Page 11 of Exposed Ink

My seventeen-year-old daughter’s panicked voice has me setting my coffee on the counter.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, stepping out of the kitchen to meet her in the living room as our dog, Becky—a German shepherd Lab mix we rescued a few years ago—jumps up from the couch, wagging her tail and begging for attention.

Since Taylor only ran out the door a few minutes ago for school, I can’t imagine what’s happened to cause her hysteria in that short amount of time. But one thing I’ve learned from being a single dad to a teenage girl is that the things we wouldn’t expect to cause stress seem to.

Wrong hair color, a pimple on her forehead, can’t find the right shoes to match the dress—doesn’t sound like any of that would be the end of the world, right?Wrong.Every one of those is serious enough to cause a breakdown—trust me, I’ve experienced it firsthand.

“My tire is flat, and I’m going to be late to school, and we have a pep rally today! If I miss it?—”

“Breathe,” I say with a laugh, thankful her outburst wasn’t something serious.

“Dad!” She groans.

“Let’s go.” I nod toward the front door. “Today, you’ll learn how to change a tire.”

“But I’m—” she starts to complain as she follows.

“Late. I heard. What would you have done had I not been here?”

“Called you to come home.”

I chuckle. “And what if I were on a call?”

“I would’ve asked Pop.”

“They’re out of town,” I remind her.

My parents live next door, but since they officially retired a few years ago and my daughter is now old enough to stay alone overnight while I work my shifts at the station, they’ve started to travel more often.

“Fine, let’s go,” she says, knowing I’m not going to budge.

Since I work twenty-four-hour shifts as a firefighter paramedic, I always want to make sure my daughter is capable of handling things if I’m not available. I hate having to leave her, but thankfully, when she was younger, while I was saving for a place of our own, we lived with my parents, who helped tremendously. It also helps that we live in a small town and the station is walking distance from our house on Main Street.

“Look, it’s right there,” Taylor says, crouching in front of the tire and pointing out the silver screw wedged into the rubber.

“We’ll put a spare on, and I’ll bring it by Ron’s garage later to get it plugged.”

After getting the spare and jack out of her trunk and explaining how to raise her car properly so she can safely change the tire, I go about doing so, walking her through each step until the spare tire is on and her flat one has been thrown into the back of my truck.

“Thank you, Dad!” Taylor throws her arms around me and plants a kiss on my cheek. “Love you.”

“Love you too, Tay. What time will you be home?”

“It’s on the calendar,” she mocks, repeating what I always tell her when she asks me the same question. “I have work after school, so not until late,” she calls out as she hops into her white two-door Jeep Wrangler that she calls Snowball and then takes off.

Once she’s gone, I let Becky out into the backyard and then heat up my coffee and make breakfast. While I sit at the table, eating and going through my calendar, I text my brother to see if he’s up for any company today.

Eric and his wife, Katie, own a health club in town called Brookside Health Club. Before they opened it, the only fitness center was almost forty minutes away in the next town over. He saw the need and took a risk, and it paid off because the place is always busy.

Since I’m off five days a week, thanks to my two twenty-four-hour shifts, I go in a few days a week to teach various classes and help. It not only helps me stay in shape and gives me extra money in my pocket, but it also keeps me busy since my parents are gone a lot and my daughter is busy with school, friends, extracurriculars, and her job at the local bookstore and coffee shop.

Eric

I was just about to text you. Katie has a doctor’s appointment this afternoon, and I have a new member consultation. Wanna run through it for me?

Katie and Eric are expecting their first baby in May, and they’re finding out soon whether it’s a boy or a girl.

Me

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