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“That sounds bad. What did you do?”
“I didn’tdoanything.” I grab a handful of nuts and pass the bag back. “There are rules.”
“What kind of rules?”
I don’t really feel like going into all the details of why Meg’s school won’t allow her to date me—it’s a lot. Besides, I don’t want Krew to hear me talk about Miss Johnson. So instead, I settle for the easy answer. “It’s complicated.” I exhale, as if that will somehow make me feel better. “It’s probably for the best. I don’t have time for dating. I’m struggling as it is with this single parenting thing. I’ve got real problems. I somehow lost all of Krew’s underwear. We had to make a stop at the store this morning to buy more. I’ve already got too much on my mind. I don’t need to add a woman to the equation.”
Paul drops a shell into the paper cup between us. “If it weren’t complicated with this woman, would you still feel the same way?”
“Yeah.” I’m trying to convince myself. “I’m over dating and trying to make a connection. It’s not worth it. I was lucky enough to fall in love once in my life. It doesn’t need to happen again.”
“I have the perfect thing to make you feel better.” His face lights up. “Game night.”
I’m envisioning a senior center full of elderly people with bingo cards in front of them.
“Game night?”
“Yes! Next Saturday night is game night with my kids. You should come. I’m bringing Anna Mae. It’s the first time my kids will meet her, and I could use some moral support.”
“Won’t Anna Mae be your moral support?”
“No, she’ll be my date.”
“I think it will be awkward if some random guy shows up to your family game night.”
“My daughters bring dates all of the time. There are always random guys there.”
“No. I don’t want to be the only one without a date. Besides, it will mess up the numbers for the games.”
“You can be one of my daughter’s dates. I have three of them.”
I shake my head emphatically. “I just told you that I’m done with dating.”
“You didn’t mean that.” He takes out his phone from his pocket and lifts his reading glasses to his eyes. “Let me text my daughters and see which one wants to be your date.”
“Paul, I really don’t want to come.”
“Nonsense.”
I can’t believe my life has come to this. I’m being set up by a seventy-year-old modern-day Romeo wearing Crocs. My head falls back, and I swipe a hand down my face, keeping it at my jaw. I rub my chin, feeling the gritty stubble against my fingers.
Paul’s phone dings as texts come in. “Brooke’s already bringing her friend, Ben,” he mutters. Another ding. “Oh, Meg’s already got a blind date that she’s bringing, but Tessa’s available.” He looks up at me. “She says she’s okay with it as long as you’re not a psycho. Are you a psycho, Tyler?”
I shake my head, still hung up on what he said. “Sorry, what are your daughters’ names? Did you say Meg?”
“Yeah, Meg. She’s my oldest daughter.”
Information starts to fall together in my mind. I glance at Marilyn’s grave and the carved-out letters,JOHNSON. I’ve seen it before, but it didn’t mean anything until this moment.
“And your last name is Johnson?”
“Yeah. Why?” His attention goes back to his texts.
I let out a surprised laugh. “No reason.”
Paul is Meg’s dad!
I can totally see it now. They have the same light hair and eyes. I don’t tell him his daughter is the woman that’s completely turned my world upside down for the last month and a half. He already knows too much, and I don’t want him telling Meg anything.
