Page 34 of A Daddy to Love

“Yes, Daddy, I’m sure. But I have an account with them and everything.” His voice trailed off again like he didn’t want to say more.

Secrets. My boy had secrets. I just needed to be patient.

13

Kairo

I waved at Truce who stood in his front doorway as I got into the Uber. He waved back.

Everything had gone right after I finally made it to his house last night. At least for me. He behaved like the daddy I’d always wanted. I wished I could have touched him, though, and given him the pleasure in return for what he gave me.

I had really badly wanted him to drive me home. But I wasn’t ready to show him what home was for me. Just thinking about telling him gave me chills. Too many what-ifs. I needed to wait.

That night, when we finally met for dinner, I wasn’t late. And I was hungry.

He greeted me with a hug and a small kiss to my forehead. It was as if we’d never parted.

A candle burned in a gold glass jar in the center of the table. The room was all flicker and shadow. Truce pointed out dishes on the menu, learning my preferences as I learned his. It was all very romantic. When it came time for the check, he grabbed it.

“I can pay,” I said.

“Daddies pay,” came the answer.

For the first time, a pang of guilt stabbed because I wasn’t being truthful about my living situation. I didn’t need him spending money on me. But I couldn’t refute him saying daddies pay. He wanted to pay. And he did seem to have a nice job.

I wanted to be taken care of. I’d always dreamed of it. Having someone feed my little self was like a deep longing. But until now, that had never included a financial aspect.

Afterward, I followed Truce home. I was driving my own car this time. He raised an eyebrow at it, like he had the first night we’d talked at the bar and he’d walked me out, but he said nothing.

I was glad about him keeping quiet. If he asked about it, what would I say? More lies? If I told him Grandfather had given it to me it would have been half the truth. He hadn’t given it as a specific gift, but his money had bought it. I’d picked out the car I wanted after all the money became mine.

But the house, well, I considered that a gift. And everything in it. And the people who helped care for it. And care for me. I had everything. Except a daddy. Maybe I was a brat for wanting that sort of care more than the rest. I was, after all, the luckiest boy in the world. Only I didn’t feel that way when Grandfather died. I’d loved him. And as I spent the next years in lonely grief, it all seemed pretty unlucky to me.

Until Truce.

We’d just met but I already felt like I knew him. His attention. His caring. The details of his home that were comforting and warm.

We parked in his driveway side by side. That was when I realized his little home had no garage. There was an awning on one side of the house that he parked under.

As we approached the porch, I said, “That’s nice to have shade on your car.”

“It’s not a fancy carport but it works.”

“Carport?”

He looked down at me, his face scrunched. “That’s what it’s called. You didn’t know that?”

We didn’t have carports and none of my rich friends from school did, either. Not wanting to admit I truly did not know about carports, I quickly changed the subject.

I pointed upward. “Look, Daddy. The moon. Isn’t it pretty?”

He followed my gaze. “It’s almost full.”

“It’s a September moon. I wrote a poem for it last year.”

“You write poems?”

I nodded. “In a diary. Like Dear September type poems. Or Dear Saturday. Dear Clouds in the Sky. That sort of thing. I paint, too. Sometimes with my fingers.” I giggled.