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“You can always come back for more, kiddo,” I told her with an indulgent smile. “How was school today?”
“Fine.”
Fine. It had taken weeks to even get her to stay in school for a full day, and longer than that before she had anything kind to say about school, the students or the teachers. And now we were back to fine. “Did you learn anything new today?”
She sighed. “We learn stuff every day.”
I worked really hard to hide my frustration as a father but it was a long day. “You can’t stay mad at me forever, Mariana.”
“I know but you were mean and you hurt Brenna’s feelings.”
“I know.” Getting dressed down by your seven year old kid would be a humbling experience for any man, but when combined with that admonishing stare, I felt myself wilt. “I was awful to her, Mari, I know that. I’ve been trying to find her to apologize and find some way to make it right.”
“She’s visiting her sister, Jessie May.”
I blinked that the first real news of Brenna was coming from my daughter. “How do you know?”
“Because, Dad, I made her promise that we would still be friends if you two broke up, which you did. That’s how I know!” With those parting words, Mariana pushed away from the table and her half-eaten pile of nachos and stomped her way back up the stairs, punctuating her feelings with every stomp of her little feet.
Left alone with my thoughts and my dinner, I let my misery sink in and wrap around me like a blanket because it’s no less than what I deserve.
Eventually I got up my nerves and reached for my phone, saying exactly what I should have said days ago. “I’m sorry.”
Brenna
“I’m sorry.” I rolled my eyes at the message from Grant. I’ll just bet he was sorry now, because screwing up in a small town could make for a difficult life.
“You’ll have to answer him at some point,” Jessie May said the words in a sing-song voice that brought a smile to my face.
I shook my head. “You see, Jessie, that’s the beauty of a casual relationship. It’s casual so there is no need for a big breakup scene or a post breakup talk. You can just stop reaching out to each other, stop calling and that’s it, casual thing over.” I snapped my finger. “Just like that.”
Jessie May rolled her eyes and let out the world’s most dramatic sigh. “Except you guys aren’t over and you know it. He was scared and he lashed out. Horribly, yes, but you know it wasn’t about you.”
“See Jessie May, that’s the thing, you can lash out at your husband, your best friends, your siblings because those relationships are long and deep, they can handle it. You don’t get to just lash out at some girl you’re casually hanging out and hooking up with. He doesn’t get to have it both ways. He doesn’t.”
“That’s fair,” she finally conceded. “But that doesn’t mean you guys are done. This is just one of those little hurdles on your way to happily ever after.”
I rolled my eyes and groaned. “Pregnancy hormones are turning you into a lovesick fool. Emphasis on fool.”
Jessie May held her growing baby bump and laughed. “What can I say, I love, love and I really love romance!” Her feminine giggles made it impossible to stay upset and I just rolled my eyes.
“You are ridiculous, but I love you anyway.”
“And you love Grant too. The sooner you can admit it, the better everything will be.”
I shook my head and ignored two more text messages from Grant. “Things are fine, Jessie May. Just fine.”
“So fine that you ran all the way to Louisiana to lick your wounds?”
“Yeah. Obviously. That’s what family is for, right?”
“Yep, and for giving you a hard time. It’s my god given right.” Her toothy grin was contagious and I laughed.
“Which you’ve successfully done, for days now. Thank you, Jessie.”
“My pleasure, honey.”
Two days and another half dozen text messages later, my plane landed back in Texas and I took my time navigating the huge parking lot to find my car. I was ready to be back at home, more importantly, I was ready to be back at the salon.
The one thing I sure as hell was not ready for, was to see six feet of hot, well-muscled man leaning against my car, wearing a disarming smile. “Brenna. Hi.”
“Grant.” His name came out on a snort and I shook my head as I rounded the vehicle to toss my suitcase into the trunk. “I can do it,” I insisted when he easily lifted the suitcase from my hands.
“I just want to help, Brenna.”
“Yeah, well who asked for your help? In fact, what the hell are you even doing here?”
He blinked, as if shocked by the question. “I’m here for you.”
