Page 51 of Mountain Daddy
He didn’t need to tell me he owned the motel we met in. And I didn’t need to tell him I was actually only going twenty minutes away rather thanpassing through.
But I also don’t need to let him off the hook quite so easily.
My dad hums his oblivious agreement. “Food’s real good too. We’ll have to go some night.”
“That’d be fun.” My tone is just sarcastic enough for Luther to stifle a reaction, but Dad doesn’t notice.
“Come to think of it.” Dad snaps his fingers. “Ashley will be back in, what, just a couple weeks?”
Luther replies with a slow nod.
My eyes narrow. “Who’s Ashley?”
If this motherfucker just made me an accomplice to adultery, I’m going to ruin him.
Luther inhales, his shoulders straightening as he prepares to answer. “My daughter.”
Oh.
My sudden flash of anger dissipates.
Not a cheater. Just single dad vibes… I dig it.
“You’ll like her,” Dad says with confidence. “She’s about your age.”
I choke again.
Chapter 26
Luther
I’m goingto kill Joe.
He has no idea that he’s doing it, but each sentence that falls out of his mouth digs my grave just a little bit deeper.
“Ashley is six years younger than Kendra,” I say it like it’s a fact I already knew. But that’s only because I did the math when Kendra told me her age last weekend.
“Is she really?” Joe cocks his head as he thinks it through.
“Practically a decade.” I pretend to joke, but I do believe in rounding up.
And fuck if I didn’t wish I had told Kendra about Ashley myself. In private.
It’s not a big deal. At least, I hope it isn’t to Kendra.
I had a kid twenty-six years ago, just before I turned thirty. That kid is an adult now, who lives a few hours away. Her mom and I split up before she was even one, and Ashley knows that I date.
When I look at Kendra, she’s biting her lip… trying not to laugh.
Relief chases away my anxiety.
This fucking brat.
Chapter 27
Kendra
“A kid. A restaurant. A motel.”I lift my mug and cradle it in my hands.
