Page 9 of Grumpy Single Dad

"I don't want to crash your dad and daughter trip—" Rye starts.

Frankie cuts her off. "You're not crashing it. You're bringing fun ideas, and we can talk about a gazillion other flavors I have ideas about. I can't wait to go to school and tell everybody I have ice cream named after me."

I chuckle. "Oh, so that's code for you just wanting to turn her into your personal ice cream supplier."

"No," Frankie says right before shoveling another piece of food into her mouth. "She likes the same kind of movies I like, andshe knows games we can play. You know games we can play as a family, right?"

Rye's on the spot but laughs it off with a slight tip of her head in the affirmative. "I sure do. I used to love playing UNO on our family game nights. It's been a long time since my family got together to do anything fun like that."

"Do you want to ask them to come too?" Frankie offers. "The tent really is insanely big. I saw it. It's like a small house."

"It's not that big," I say.

"It's big enough to have three bedrooms. This actual cabin doesn't even have three bedrooms, but the tent has three rooms and a family room," Frankie replies with a touch of snarkiness.

Rye laughs. "I'll come as long as there is plenty of room, and it sounds like there is. How about we plan a family game night? My dad and my sisters with their fellas, and you and your dad can come. We can do a taco bar for dinner."

"And an ice cream bar for dessert?" Frankie suggests with an aggressive wriggle of her eyebrows that brings laughter out of all of us.

By the time we finish breakfast, it feels like we're a family unit moving into a regular day. This is going fast, but there's something I trust about Rye that puts me at ease. Perhaps it's because Frankie's so easygoing around her.

My daughter's right on the money when it comes to people. Whether Frankie realizes it or not, she warms up to good people almost immediately. I'm happy to follow her lead.

As we set out for the day, Rye takes us into town. Thankfully, the storms didn’t cause too much damage. At least, that's what itlooks like until we reach my car. There's some debris from fallen trees and loose trash that's been thrown about. The thing that stands out the most is the trash can-sized dent in the rear door of my car.

The levity in my mood sinks as I call Chase. He’s on his way while Frankie and Rye head into her ice cream shop. I can't stop walking around my car to see if there's any damage deeper than the dent in the door.

Once Chase arrives, he whistles as he walks around the car and runs his hand along its lines around the damage.

"You got knocked around pretty good," he says.

"Yeah, and that happened after we pulled over."

Chase looks around. "Where's Rye and Frankie? Are they okay? How did you guys make out last night?"

The corner of my mouth tips up in a sheepish grin. "Rye took Frankie to the shop to make a new flavor, which she and Frankie thought up this morning. As far as how we made out, do you really want a play-by-play?"

Chase stops looking at the car and turns to me, raising an eyebrow. "Not when you put it that way. So, are you going to pursue something with Rye? Don't get her hopes up just to let her down or Frankie, man."

"I have no intentions of doing anything like that. I like her. It's moving quick as hell, but I can just feel it in my gut that we're meant for something more than a shared night together. The way Frankie took right to her makes me want to try love again."

Chase smiles as he hooks my car up to his tow truck. "Good for you. It's about time you start dating again. Even better that it'smy lady's younger sister. About your car, I can let you drive one of mine until yours is fixed. It might be a few days, but I won't know for sure until I get under the hood and see how deep that dent goes."

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

We shake hands and part ways. My mind wanders to Mariah and Frankie bonding over ice cream recipes. My heart warms in a way I haven't felt in forever. Yet, I don't want to feel like I'm forcing Rye to blend our families.

5

MARIAH

"Are you sure you want to go camping with us, Miss Rye?" Frankie asks as I yank the gate open.

Fortunately, the generator's still humming as we head inside to start opening. "Of course I want to go. Don't you want to give your dad another shot at just a trip with the two of you?"

"I don't mind." She shrugs. "We don't really like the same stuff anymore. He's always busy with work, and I mean, I don't want to be stuck in the woods with just my dad. He'll start telling me the same old stories from his job."

"You don't like what he does for a living?"

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