Page 18 of His for the Holiday

9

HAWK

On Sunday morning, I was eating breakfast and goofing off with my nephews when Emery and Dad walked in. My sister sat down with us, but before she’d even poured cereal into her bowl, my dad reached for his jacket.

“I need to get to the port,” he declared as he slid his arms into his sleeves. “Has anyone seen my hat?”

“On the stand by the door, Daddy,” Emery said, both looking and sounding exhausted.

When she made to get up, I handed over the box of cereal and stood up myself. “I’ll go. Eat something.”

Flashing me a small but grateful smile, she took the box and left me to go talk to our dad, who really didn’t need to go to work. I caught up to him at the front door as he was pulling on a woolen cap.

“Why do you need to go to the port, Dad? You just got out of the hospital again this morning and it’s pretty cold out today. It’s probably best to just stay home. Rest up.”

Dad scoffed. “I gotta pay the hospital bills somehow, boy. I’ve got a boat going out to guide a barge in early tomorrow morning and I need to make sure it all goes smoothly.”

“You’re in no shape to pilot the tug, Dad. You failed your last physical. I saw the papers in your office.”

His features dropped into a deep scowl as he glared at me. “You shouldn’t have been in my office, and someone has to do it, Hawk. There is no one else, so it’s going to have to be me.”

“What about one of your guys?”

Dad shook his head as he buttoned up his jacket. “I can’t keep up with payroll. Especially not after seeing that useless specialist and the other doctor yesterday in just one week. It’s just going to have to be me today.”

With that, he grabbed the door handle, opened it, and walked out. Sliding his shaking hands into his jacket pockets, he walked toward the port. My eyebrows shot up when I realized he actually meant to do this.

He was genuinely going down to the little commercial office building he’d had since we’d moved into town. He genuinely intended on piloting the damn tug the following day. Anyone with a lick of sense would take it easy after health issues like his, but the old man’s pride kept him chugging away like one of the old tugboats he loved.

Finally seeing what Emery had been dealing with, I blew out a heavy breath and wracked my mind for an alternative option. When I got back into the dining room, I glanced at the boys’ bowls and saw they were all empty, so I didn’t feel too bad about what I was about to do.

“Hey, guys,” I said. “Do you mind going to play upstairs for a bit? I’d like to have a quick chat with your mommy. Boring adult stuff.”

Logan got up first and gave me a high five as he strode past me on his way out of the room. “Good luck, dude.”

I laughed. “I don’t need luck, but thanks.”

“Hey, watch who you’re speaking about that way,” Emery called out to him, but the usual sharp edge in her tone when she was disciplining them wasn’t there. Frankly, I had a feeling she just didn’t have the energy to lay into him right now.

Duncan and Sawyer followed their brother out of the room, and my sister arched a questioning eyebrow at me. “What’s up? If you’ve got any problems, today is not the day to expect me to help you with them.”

“Not my problems,” I assured her. “I just need to talk to you about Dad.”

To my surprise, she gave her head a firm shake. “Can we please not talk about that right now? I’ve called my babysitter and I’m going out tonight. I just want to enjoy at least one night of the festival before it’s over and I desperately need that night to be tonight.”

I frowned. “A babysitter? What am I, chopped liver?”

She finally managed a soft smile. “No, but I can’t keep expecting you to watch them. Besides, they love Susie and she’s a high-schooler who needs the money. She lives nearby too, so it’s never a problem for her to come over.”

“Right,” I said.

She went back to her cereal and ate it all, but it kind of looked like she might as well have been eating cardboard for all the enjoyment she was getting out of it.

When she was done, she made to clean up but I stopped her. “I’ll do it. Seriously, you don’t have to do everything by yourself. I’m starting to understand how things have been going around here, and I want to help however I can.”

Her gaze held mine for a moment. “Thanks, Hawk. Seriously. It’s been a lot, dealing with all this on my own. Just having you here is a huge relief, but you’ve also been helping out plenty. And don’t worry. I’ll find more stuff for you to do.”

I chuckled and nodded. “Just say the word.”