Page 112 of Broken Grump

“Whoa.” He puts his fingers on the screen to zoom in. “She’s got your eyes. That’s for damn certain, Hay.”

“I know.” That was the first part of her that really struck me.

“What are we talking about?” Noah asks, after storming over so quickly that Denton can’t even hand me the device back.

“It’s nothing—”

“Hey now! Who on earth is that little cutie?” He takes it and then laughs like a jackass—tongue out and all. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think this was your spawn, Bro. She looks just like you. Check this out, guys.” Gabe and Victor have also gathered, and he shows them.

“Yeah, definitely,” they agree.

Denton shoots me an apologetic look.

I knew then that the jig was up. “Well, that’s probably because sheismy daughter.”

Gabe and Vic’s eyes get wide, while Noah’s jaw drops to the floor.

“No. I was just kidding.”

I shrug. “She’s mine.”

He takes the phone and looks again. “You mean, I’m an uncle.”

“You are.”

As he continues to peer at the photo, tears well up in his eyes. “She’s so cute. What’s her name?”

“Luna.”

His lip starts to quiver. “Luna? That’s such a pretty name.”

While Gabe and Vic have never been great with strong emotions, Denton jumps in and wraps his arm around my brother’s shoulders. “She’s pretty amazing, huh?”

Noah looks over and him and nods. “Wait,” he says, his attention focusing on me again. “That means she’s yours and . . .?”

“And Addie’s.”

“How old is she?”

“Seven.”

“Wow. I’m sorry.” He’s still choking up. “My brother is a dad. I can’t believe it.”

“Hold on,” Gabe chimes in. “You really skipped from point A to point B here, my friend. We know you went to her grandfather’s funeral, but that doesn’t explain how you reconnected likethis.What happened?”

The story is a long one, so I insist that we call it quits and head inside for some drinks by the bar.

Surprise, surprise.They all seem more than amenable to that suggestion.

So, we pack up and head inside.

“Start from the very beginning,” Victor jokes, clutching his hands below his chin and blinking slowly. “Don’t leave a single detail out.”

Denton scoffs at him and says, “No, but really.”

“Well, I guess it all started when Salvador met with me a while back and proposed a merger of our companies.”

Noah is in the process of eating a french fry, but it falls from his mouth. “You’re kidding? Just out of the blue?”

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