Page 50 of The Sweet Part
“I think you need to leave now,” I say, walking to the door.
“Hire a repairman. I’ll send you some recommendations. I work in real estate. I know everyone, which I imagine would be important to someone opening an inn. I could be a real help to you.”
I open the door. “I’ll be sure to tell Mason you were here.”
“Oh, no need for that. Really. Good luck with the inn!” She dashes out the door.
I shut the door and lean back against it with a sigh. Suddenly I realize it’s awfully quiet upstairs. Quiet’s never good where Sophie’s concerned. I take the stairs at a run.
* * *
Mason
My jaw drops. “You did what?” I’m on the phone with Mom, who crossed the line big time.
“I had a talk with her, woman to woman,” Mom says. “It had to be done.”
“No, itdidn’thave to be done.”
“Sophie wants a dad like I always wanted a mom.”
“Which is why May cut me loose. I can’t believe you went to her house. Too far!”
“First a wedding, then a six-year-old’s birthday party, and your cousins say you’re there a lot for dinner and repairing stuff for her. What am I supposed to think? She’s reeling you in, and you don’t even know it. You’re not ready for that scene. Remember when Christina thought she was pregnant? You were in panic mode.”
“Because I was about to end it when that happened. I didn’t want to be tied to Christina for the rest of my life.” I exhale sharply. “You didn’t have to go over there. What did she say when you talked to her? Was she surprised to see you?”
“I imagine she was surprised. She said she ended it, and if you’d told me that, none of this would’ve happened.”
“Don’t put this on me.”
“I’m sorry. I was worried. And when I heard Sophie talk about how much she wanted a daddy, I knew that feeling. It’s hard to bear that absence in your life.”
Mom’s mom bailed on her when she was one; Dad’s mom died young from a drug overdose. Somewhere deep inside, Mom still has a little girl who wants a mother.
“Mason, Sophie’s birthday wish was for you to be her daddy. Only move forward with May if you’re going to commit. I meanmarriedcommit. Otherwise, it’s not fair to either of them.”
I still. That’s a big deal for a kid to use her birthday wish on me. If Sophie never knew about us, I would steal every moment I could with May. But Sophie does know, and now her hopes are tied to me.
“I get it,” I say. “I won’t be seeing May again anyway.”Except for the repairs next week.
“I like Sophie. She reminds me of myself at that age. High energy, impulsive, loud.”
“But sweet, too, unlike you.”
“All little kids are sweet. She’ll grow out of that, and that’s not a bad thing.”
May’s sweet too. Fun and kind and sexy. I keep that to myself. I can think whatever I want about May as long as I don’t act on it.
“I’m hanging up now,” I say.
“Bye.”
I stand there for a moment, thinking about May. She cut things off before we got in deep enough to even consider a future. I guess with a single mom you always need to consider the future.
Am I ready to be a family man? That always seemed like something for older, settled-down guys. A daughter? I don’t know how to do girl hair or girl talk or girl clothes. Fairies and stuffed animal collections are foreign territory to me. Though I see the appeal of Hornbow the unicorn. She can fly and do magic.
No. I enjoy my freedom. I come and go as I please, answer to no one (except my nosy family), and make as much of a mess as I feel like at home.
