Page 9 of Three Pucking Words
Puck’s tail wags as Gemma approaches him, scratching his sides and giggling when he licks her face.
“What is his job?” Gemma asks Honor, paying attention to only Puck. “Does he get paid a lot?”
I almost scold her for asking, but Honor answers her without hesitation. “He’s an epilepsy dog trained to detect seizures. Puck can sense when I’m about to have an episode, alert me, and respond to ensure I don’t get hurt. He can even call for help by pressing a button. Pretty cool, huh?”
Even though Gemma has no idea what any of that means, she nods. “I like Puck.”
I study Honor as she watches my daughter. There’s a softness to her that Coach definitely lacks. She must get that from her mother, who I’m starting to doubt is Sylvia because they look nothing alike. Other than her eyes, I barely see Coach in her features.
She catches me staring, raising one of her eyebrows in silent inquiry. My gut tightens, and I try placing the feeling with no luck.
It’s Gemma who breaks the silence. “Can we get a dog, Daddy?”
Honor laughs quietly to herself as I scratch the column of my throat. “Dogs are a lot of work, Cookie Monster. My schedule would make it hard to train one.”
“Grandpa Joe said we could get a dog.”
My cheek twitches. I’m sure he did. I can’t blame the guy for wanting to get Gemma whatever she wants. She’s a hard kid to say no to.
“We’ll talk about it later” is all I tell her.
Honor gestures toward the aquarium. “Ready to go in? I’m sweating in places I don’t want to sweat in. If I knew how hot it’d be, I would have worn something cooler.”
It’s already hard not staring at her legs, so I’m glad she didn’t opt for a dress or something more revealing.
I grab ahold of Gemma’s hand and nod toward the entrance. “Let’s go. I have the tickets on my phone.”
“You didn’t have to do that,” she tries. “I could have gotten my—”
“I know, but it’s my treat. Your dad said you just moved back into the area, and this is your favorite place.”
Her nose scrunches as we walk side by side into the building. The air conditioning blows her hair off her shoulders, revealing a little tattoo peeking out from the neckline. I don’t know why, but I have a sudden urge to see what it is.
“This was my favorite place when I was, like, ten,” she replies, looking around. “Doesn’t look like it’s changed much.”
Internally sighing, I stop in the short line of people getting their tickets scanned. I don’t know what to say, or why I’m even here. Especially if this isn’t somewhere Honor wants to be. “Well, it’s one of Gemma’s favorite places. I know she’ll be happy to look around.”
We’re quiet for what feels like forever as we move up in line. After we get the QR codes scanned on my phone, Gemma bounces up and down as she leads us to the first exhibit.
“…and there are seahorses and coral and fish and clams and shells!” she tells us, pointing at all the different displays like a rabbit on speed.
As she presses her face against one of the glass cases that have coral lit up in rainbow colors, I turn to Honor. “You don’t have to be here if you don’t want to be. I can tell your dad that you came, had a great time, and it was a successful day. I’m not going to force you to spend time with me and my daughter.”
The offer makes her nibble her bottom lip in contemplation. Just when I think she’s going to tell me she’ll stay, she pulls her phone out and types something on the screen.
When she’s done, she looks up at me with a big smile on her face that seems forced. “I really appreciate that, actually. I’ve got somewhere I need to be. I’m sure my dad will be ecstatic to know I had a good time with you guys. I’ll see you around!”
In a blink of an eye, she and Puck are gone.
I shake my head slowly, wondering what the hell just happened as she disappears.
Gemma turns around. “Where’s Puck? I want to show him the seashells.”
Rubbing the back of my neck, I come up with a lame excuse. “He and Honor had to go run an errand they forgot about.”
I wince at how bad the line is, but Gemma doesn’t seem to notice. Instead, she takes my hand and asks, “So can we get a dog?”
CHAPTER TWO
