Page 101 of More, Daddy
I collect her against my chest, stroking my hands up and down her spine, chin stacked on her head. We’ve nearly made it a month, today being three weeks into our four weeks of privacy. “I’m ready for that, too.”
She pulls back, blinking up at me. “Actually, I have an idea.”
I'mbad at living in a small town. See, in places like Bluebell, there’s an underlying expectation. You gotta show up at the farmers market every Saturday because all the smallbusinesses and townspeople show up. It’s a must that you eat at Goode’s Diner a couple of times a month. You need to know the checker’s name at the Eat O Rama and you definitely need to love high school football.
I came here on the heels of my divorce, though, and have spent six years licking my wounds while also online dating.
I’ve missed the farmers market nearly every week, except for when Leah physically forces me to join her. I rarely go to Goode’s, and I just hand the woman my card at the Eat O Rama, I’m not trying to learn life stories. I just want my beer and chips.
But now, thanks to Briar Matthews, I’m embracing my small town. Because she wants it. And I give her what she wants because that’s what good daddies do.
And what Briar wants is to make a tour of the community today, a sunny bustling Saturday, and make our status official to the town of Bluebell. Instead of telling Dean, then letting it slowly trickle through the wives and girlfriends, we’re going to attend the farmers market together, then we’re gonna have lunch at Goode’s, then we’re heading to the Eat O Rama to get fixings for dinner. After that, we’re driving through town to her old house, getting the rest of her things, then going home.
By the time we’re home tonight, the Band-aid will be ripped off.
Everyone will know that Briar is mine.
While Briar is showering, I sit on the edge of the bed and call Dean. Clara June answers, and we talk for a moment about Tanner’s collarbone injury before she hands his cell to him.
“A call from West Dupont on Saturday morning?” he says. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“I gotta tell you something and I think you’re gonna beannoyed with my timing, but still.” Leah wasn’t wrong when she told me that it shouldn’t matter what anyone thinks. I’ve come to be okay with the fact that I fell in love with someone nearly half my age, while my whole life I thought I never could. No matter how much I tell myself that my friend’s approval is something I don’t have to have, I know I want it.
“I’ve been dating someone.”
Dean pauses. “Cadence?”
“Why’d you think it was her?” My hackles rise and I start pulling at a loose thread on my bedspread, eyeing the still closed bathroom door. The shower is still on, too.
“You told us at the bar that night, remember? You asked us if you thought it would be bad if you dated someone at the school?” Dean’s voice crawls higher and higher. “You said it was Cadence you were talking to, that you two were keeping it quiet at work.”
I scratch my head. “Yeah, I remember. Well, that didn’t work out. I did however start dating someone else from school. And I didn’t tell anyone about it because I didn’t know how serious things were until recently. Anyway, I’m bringing her to the market today and I wanted to introduce her to you and Jake and Hudson.” I scratch nervously at the back of my neck. “Well, you already know her but not as my girlfriend.”
“I know her?” Dean questions, as his line fills in with noise.
Another cautious glance to the bathroom door. “Briar Matthews.”
A pause. A long pause. I prepare for the litany of questions.Do you know how old she is? Do her parents know? Does Leah know? Are you serious?
Instead, Dean laughs. “Oh shit, no way? Briar’s great. Shestands in for my second period history class sometimes when I have to step out.”
My mouth dry, my throat drier, I croak, “Really?”
“Why’d you hide it from me? You know if you and her broke up, I would’ve kept the secret.” He says something to Clara June, away from the receiver, then turns back to our call. “That’s right. Clara June just reminded me. Riley loves Briar. I guess Briar gives it to Cadence pretty well, and Riley loves her spirit.”
I let out a sigh of relief. They don’t judge me. They had no plans to judge me. They don’t care that Briar’s younger.
I was the one that cared, and projected all my bullshit onto them. The shower turns off. I cup my hand to the receiver, and turn my back to the bathroom door. “I gotta go, but we’ll see you there in an hour or so.”
Knowing that the people I love most take no issue with Briar and I being together brings me so much relief.
There’s still one dark cloud hanging over my head.
CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE
West surprised me.
