Page 136 of Honeymoon Phase
“Oh, you can count on it, wife. Just let me know whenever I need to fulfill my husbandly duties.”
“You were doing a pretty good job of it the last couple of weeks, so just... more of that.”
“Done.”
I giggle and sigh, realizing the future isn’t all that scary anymore because we’ve lived it together already. It’s just going to be more of what we already know works, except this time I get to tell him I love him anytime I want.
“Mind if I cut in?” a deep voice interrupts our dance, and Luke and I turn to see my father standing there in all his tall, mustache-wearing, overbearing glory.
Luke smiles and glances down at me for approval and I nod before he holds my hand out to my dad and respectfully steps away, shooting me an encouraging wink as he goes.
My dad smells like that familiar scent in the bathroom after he’d shower growing up. Clean bar soap and shaving cream. It’scomforting in an odd way. As dysfunctional as he is as a father, I still love him. He’s my dad.
“Nice to see you looking happy, kiddo,” he rumbles, looking around the dance floor. “Hoping when I tell you I just made a call and turned down the offer from the Whitakers, it’ll make you even more happy.”
My lips part as I look up at him in shock. “Seriously?”
He nods, looking somber. “They were a bit too fancy to take over the yard. Bullhead would have been so uncomfortable.”
“Oh well, we can’t have Bullhead being uncomfortable.” I glance over where Bullhead is sitting at a table with Chuck and some yard guys and there are piles of beer cans stacked up all around them.
Dad harrumphs. “Really smart of you to line up sober drivers for everyone tonight.”
I shrug and smile. “I’m a smart girl, Dad.”
He nods and exhales heavily. “I know that, Ads.” He tilts his head and looks down at me. “Which is why I’m going to let you take over the yard, on one condition.”
“If you tell me there’s another stipulation in this trust that says I need to give you a certain number of grandchildren, I am going to scream.”
His head jerks back. “That’s not in the will, but it’s maybe not a bad idea to add something—”
“Dad!” I exclaim, ready to pounce on him, but his face twists up into a devilish grin.
“I’m messing with you, Addie May.” He sighs, the crinkles in his eyes appearing thoughtful. “I just want you to promise that if the yard gets to be too much, you bring Chuck up to manage more of it. Even if it means you take a pay cut.”
“I don’t care about the money, Dad.”
“I know but I just need to hear you say it.”
I stare up at him with a serious expression. “I promise that if it starts to become too much, I will ask for help.”
He offers me a wobbly smile. “Chuck says you run it better than I ever did anyhow.”
“Obviously,” I snort, and my dad just scowls down at me.
His gaze turns to find Luke, who’s now dancing with his mom. “I guess he isn’t the worst guy you could have picked.”
“I’m afraid he’s a keeper.”And I fear he will make an excellent father if we decide that’s what we want someday.
My dad eyes me warily. “I take it those vows mean you will be keeping him, then? That was all a fact?”
“It was a fact.”
He nods. “Aaron would have liked him too, I think.”
My eyes sting with that and I feel myself sniffing. “Hey, Dad. Would you... maybe want to bring some of these wedding flowers to the cemetery with me tomorrow?”
His lips turn down as he nods. “I could do that, kid.”
