Page 8 of Daddy’s Little Secret

“Yes, ma’am?”

“You do right by my grandson, you hear me?”

“Esther, that is a promise I can make. Trey comes first for me.” She gave me a look that clearly showed her doubt, and I didn’t blame her one bit. “Life threw me a lot of balls to juggle at once, and the one I dropped, I’ll spend the rest of my days making it up to.”

“I’m gonna hold you to it.”

“Hopefully from the cabin next door.” I gave her a cheeky wink. Chuck and I had already drawn up the plans and run them by Trey to see if we’d missed anything. Basically, a mirror image of Chuck’s mom’s but with the layout flipped.

“You’re serious about that?”

“Very.”

“Trey mentioned it, but I wasn’t sure if it was a real possibility, or my grandson’s wishful thinking.”

“Real and in design. All you need to do is say yes and the building begins.” I wanted this for my angel. It was important to him to have her nearby. Family was everything to us, and with her up there, she’d see me keep my word to always put Trey first. “You can stay with us while it’s being built if you’d like. We have an extra room.” Samian could stay in one of the other cabins if he decided to come up for the summer.

“Know a good real estate agent?”

I couldn’t help myself. I picked her up and swung her around. “You have no idea how happy you just made us, Esther.”

“What are you doing to my grandmother?” Trey asked as he came running up to us. “Put her down.”

“Esther, I’ll let you tell Trey the good news while I make a couple of calls for you.” I walked out toward the box truck we were using for the move to give them a few minutes alone, though Trey’s happy squeal said it all.

“Hey, Chuck.” They’d just left after helping me haul off the last load.

“Everything okay? Need us to turn around?”

“No, nothing like that, and thanks again for your help.”

“No worries. Whatcha need?”

“Looks like Esther’s on board with moving up north. She asked for a good agent. I know you’ve got a few contacts. Can you shoot one over to me?”

“You bet, and I’m glad to hear that. As soon as we get home, I’ll send it. Let us know when you get to the cabins tomorrow.”

“Will do. Thanks, Chuck.” The balls were in motion and working in our favor. Hopefully, it stayed that way. For far too many years it had felt like for every step forward, life shoved us back ten. Wouldn’t it be great if whatever deity was in charge quit riding us like a prized stallion?

Dear aliens, if you can hear me, I swear, our life isn’t exciting enough for your reality show. So, if you could show a man some love, please change the channel. That thought alone broadened my smile. I mean, could you imagine a bunch of aliens up in space, a bucket of whatever their equivalent of popcorn was watching Alien Reality TV? Likely making bets on what the stupid humans would do next.

Goddess above, that made more sense with each passing day…

The memories of all the hard-fought days our grandmother and I shared when she was alive came from this very apartment we were saying goodbye to. From how we were paying for groceries to our biggest concern—that our parents would one day show up and try to take Tae and Samian away from us. Then Grandma passed away and all that fear became even more real and landed on my shoulders. Never once had I regretted taking care of my brothers. The life we had wasn’t all shopping trips and video games, but I’d made sure they had everything they’d needed. Clean clothes, three square meals a day, and help with their homework.

None of which our parents had ever provided. Chuck always threw extra work my way when he knew we were struggling. Never met a better man than him. No matter how you looked at it, removing us from that situation in the broken-down trailer was a blessing.

Now that Tae and Samian were both legal adults, the fear was gone, replaced by another, that random siblings they may’ve had after we were taken away were out there looking for us. I hoped like hell there weren’t more. No one deserved to live the fucked-up childhood the three of us had somehow survived.

“Daddy!” Trey called out, not caring who heard. It warmed my heart to see that brilliant smile on his face as he wrapped his arms around my waist. “Grandma’s moving with us!” Esther stood nearby, watching our interaction.

“Yes, my angel, it’s wonderful.” I hugged him tight and gave him a kiss. “Esther, I’ll have a number for an agent to you in a few minutes. When you’re ready to start packing and move, we’ll take care of that for you too.”

“Better watch it or you’re gonna have a spoiled old lady on your hands.” I adored this woman and her snark.

“I look forward to it, my queen.” I bowed.

Esther rolled her eyes. “Alright, smartass, it’s time for this old lady to head home. Looks like I’ve got a lot of crap to go through.” She gave us each a hug. “Let me know when you get to the new place tomorrow, please.”