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“You were late,” Ronnie, the middle brother, says.
“And?”
“You’re never late,” Peter says. “Even when you’ve pulled an all-nighter.”
“Why were you late?” Ronnie asks.
I shrug. “Overslept.”
“Are you sick?” Peter asks, concern actually coloring his tone.
“No. I’m not sick. I was late. There’s nothing more to it than that. Can we work now?”
Ronnie laughs. “There’s definitely nothing wrong with him.”
I’m able to work in peace for a few hours. This place started out being where my dad worked and where he dragged me and my brothers to, so he could teach us about cars. After a while, it evolved into a place where I could escape from whatever was going on in my life. I could work with my hands and focus on something else for hours on end. If I didn’t want to escape, but wanted to talk about a problem, I could always find my dad either here or in our garage at home. Some people go to the beach, the mountains, a library, or elsewhere for their happy place. This is mine.
“Hey, Dad.”
I glance up from my lunch as Kayla walks into my office. “Hey. I didn’t know you were coming,” I say as I stand to hug her once she walks over to me.
“Decided last minute to come by and see you.” She sits in the chair on the other side of my desk.
I went with chicken tenders and fries for lunch. If I’d known she was coming, I would’ve gotten her something when I went out. I slide my meal closer to her. “Eat some if you want. You look tired.”
Kayla shrugs. “Still adjusting to working and keeping up with school.” She recently moved out to live with her boyfriend, which required her to get a job and pay her own bills. She tutors others at the university and is a housekeeper for some of the wives of Carolina Rebels hockey players. As far as I know, she makes enough doing that to sustain herself. “You look tired, too.”
“Don’t start, little girl.” My daughter worries entirely too much over my well-being, especially when I’m perfectly fine.
“But Dad, if you keep on like this, it’ll catch up to you and it won’t be good! You can’t work late or get here early and work yourself to death. Don’t you want to be around for your grandchildren?”
I stare at her for a moment. “Are you pregnant? I don’t like the jackass enough for you to be pregnant yet.” I do like her boyfriend, Logan, but it doesn’t stop me from calling him a jackass every now and then.
“No!” She looks horrified, so I’m satisfied with her answer. “I’m just saying, one day, you’ll have grandchildren and I want you to be around for that, not have an early heart attack.”
“Kayla, I’ve had enough. I didn’t even come into work on time today.”
“It’s true,” Ronnie chimes in as he walks past my office, clearly hearing our discussion.
Kayla frowns. “Are you sick?”
I sigh. “No. Are you going to spend my lunch battering me? That can’t be why you’re here.”
“It’s not. I missed you and I have an idea for your birthday.” She leans forward and steals one of my fries. “Let’s go on a cruise.” I level a stare at her. This is another one of her tactics to get me away
from work. “Don’t look at me like that, Dad. This is a big birthday and you should do something to celebrate. You approve of cruises. It’s a no cell phone, no internet vacation.” That’s definitely a perk. “We had tons of fun before. So, what do you think?” She grabs a chicken tender.
“I’m assuming you want Logan to come?” I ask. I push the food closer to her. I’ll grab something from the vending machine later or go out and buy something. She can have the rest.
“If he can get the time off and if it’s okay with you.”
“Where do you want to go?” A cruise does sound nice and I usually try to take at least one vacation a year with my kids.
“I don’t know yet. I was waiting to see if you wanted to go first.”
“Pick a destination with your brother and get back to me.”
Her eyes light up with excitement. “We can go? Logan too?”
