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“Get out of here and plan your vacation. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I nodded and stood up to walk out. Gemma had already left, and I was glad I didn’t have to run into her before leaving. Closing together had been a challenge because she snapped at me the whole time. Not like I didn’t deserve it.
When I got home, I saw Skye’s light was still on. It was the summer, so I gave her a bit of free rein, but it was still way past her bedtime.
I knocked on the door and waited for a response. I tried to respect her privacy as much as possible.
“Come in!” she called out.
I opened the door and saw her sitting up in bed, reading a book. She looked like Mom at that moment. Some days, I wished Mom had taken Skye with her. Skye barely remembered Mom, and Dad had been so absent her whole life that I was the only parent she’d ever known.
I sat on the bed. “It’s past your bedtime.”
She held up the book. “Good book.”
“Okay, but don’t stay up too late.”
“How was work?” she asked.
“Good. But I want to ask you something.”
“Yeah?”
“What if we went to the Poconos next week?”
She shook her head. “I’m going down the shore with Sophia and her family.”
Right, I had forgotten about that. Skye always spent a week in Cape May with the Parks for summer vacation. They had been doing it since she was nine. When Skye was younger and still needed a babysitter, Ryan’s sister, Christine, always helped and never let me pay her. She did it out of the kindness of her heart. I’m not sure I’d have survived single parenthood without the Parks.
“Why the Poconos?” she asked.
“Everyone’s telling me to take a vacation. Nolan’s wife, Avery, said I could use her dad’s cabin up there.”
“Fe-fe, you should go! You need a break.”
I furrowed my brow. “What do you know about that?”
Skye set her phone down and bit her lip. “I know how much you sacrificed for me. Since Mom abandoned us and Dad…well, you know, you never got to be a kid. You’ve taken care of me my whole life.”
I rubbed a hand through my beard. “Half pint, you’re my whole world. I’ll do anything for you. It’s kind of the deal.”
She shook her head. “I’m not a baby anymore. And I know you broke up with Roger because of me.”
I cringed. I had hoped she didn’t know that. Roger said I didn’t have time for him, but we had other issues too.
I hated that I had to ‘come out’ to straight people, but it didn’t matter to me who knew I was bi. Roger wasn’t out. He was too afraid to tell his uptight WASPy family he had a boyfriend, and he wanted to hide our relationship. My dad wasn’t a bad guy, he was losing a battle with addiction, and I sympathized with his struggles. When I told him I liked men, women, and gender non-conforming people, he said, ‘Who fucking cares? Love whomever you want, and don’t let other people tell you it’s wrong.’ He might have been a shitty dad, but at least he wasn’t a homophobe.
“That’s between me and Roger. Nothing to do with you. Okay, half pint?”
She nodded. “Okay, but you should still take a vacation.”
I smirked at her. “Okay, boss lady, I’ll do that.”
She laughed. “I’m not the boss. You are!”
I laughed with her and ruffled her hair. “Okay, kiddo. If I’m the boss, get to bed.”
“Love you, butthead,” she teased and hugged me.
I hugged her back. “I love you too, fart breath.”
I got up from the bed and shut the door behind me before walking into my room. I took a quick shower, and after getting out, I checked my email to see what was in my queue for my freelance design work.
When I started working at the brewery, Declan noticed me drawing on a break and asked me if I’d ever consider redesigning the beer labels. They had outsourced someone to do it when they first opened and hadn’t been happy with the results. I designed all my tattoos and was a self-taught graphic designer, so I never considered it something I could do for a paycheck. Declan and Nolan believed in me and gave me the freedom to work on my art. They had even encouraged me when I told them I was thinking about trying to get other work for it. Declan, being the jack-of-all-trades he was, coded my website for me, and told me I could use my brewery designs to start my portfolio. I’d done some logos for softball teams, authors, and a bunch of bars. I even did my first book cover last year.
I had one job in my queue that I was about to finish up, but I had nothing else lined up. Unless Nolan was working on adding more beers, but that wasn’t likely until the fall.
Avery said the cabin had internet, so if I did have jobs come up while I was away, I could work on them. Just in case, I changed my availability on my website to closed and started researching the area where the cabin was.
It would be nice to get away for a while. I could do solo hiking and relax there. Maybe take my paints and work on my art for fun instead of a paycheck. Skye was safe with the Parks down the shore. Everything would be okay while I was gone. Maybe I could actually enjoy myself for once.
