Page 163 of The Promise Of You

forty-nine

Justin

Sunshine’s hoofs sound on the dirt road, and Moose lets out a happy yap.

I let go of Chloe and turn to see Dad in the distance, slowly making his way to us, the image of contentment.

“I think I’ll commute by horse,” Chloe whispers next to me.

I tug her against my side, kiss her temple, then we both stand and straighten our clothes before Dad is close enough to fully measure how fun last night was. I straighten the mattress and let it slide down the opposite side of the platform.

“Thought is was time for coffee!” Dad hollers from afar.

We wave back to him, and he pushes Sunshine to a trot. As he gets closer, all I can see is the wide smile on his face.

He dismounts, ties Sunshine to the platform, and pulls various paper bags from his saddle bag. “Are you going to invite me in?” he jokes.

Chloe giggles.

“I take it she said yes?” Dad asks me as he climbs the makeshift stairs.

“She did.” The solemnity of the moment hits me, and tears fill my eyes.

“Welcome to the family, darling,” Dad says, hugging Chloe. “Brought you breakfast. Fresh croissants from Christopher, a Road to Hell or whatever Millie calls’em, and a couple apple cider donuts.”

We sit cross-legged on the platform.

“Oh wow, you shouldn’t have gone to such trouble,” Chloe says, taking her Road to Heaven with anticipation. “Ohmygod, you got us Millie’s thermoses, and she marked them for us?” she shrieks. The thermoses have our names in Millie’s handwriting, in her signature purple color.

“That’s right, I shouldn’t. And I didn’t. This all came to me.”

“What do you mean, Dad,” I say as I grab the double espresso with my name on it, remove the lid, and dunk the croissant in the steaming hot liquid. I close my eyes to enjoy this pure perfection.

“Word got around. Cassandra did some work. All’s well that ends well. Everyone came to the farm to get the scoop and see how you were doing. Bearing gifts.”

Chloe narrows her eyes on Dad, as puzzled as I am.

“You’re gonna have to be more specific,” I say.

He chews his croissant slowly, washes it down with a loud gurgle of coffee, and sets his eyes on me. “Cassandra talked to Gisele. Gisele admitted you weren’t the father. She left town.”

The news hits me like a freight train. This I was not expecting. Is it even true?

Chloe meets my gaze, and she seems alarmed.

“Paternity test will confirm it, but Cassandra didn’t seem to think there was any funny business this time.”

“But—why?” Chloe asks.

Dad shrugs. “Not the sharpest tool in the shed in some aspects, surely has a twisted relationship with the truth, but also, trying to do what’s best for her kid.” He takes another bite of croissant, and adds, “She told Cassandra she wanted the best for her baby, and you’d be the best father from… you know… her pool of applicants,” he ends on a chuckle.

“Oh my god,” Chloe mutters. “I feel bad for her baby.”

“Nah, she’s resourceful. She’ll figure it out,” Dad says.

I blink several times, trying to get accustomed to having this weight lifted off me. “Not your problem, baby,” I say, leaning into Chloe, not believing the goodness that I’m going to be sharing my life with. “Do you believe her?” I ask Dad, pointing at Chloe.

“She’s the best of the best, son. Has to be, to deal with you,” he adds, his eyes dancing with laughter.

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