Page 11 of Single Dad Dilemma

I hook up my computer and hardware, then move on to unpacking the couple of boxes of office supplies I have. With everything in order, I turn the computer on and check my email, which I’ve been ignoring lately. I find an email from my dad, and I open it, finding a link. I click the link and see that he’s built the website for the boat company I’ve been talking about starting up. The website looks good and professional, but it’s not something that I need right now, especially since I haven’t made up my mind one-hundred-percent yet.

“Daddy, donut,” Margo says, walking into the office.

I laugh and shake my head. “It’s still a little early, honey. Why don’t you go watch some TV and wake up, and I’ll pour you a glass of milk? We’ll leave soon, okay?”

She nods, rubs her eyes, yawns, and walks out.

I push my chair away from my desk and go to the kitchen to pour her a glass of milk. I hand it over to her and sit at her side. “How did you sleep?”

She offers up a sleepy smile. “Good. I dreamed about Violet.”

That takes me by surprise. “What was the dream about?”

“I told you…Violet.” She’s always short and to the point first thing in the morning.

I laugh. “Well, what did you and Violet do in the dream?”

She sighs, clearly tired of talking with me already. “You took me to her bakery, and she let me help her in the kitchen. I madecupcakes and donuts and pies! It was fun. We had a fight where we threw white powder at each other, and the whole kitchen was covered in white dust.” She giggles, remembering the dream.

I smile at her sweetness. “That does sound like fun, but I wouldn’t want to clean up that mess.”

She giggles more but trains her eyes on the TV.

“Well,” I say, standing up and ruffling her hair. “When you’re ready, we’ll get you dressed and head to town.”

“Yay! I’m ready. Let’s go,” she says, jumping up and running for the stairs.

I shake my head and laugh as I follow her up to get her clothes, which are hanging too high in the closet for her to reach.

After she dresses, I pull her long, dark curls into a high ponytail—pretty much the only hair style I can do—and we load up in the truck. She’s holding onto Violet’s picture, and she’s wide-eyed, taking everything in on our drive. I park the truck at the side of the building, and by the time I make it over to her side, she’s already running toward the door.

FIVE

Violet

The door opens quickly, and I spin around to see what’s going on.

“Violet, Violet,” Margo yells as she runs in the door and to the counter. She holds up a piece of paper. “I made this for you!”

I smile, leaning down and noticing Carson walking in behind her. I take the paper and look over it. I gasp. “Look how beautiful that is. You drew this all by yourself?” I ask.

Her eyes widen, and a smile takes over as she nods her head up and down. “Yep! I did it last night, but Daddy made me wait until today to bring it over.” She shoots him a dirty look.

“Thank you, Margo. I love it. In fact,” I say, standing up right and spinning around, “I’m going to hang it right here for everyone to see.” I break off a piece of tape and hang it to the wall, right under the clock.

She smiles proudly.

“Sorry,” Carson says. “She wouldn’t leave me alone until I agreed to bring her over. I hope we’re not bothering you.” I notice the way his eyes drop, taking me in. He quickly catches himself checking me out and positions them right at my face.

I wave my hand through the air. “It’s no bother at all. I love my picture very much. Thank you, Margo.”

She smiles, but she’s already too distracted with all the goodies in the case.

“Tell ya what, how about as a thank you for the picture, I’ll let you pick one goodie out of the case?”

She claps and jumps up and down as she checks out the selection more seriously this time since she can only choose one.

“I think I want…that one.” She points at the chocolate eclair.

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