Page 6 of Imperfect Skin

There was careful and careful, and what I wanted to happen tonight would fall in that shady grey area Rhys didn’t need to know about. “I promise. Now go give your Daddy a hug. He looks like he’s about ready to throttle Mrs M.”

Rhys looked over and sighed. “We’ve been having discussions with her over the boundary fence at Tulip and talks of rosebush murder have come up. I’d better step in. I’m pretty sure Mrs M could take Simon out with a wooden spoon and a cold smile.” He shivered, looking over at the small, elderly lady who was busy wagging a finger at Simon.

“Go rescue him and save a dance for me later.”

Rhys hopped up out of his seat and kissed the top of my head as he passed. “I’ll put you on my dance card.” And with that he was off, bouncing towards Simon and the scary Mrs. M. Leaning back, I looked over at Cal. He looked like fucking walking sex tonight, and I could see more than a few pairs of eyes taking in the sight. The worst culprit was Lindon Townsend, the cute-as-a-button primary school teacher who taught the year ahead of Alice.

I knew this because he’d given me the third degree when I’d picked Alice up after school on a couple of occasions when Cal’s mum couldn’t do it. On the first occasion, he’d refused to let Alice come with me until they had spoken to Cal.

Look, I got it, and I was glad the school took security seriously, but Cal had phoned ahead of time and cleared it with Alice’s teacher and the school head. But Mr Poppy Long Stockings with his perfect hair and teeth hadn’t been satisfied. He’d acted like I was some lunatic, come to steal the children away. And now he was here, making a beeline straight for Callum.

No matter how I felt about Cal, me acting like a jealous twat was not going to earn me Brownie points. But the predatory gleam in Lindon’s eye pissed me off. I’d seen plenty of men and women fall a little bit in love with Cal at the studio. He was always professional. It was his calm and kind manner while tattooing and piercing people that seemed to give them heart eyes. Simon and I found it hilarious. We’d both had our fair share of clients offer to have ‘coffee’ with us when we’d finished up, but Cal seemed to be a magnet for them, especially once they heard he was a single working dad.

I’d made a promise to myself that I’d never get in the way of Callum finding happiness, no matter how much the thought hurt. But this guy wasn’t looking for a relationship. He was looking for another notch on his headboard, and I would be damned if I was going to let that happen.

“Mitchell.”

Gods damn it! I turned around and Dad was standing there grinning with Joe. The two of them looked like the town and country version of Absolutely Fabulous.

“Hey.” I sighed and faced the immovable force of my father and his best mate, hetero life buddy, or whatever they were. I tried to keep an eye on Lindon as he stalked across the room. “You both look very dashing tonight.”

“Well, you can thank Joe for that. He said I couldn’t come out looking like I’d just mucked the barn, which was a bit harsh. I had clean clothes on.”

Joe snorted rudely, shaking his head. “Those trousers had more holes than a slice of Swiss cheese, and I swear there was a mustard stain on the shirt you were trying to wear.”

Dad gave an exaggerated eye-roll and looked to me to help defend him. I sighed. I wasn’t going to be let go any time soon.

“I looked perfectly presentable,” Dad argued with little heat. I was pretty sure they’d had this argument already today.

“I see he made you finally get your hair trimmed up.” Dad’s shock of silver-white hair was trimmed and tidied. He no longer looked like he’d gone head-to-head with a tornado. “How’d you do it?” I asked Joe.

Rhys’s grandad Joe had been living full time at the farm with Dad going on a month now. It had taken some of the pressure off Simon and I, knowing Dad had someone up there with him. At sixty-nine, Joe was a year older than Dad. With his striking full head of silver hair and the same mischievous blue eyes as Rhys, he was a breath of fresh air that the farm—and Dad—needed. And for an old fella he was easy on the eye, and sort of reminded me of Sir Barristan Selmy from Game of Thrones. I’d made the mistake of mentioning that to Rhys, who’d lost his shit laughing and told me I was not to make heart eyes at his grandad. As if I would. But the man was a true silver fox. Hell, I’d even caught Doc eyeing Dad and Joe up—not that I wanted to dwell on that thought too long.

“So, did you bring a date with you tonight?” Dad asked, blunt as ever.

I shook my head glancing back over to where Callum and Lindon were now talking. “No, you both saw I just came with Cal and Alice. I have to head out later tonight to another party.”

“Oh, meeting someone?” Dad gave me a hopeful smile. I couldn’t be annoyed with him—he only wanted to see me happy—but I couldn’t explain to him that wasn’t on the cards.

“Nah, free and easy, that’s my motto. Don’t worry about me. I reckon Simon and Rhys are going to keep everyone fed on all their loved-up happy feelings for a while.” I glanced over to where my brother stood, hugging Rhys to his side.

“Do you know if they’ve set a date yet?” Joe asked, rescuing me from Dad’s questioning.

“I think Rhys wants a spring wedding, and there has been talk about having it at the old manor house just outside of town. They do weddings and big, fancy parties,” I answered absently, watching Lindon flirt with Callum. Gods, could the dude be more obvious?

“They could have it at the farm. I’ve already told them that. Your brother is just being stubborn. It would be cheaper, and they could save that money and spend it on the honeymoon.” Dad tapped me on the shoulder. “Don’t you think that would be a better idea?”

“Mags, leave the boy be, can’t you see he has his mind on other things? Now come on, they’re serving up the food and I’m famished.”

I gave Joe a thankful smile and had to laugh as he led my dad off by the arm towards the tables laden with food.

I couldn’t see Callum anymore, but I saw Lindon off flirting with Perry. I didn’t let out a relieved sigh. Nope. Not at all. As I moved towards the tables covered in food, I was attacked by a taffeta-wearing tornado. Alice already had cake crumbs and tomato sauce down her dress and on her cheeks. Shaking my head, I scooped her up for a hug.

“Are you having fun?”

“The best time.” She swayed in my arms, giggling.

“Looks like you already found the cake and something with sauce on it.” I pointed to the red stain on her dress.

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