Page 36 of All Too Well
Once I’m changed, I head back into the kitchen, where the girls are still sitting at the table. “All right, Rose, it’s time.”
She gives me a pouty look. “Do I have to, Daddy?”
“Yup. You do.”
Rose huffs but gets off her chair, bringing the empty cereal bowl to the sink. “Will you be here when I get home?” she asks Ainsley.
“I think so.”
“She will. She’s going to stay here until she’s done with her work.” Which I’m praying is going to go fast. Our game is in two weeks, so at least that long.
Rose’s smile grows. “Yay!”
Ainsley laughs. “Have the best day and I’ll see you later.”
I reach out and take Rose’s hand, and we walk out to the bus stop. “Daddy, I like Ainsley.”
“You like everyone.”
She scrunches her nose. “Not Briggs.”
“I stand corrected,” I say with a laugh.
“She is pretty,” Rose notes.
“She is.”
“And smart.”
I nod. “That too.”
“You should marry her.”
I choke and stop walking. “What? Where did that come from?”
Rose shrugs. “She’s pretty and smart, Daddy. You should marry her.”
“That’s not happening,” I tell her, hoping to squash this thought immediately. “You just met her. You have no idea how annoying she can be too.”
My daughter doesn’t look the least bit concerned. “I like her.”
“Then enjoy the time you’ll have with her when she visits.”
Marry her. Seriously, where the hell did that come from? A few months ago, I kind of sort of was dating this girl from a few towns over. Rose met her when we were in a store and immediately disliked her. I don’t know why. Valorie was perfectly nice, a little shallow, but not in a mean way. However, Rose told me when we got in my truck that she didn’t want to be her friend. I didn’t understand it but figured it was jealousy and she didn’t want to share her dad.
Apparently I was wrong on that motive.
She has no problem with that regarding Ainsley. Of all fucking people.
“I still think you should marry her,” Rose says as we come to the stop sign.
“I think that’s not going to happen.”
“Why not?”
I do not know what has gotten into my daughter, but I’m not having this conversation with her. “Because I said so.”
Rose kicks a rock. “I want a mom. All the other kids have one. Well, not Gigi, but her dad has a new girlfriend already. My dad doesn’t haveanygirlfriends.”
