Page 11 of Mr. B

“Either eat it or walk away.”

Frank contemplated the bowl again. It held about ten pieces of cat food that hadn’t soaked up broth. The cat walked away from it and lay down on the rug in front of the sink with a grunt.

The plan for the day was to mow the front lawn, but Wes hadn’t yet found the motivation to get outside and follow through. As he was considering a second cup of coffee, someone knocked on the door. Frank, who was also a coward, jumped up and ran into the laundry room.

Wes stood and went to the living room. He was surprised to find Bailey on the other side of it. “Bailey?”

“Hi, Mr. B.”

“You really shouldn’t be here at my house.”

“I’m sorry.” She often wore a hoodie, no matter the temperature, and she tugged on the ends of her sleeves, pulling them over her hands. “I have to talk to you about something.”

“Come see me in my office tomorrow.”

“This isn’t really a school thing.”

Wes had students teepee his house, leave Christmas gifts, and shovel snow from his sidewalk. But he’d never had one come to the door with a problem.

“Um…still.” He glanced at the neighbor’s house, then looked at the empty street.

“Please. I just have a question, then I’ll leave.”

Wes stepped through the door and closed it behind him. He’d paid more attention to Bailey than he should’ve when she started high school four years ago, but she was Cassandra’s daughter, and he couldn’t help himself. Bailey was an artist and a musician. She was shy and had only a couple of friends. She looked a lot like her mother, but young Cassandra was adventurous and outgoing.

“What is it?”

Bailey looked at the ground for a moment as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other a couple of times. Then she looked up at him. “Are you my father?”

Pretty much the last thing he expected her to ask him. “No. Why would you think that?”

She tugged at her sleeves again and twisted them in her hands. “Mom… she told me about… you guys dating. Ew. And that she was cheating on both you and Dad. Double ew. I can’t believe she did that.”

“O…kay.”

“And it’s no secret that I was born seven months after she and Dad got married.”

“I wasn’t aware, but I still don’t…”

“If you and she were…you know, right before her wedding…” She covered her face with her hands. “So gross.”

“Bailey. Your mother and I broke up six months before she got married. Nick is your father. There is no doubt about that.”

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

Wes folded his arms across his chest. “Why do you doubt that Nick is your father? Is there something going on aside from what your mother told you about me? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She shrugged. “We’re just so different. He’s…”

Boring, pretentious, aggressively ambitious. “Nothing like you?”

“Yes.”

Wes decided to tell the girl what he thought she wanted to hear. “Bailey. I don’t know you well, but from what I do know, you’re a lot like your mother.”