Page 36 of Single Chance

“Thank you,” I said. “I can’t wait to get started.”

“We’ll have fun.”

We said goodbye, and I walked back outside, darting a glance toward the bakery, scanning for the llama. That’s when I noticed traffic was stopped, a small crowd had gathered on the other side of the street, and a guy was guiding the llama away from the bakery.

This town was something else. I was beginning to think it was something special. Maybe exactly what I needed.

Just today I’d met a pen-loving girl who’d tried to help with my search for a place to live and a kind woman who was willing to help me honor my sweet Gram.

If Loretta could work a miracle, maybe I’d gained a new hobby. A soothing, stress-reducing one. God knows I needed it to keep me from freaking out about being pregnant and worrying about having a baby with a man I barely knew.

Chapter Twelve

Chance

Our single dad group wasn’t the same as it used to be. Still good, still some of the best friends I had. But our Saturday nights had definitely changed.

Given that three of the six of us had done away with the “single” designation, it wasn’t surprising. Our weekly Saturdays had recently shifted to biweekly out of necessity. Whereas the big challenge used to be finding babysitters for everyone’s kids, now Knox, Max, and Ben had wives or fiancées to stay with their kids, but that meant their houses wouldn’t work as a gathering spot most weekends. It also meant they often had to work around family plans.

I used to host frequently because our basement had been set up for it with a pool table, dartboard, and big screen, but recently I’d agreed to let Sam take over the basement as her space, hoping if I showed her a little trust and gave her some independence, she’d use it wisely. Her bedroom was now one end of the L-shaped lower level, giving her one hell of a teenage domain. Tonight she had plans to binge as many seasons ofGilmore Girlsas she could on the big screen.

My daughter’s so-called friends had indeed written her off after their Thursday night drinking session on the beach had gotten busted. They didn’t care that she hadn’t ratted them out. Even my call to Lacey’s mother hadn’t been what got them in trouble. The cops had discovered them without any help. The result was that Lacey and the mean girls she hung out with no longer wanted anything to do with Sam.

I hated that Sam was hurting, but I believed those girls—and the boys they snuck out to drink with—weren’t the right people for her. She’d spent Friday night at home in the basement away from me—but still home, where I knew she was safe—not drinking and not dealing with some little asswipe pressuring her to do… I couldn’t let myself think too hard about what he might’ve had in mind for her.

The dads and I had agreed to meet at Elliott’s, a dive bar off the beaten track with multiple TVs, damn good wings, and none of the twenty-something meat-market crowd the Barn Bar and the Fly tended to attract.

Some nights we planned our evening around a particular sports event. Tonight it’d been the Predators game, which had ended in a victory.

Our gatherings didn’t usually last too late, as we all had kids to get home to and babysitters to relieve. Once tonight’s game ended, we’d finished our drinks, talked hockey for a few minutes, and now here we were, headed out the door of Elliott’s before ten thirty p.m.

“Look at you fuckers, all eager to get home to your ladies,” West said as the five of us—Luke was home with a sick kid—walked out the door.

“Accurate,” Max said. “That was a hell of a game. The company was good as always. But it’s cold as a son of a bitch out here, and I can’t wait to get home to my warm bed.”

“And the fiancée waiting for you in it,” Knox said.

“That’s the hope.” Max laughed.

“When’s Harper moving in officially?” Ben asked.

“Not soon enough,” Max said as we stood in a clump outside the door of the bar. “She doesn’t want to leave Dakota hanging.”

“I bet she’ll be able to find someone to sublease pretty fast,” Ben said. “Somebody needs to build a new apartment complex in this town. Housing’s starting to be a problem.”

“That housing problem got you a wife,” West pointed out, and we all laughed.

Ben had taken in his friend Emerson and her kids while she hunted for a place to live. Before she could find something in her budget, they’d fallen in love and gotten married at the courthouse.

“We might be heading home earlier than I used to start back when I was in college, but I’m glad we made it work tonight,” Knox said.

“Good times as always,” West said.

We all said our goodbyes. Then Knox, Max, and Ben, who’d parked on the street, walked in one direction while West and I went toward the small lot behind.

“You okay tonight?” West asked as we made our way between the buildings.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I pulled my stocking cap down farther as we emerged to the back side and got smacked by a cold gust of wind.

---