Page 29 of Rhett

Oh. Well, now I feel dumb. Blushing isn’t something I do often, but my cheeks heat. Meadow hasn’t said much about crushes and such. I’m not sure if it’s something she’s not interested in yet, or just not something she wants to talk to me about because I’m her dad. Ever since she came out as trans, though, I’ve been honest with her about my bisexuality. She knows that if I ever found someone again, it could be a man or a woman, and when the possibility of a future partner for her will come up, I’ll make sure the family uses gender neutral terms and that Meadow knows she’s safe to love anyone.

In that way, her mentioning Rhett liking me makes sense, but I also don’t know why my brain didn’t consider that she might simply be talking about friends. “I like him too.”

“I know. But it’s a big deal for Rhett to like you. He keeps to himself.”

My skin flushes with a different kind of heat this time. Attraction, yeah, because there’s no doubt I’m attracted to Rhett, but also, I like the thought of him liking me too…as a friend. That he chose me. Because Meadow is right about him. I see now how big a deal it is that Rhett came to Meadow’s party, that he skated with me and let me see his work and help him at the house, and that he’s agreed to work with me. It’s a kind of honor I can’t figure out what I did to deserve but I’m thankful for. “How do you know everything about everyone in this town?”

“I don’t know everything about everyone, only some things about some people.” She shrugs. “I just do.”

I pull up in front of the school. “It’s because of that big heart of yours.”

“Dad.”She rolls her eyes but then grins.

“I know. I know. I’m mushy.”

She unclicks her seat belt and pulls her bag to her lap. “It’s okay if youdolike Rhett. Or anyone. You haven’t dated seriouslysince Mom left, and I like Rhett a lot. And he doesn’t care…about who I am. I don’t want you to be alone.”

I immediately tense. “Hey. No. If you’re thinking I’m alone because of you, that’s not the case. I just don’t need anyone else in my life right now, and if there ever is someone and they have any issues with who you are, then they aren’t the kind of person I would want to be with. I’m happy, Meadow-bug. I have my family and my friends. I don’t need anyone else.”

And I don’t, not really, but I do miss having someone to share my life with, someone to laugh with and talk to. Someone to love. Though honestly, after the way April left us, I’m not sure I could risk that again, and not just because of Meadow, but for myself.

“Okay. I just wanted to make sure I said that.”

Maybe that’s true, but before she can get out, I add, “You know Rhett and I are just friends, right? I don’t even know if he’s interested in men, but if he is, that’s not what this is about. I think both of us could use a friend.” And I really do want to be that for Rhett.

“Okay,” she says again.

“Good. Now get out of here and go to school.” I wink at her, and she chuckles. “Have a good day, kiddo.”

“You too.”

I wait until she gets inside before driving off. That was…unexpected. Meadow has never said anything like that to me before. It’s not like Rhett is my only friend or the only newish person I’ve ever started spending time with. What makes it different with him?

The thing is, I could see myself being interested in someone like Rhett, but besides my worries about Meadow getting hurt if someone else leaves, there’s the truth that Rhett’s incredibly closed off. He struggles letting people in, and April was the exact same way. The relationship ended with my heart being broken and a little kid without her mom. It would be stupid of me to putmyself in a situation like that again, and why am I even thinking about this? Rhett has done nothing to make me think he wants anything more than friendship from me. It’s something I think he needs, and I would never want to do something to mess that up.

Today Rhett and I will be doing carpentry work in a few rooms in a newly built home. It’s not one of those cookie-cutter neighborhoods where everything is the same in each house. The homeowners are doing everything custom. We spent weeks working through plans together to make the place exactly what they want. They aren’t moving to Birchbark until the summer, and I figured this would be the perfect winter project for me.

When I get to the house, though I’m ten minutes early, I’m not surprised that Rhett is already there. I climb out of my truck, and he joins me. “You’re early,” I tell him.

“You’re late,” he counters.

“It’s seven fifty-one, and I said to be here at eight.”

“If you’re not fifteen minutes early, you’re late.”

I smirk, shaking my head. “What am I going to do with you?” I grab my tool bag, then motion toward the house. “Let’s get inside before we freeze our balls off. We’ve got power to the house, and I have some heaters inside, but it takes a while to warm up. Then, unfailingly, we’ll be too hot.”

He chuckles, and I notice for the first time that he has two cups of coffee in his hands. “I didn’t know what you like, or if you drink coffee at all, but I didn’t want to show up with one for myself and not you. I have packets of cream and sugar. If you want something else, I can go back and—”

“You don’t have to go back and get me anything else. This is perfect. I stop on my way to work sometimes, but I was trying to make it here before you.” I quirk a brow at him. “Overachiever.”

“Looks like someone needs to get out of the house a few minutes earlier in the morning,” he teases. The few times we’veinteracted so far, it took him a while to warm up, and even then, he wasn’t playful like this. I have to bite back my smile so I don’t look like an oversized, goofy idiot.

“What if I make you late one day…”

“How would you do that?” he asks as I press the door code.

“I don’t know. I’ll find a way. I’ll tell you we have to be at the job at eight when it’s really seven thirty,” I say, pushing open the door, eager to get inside.

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