind of thing I was trying to protect her from.”

Sarah scoffed, but her voice was gentle when she said, “Wes, technology is part of the world now. It’s everywhere. You can’t shield her from it.”

She was arguing with him? “I can shield her from it. It’s my job as a parent to protect her from this shit as long as possible. She’s nine…” His voice rose, and he lowered his head. Getting upset with Sarah wasn’t his intent. This was his fault. He’d allowed it to happen.

Sarah sighed. “I’m sorry, Wes. You’re right. I guess I wasn’t thinking about the dangers of her information being in there.”

“No, you weren’t. And it’s not your fault. You’re not a parent. You don’t get it.”

The moment he said the words, he wanted to pull them back. But he couldn’t, and ultimately, it was true. He didn’t expect Sarah to know how to be a parent when he was still struggling with it himself, and he was doing it full-time.

But his daughter’s safety came first.

“You’re right. I’m not,” she said. A long, awkward silence fell between them before she cleared her throat. “I should probably go.”

Damn it. She’d made it in time for the camp day. That in itself just made everything so much harder. Marissa wouldn’t have to be disappointed… But how could he hang out with her and act normal when he was so conflicted and torn? Marissa seeing them at odds would only ruin the fun day even more. Not that he’d be having much fun. Having to have a conversation with her about this asshole contacting her would be brutal.

“I’ll let her know you really wanted to be here,” he said quietly. Defeated.

Sarah’s hurt expression tore him apart, but maybe they’d moved too quickly. Protecting Marissa had always been his first priority. It was one of the reasons he’d never gotten into a new relationship. The moment he let his guard down, let someone into their lives, this happened.