Page 80 of When We Were Us
I take a sip of my own coffee and watch Paige spin in a circle as Tuck tries to jump up to lick her face.
He blows a long breath out through his nose. “When I was putting her to bed last night, she asked why we couldn’t stay here. Live with Mom and Pop.”
I blink over at him. “Shit.”
I know how hard my brother has worked in the last year to create a stable and loving environment for his daughter since her mother walked out. That can’t be an easy burden for anyone to carry, let alone a newly single guy who owns a bar and is away from home most weekend nights.
He tips his head back against the chair and shakes his head, letting his eyes drift closed with a sigh. “It’s not like I can just pick up and move, right? The bar is our livelihood, you know? It’s been my blood, sweat, and fucking tears for five years. Butshe is my life.” He shakes his head again. “And it kills me that I still can’t make her life easier withouther.”
I know Hudson loved Tristen, but what is a relationship when there is no give and take? No mutual respect for the other person? In some respects, it has to be easier without her. At least he knows she isn’t coming back. There is finality and closure in that, no matter how painful. Then again, until a month ago, I never would have expected Wrenley to blow back into my life and completely fuck my shit up.
“Sorry, man. That’s a shit situation.”
He lifts his head and gazes out to watch his beautiful daughter, who continues to twirl in the sunlight.
“I’ll figure something out.” He lifts his coffee mug and takes a long swallow. “Finn is going to spend a week with us in December, and we’ll fly back here together for Christmas. Between this summer trip and Finn’s visit, hopefully it’ll be ok and buy me some time to figure out what the hell I’m going to do.”
“Are you actually considering moving back?” I can’t imagine him doing that, but if it meant his daughter’s happiness, he just might.
“I don’t know. It’d be a hell of a lot easier with family around. She’s got me and Charlotte, but she just got engaged and I don’t relish the idea of looking for another nanny. It took me a good three months to find this one.”
For all the shit my brother gives me, I’ve got to give him kudos. He’s a hell of a father tothat little girl and he’d move heaven and earth for her.
Just then, Paige comes ripping up the steps, with Tuck hot on her heels.
“Daddy! Uncle Hank! You guyshaveto see this! There’s a praying mantis eating a giant bee!” she hollers as her boots clomp across the porch. She motions impatiently at us with her hands. “Hurry, before he eats it all!”
“Ok, Pip, we’re coming.” Hudson pushes to his feet, and I clap him on the back.
“You need anything, brother, all you gotta do is ask.”
He nods and then grins at me, his expression shifting from serious to amused. “Speaking of people moving back to Timber Forge, how’re things with Wren? I see you got your tongue back all right.”
I shoot him a look and shove his shoulder. “Eat a dick.”
He barks out a laugh and jogs off toward his daughter, who is crouched in the wildflowers with her magnifying glass pressed to her eye.
“Uncle Hank! Hurry! You’re going to miss it! The mantis is eating its head!”
I step up to where she’s sitting, her legs crisscrossed in the dirt, and she holds out an arm. “Not too close, guys. You’ll scare her,” she whispers.
“Her?” Hudson and I share a glance, and she rolls her eyes up at us both like we’ve completely let her down.
Never taking her eyes off the feast before her, she points her finger a little closer to the mantis, which surprisingly doesn't seem to notice. “You see her body? It has these little lines. Sometimes they're hard to see, but she’s a really nice dark green, so you can see ‘em really well.”
She looks back up at us to make sure we’re watching.
“See this mantis right here? This mantis has five segments. So that means she’s a girl. Boy mantises always have more than six. Pop-pop said he even saw one once that had eight! Isn’t that cool?”
I prop my hands on my knees and lean in, squinting. “No shit. That is pretty cool, Pipsqueak.”
She covers her mouth with a dirty hand to hide her laugh as Hudson takes a swipe at my chest with the back of his hand.
“Uncle Hank has a potty mouth, doesn’t he, Paige?”
I shoot my brother a ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’look. He shrugs, his shoulders shaking with quiet laughter.
“Do you have a swear jar, Uncle Hank?” Paige squints up at me before shielding her eyes from the sun with her little hand. Chipped, sparkly purple nail polish catches the light as she does.
