Page 61 of Hello Handsome
“All done,” she said, putting the hair spray back on the counter. Then I turned to look at her, my hair and makeup on full display. “What do you think?” I asked.
“Beautiful,” she said.
“Thank you.” I smiled at my daughter, holding her cheeks in my hands. “Now if I could get the baby skin you have. You have no pores!”
She batted my hands away and laughed. “You can’t have my skin. I need it.”
“Are you sure?” I countered and then the bell rang. “Looks like he’s here.”
“Want me to stay in the bedroom?” she offered.
But I shook my head. “Of course not. I’m sure he’d love to meet you.” In fact, this would be a great test of our relationship. I wanted to date someone who was interested in the things and people I was interested in. And Isa had a magnetic way to her that drew people in. She and Jameson would be fast friends.
I went to the front door to answer, excited to show Jameson this part of my life that was so important.
Isa moved her things out of the living room while I swung the door open. Jameson was waiting in a pair of jeans, a maroon button-down, and leather sneakers that were boot-adjacent.
He smiled at me and leaned in for a kiss. “You look gorgeous,” he said.
I smiled up at him. “Thank you. Come in?”
Looking excited, he followed after me. I quickly said, “There’s someone I want you to meet.” At that moment, Isa came into the room, and I pictured meeting her for the first time.
Even in shorts and a T-shirt, she was gorgeous. She smiled brightly at him, saying, “Hi, I’m Isa.”
“Jameson, this is my daughter, Isabella.”
An emotion I couldn’t quite place crossed over his face before being replaced with surprise. “Your daughter? She lookslike your sister.” He looked between the two of us, doing a doubletake.
Isa and I giggled at each other. We’d gotten the comment a lot in the last few years since I was so young when I had her.
Isa rested her head on my shoulder for a moment and said, “I do have a beautiful mama.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Jameson said, then he turned to me. “Shall we?”
My eyebrows drew together. “We can have some tea or something, give us a chance to visit.”
Jameson frowned, looking over his shoulder toward the door. “Actually, I was wanting to get on the road. I’ll wait in the truck?”
He turned and walked outside before I had a chance to reply. Once the door shut, I gave Isa a worried look. But she gave me an encouraging smile, saying, “Go have fun, Mom. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Okay… okay,” I said, even as an unsettled feeling weighed down my stomach. I gave her a hug and went to get my purse from the hook by the door. However, every step I took away from my daughter and toward Jameson feltwrong.
If this was a test, he’d failed it. In fact, he hadn’t even written his name on the paper to be graded.
How could a romantic partner meet Isa, my beautiful daughter, one of the most important people in the world to me, and not want to share a cup of tea at the minimum? I didn’t understand.
There had to be a reason, right? Like he was gassy and didn’t want to embarrass himself or maybe there was a negative history with girlfriends’ daughters I didn’t know about.
But I had to know.
So instead of walking to the passenger side of the pickup like I usually did, I went to Jameson’s side and opened the door. Heglanced up from his phone, looking surprised to see me. “Wrong side, babe,” he said as his lips eased into a teasing smile.
Even with years of practice, I couldn’t fake a smile. I felt vulnerable, knowing I was serving myself up on a platter to be disappointed as I asked, “Why didn’t you want to talk with my daughter?”
Jameson set his phone in the cupholder and faced me again, seeming confused. “I’m going out with you, not her. I’m excited to try this restaurant.”
My stomach sank, like a water balloon hitting the sidewalk just before bursting. He was supposed to want to know her becauseIloved her. And I didn’t want to train a grown man to show interest in the people who mattered most to me.
