Page 71 of You, Me, and Forever

“You like the initial part of the project, huh? Then you pass the baton to Connor?” he asked.

“I do. I like coming up with a plan, and the vision for the project. And then I usually stick around for demolition and make sure things are rolling, and Connor takes it from there so I can move on to the next project.”

Charlie nodded. “That’s cool. I like the daily grind. Seeing things come together over a few weeks or months, depending on the size of the project.”

“Yeah. You need someone for every stage, right? It takes a fucking village, dude.” I paused when Benji set our food down and said he’d be back. The bar was getting busy.

“It does.” He cut into his steak.

“Where’s Harper tonight?” I asked, as he didn’t like leaving his little girl on school nights often.

“She’s with my babysitter, Abigail. She’s the older woman who lives next door, and she loves spending time with Harper. But I’ll get home in time to put her down. God forbid I don’t read herPinkaliciousbefore bed. She won’t let anyone else read it to her.”

I smiled as I thought about how my mom would read to Samuel and me when we were young. It was one of my favorite memories from my childhood.

“Did you always know that you wanted to be a dad?”

“Fuck no.” He answered so fast it made me laugh. “Never thought I’d be a dad, if I’m being honest. I had a fucked-up childhood myself, in and out of foster care, pending my mom getting her shit together every few years. I didn’t see a need to repeat that pattern, you know?”

“Yet, here you are, running home to readPinkalicious?”

He scrubbed a hand down his face. “That little girl fucking owns me, man. She’s just pure sweetness. So I have no regrets. But it wasn’t planned, that’s for sure. So I’m going to do whatever I can to give her the best life possible. I’m sure I’m messing up every day. Raising her on my own isn’t ideal, and I’m sure she wishes she had a mama. But I can’t change that, so I just do what I can to show up, you know?”

“Trust me, you’re doing a great fucking job, Charlie.”

“And you know that because ...” He smirked as he popped a french fry in his mouth.

“Because I grew up with a father who was a tyrant. He wasn’t present all that much, and when he was, it wasn’t pleasant. It was not a home where I was waiting for my dad to come read me a book. So, trust me ... the fact that your little girl only wants you to read her that book before bed—that says it all.”

He thought it over. “Well, thank you. I question myself all the time. Worried I’m fucking up or not giving her everything she needs.”

“The fact that you worry about it means you’re already winning.”

“How do you figure?” he asked.

“Because you give a shit, Charlie. That’s what matters most. You’re invested. You want her to have a good life.”

“Damn. You’re so much less of an asshole than I thought you were the first time we met,” he said over his laughter. “I’m kidding. And I appreciate what you said.”

When I’d first met Charlie, we didn’t have a whole lot to say to one another, but we’d grown friendly, and he definitely felt comfortable enough to give me shit now. And vice versa.

“Of course. And I’ll still be calling you to check on progress occasionally,” I said, even though Connor would handle most of the day-to-day. I considered Charlie a friend now, so I’d make an effort to check in with him.

I knew he’d tell me how Montana was doing without making me ask him.

“Of course you will.” He laughed. “Do you normally spend this much time in one place when you’re doing a new project?”

“A lot of the large projects I’ve taken on have been in New York, so that makes it easy. I’ve done a few in other cities, but they weren’t quite this magnitude, where we bulldozed the entire building and rebuilt the structure from the ground up. So I’m usually in and out in a shorter amount of time. But I can’t say I’ve minded it this time. It’s peaceful here, you know? Different. And I’ve been able to work remotely, so it’s been okay. But things will be busy when I get home.”

“Your brother still thinking of coming on board?”

I’d told him about Samuel the last time we’d grabbed a drink together. “Yep. I think he’s pretty serious about it. He’s just working out the timeline and all of that.”

“That’ll take some pressure off of you,” he said, reaching for his beer and taking a pull. “And he’s trying to win his girl back?”

“Yeah. She’ll take him back. She’s great. They’re great together. He just works too damn much.”

Samuel had opened up to me that Brianna had threatened to leave him if things didn’t change. She was tired of being lonely because her partner was never around. My brother took a hard look at his life. Of course my father picked a time when he knew my brother was vulnerable to turn up the pressure at work. My father was the chief of staff, and Samuel was a surgical resident. Dad had all the power, and he was pushing him harder than he pushed anyone else, according to my brother.

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