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I smile. Ella. Cinderella. She’s been obsessed with the princess since she was old enough to make a connection between the two names.
“But Cinderella wasn’t a sleepy head like you,” I say. I glance around the bedroom at the toys scattered around. “And her room was probably cleaner.”
“The mice helped,” Ella says, her eyes finally opening a crack to peer at me.
“Well, we don’t have mice.”
“Maybe we should get some.”
I laugh. “You know real mice don’t help you clean, right? They just poop everywhere and eat your food.”
“Says you,” she grumbles.
I rub her back and lean over to kiss her head. “Come on, kiddo. Time to get up and get ready for Mimi’s house.”
She groans. “I don’t want you to go to work today, Daddy.”
The words pierce my heart and send a wave of guilt through me. “I know. But they need me today. I promise I’m not working tomorrow. And next weekend is all you and me. No work.”
She eyes me. “You pinky promise?” She holds up her tiny finger, making me grin.
“Pinky promise,” I say, linking my pinky with hers. “Now, get ready.”
She sighs dramatically as if I’m asking her to go off to war instead of to brush her teeth. “Fine,” she says. “But I want pizza for dinner.”
“Deal,” I say.
“Extra cheese?”
I eye her for a moment. “You drive a hard bargain, but okay. Extra cheese.”
She smiles at me and shakes her head. “You gotta learn to bargain better.”
I laugh. “Joke’s on you because I wanted pizza anyway. And this means I don’t have to cook. So, who’s the real winner here?”
She shrugs. “I guess we both are.”
By the time Ella has gotten dressed and I’ve tamed her wild curls into something manageable, we have just enough time for a quick breakfast before we need to be on the road. Still, I know I’m going to be pushing it to make it to the job site on time. During the week, Cole is usually home to help me with the morning routine. He even volunteers to drive Ella to school some days, which makes those mornings much easier. But I woke up to a text from him saying he wasn’t coming home last night and not to worry. Of course, he talked me into going out with him and he’s the one who ended up getting lucky. Typical.
Actually, that’s not true. Cole used to be that guy, but over the past year or so, he’s changed. He’s stopped staying out late and hooking up with random women. Which makes me wonder who he changed his mind for last night. I make a mental note to ask him about it later. Or tease him mercilessly. Or both. I pull into my parents’ driveway and grab Ella’s backpack, trying to hurry her along without making it seem like I’m hurrying her along. But she doesn’t drag her feet this morning, thankfully. My mom is standing at the front door waiting with her arms open wide for Ella’s hug. I smile at the sight.
I love how much my parents love their granddaughter. I mean, all grandparents are supposed to love their grandkids, but I know that’s not always the case. Hell, my own grandparents don’t really have much to do with Cole and me. They’d moved to south Florida after their kids had moved out and we rarely made the trip down to visit them when I was growing up. They never come to visit us in Georgia. I think they’ve met Ella twice in the eight years since she was born. And I know for a fact that my grandma didn’t approve of my fathering a baby without having a wife. I overheard her once when she was on the phone with my dad. I don’t think Cole or I missed out on anything where our grandparents are concerned. But Ella never has to feel that way about her grandparents. From the second she was born, my parents were absolutely in love with her. Can’t say I blame them. I’d been a goner from the moment I saw her.
I met Ella’s mom Meghan at a party after a football game during my sophomore year of college. We had a few hot weeks spent either in her dorm room or mine, in the library once, and several times in the back of my car. I wouldn’t call what we had a relationship, exactly. We were both in it for the sex and we both knew that going in. We always used protection, but I guess nothing is 100% effective.
When Meghan told me she was pregnant, I remember feeling like my whole world was crashing down around me. I could see the future I’d planned for and dreamed of fading away and being replaced by a completely different one. One where I was someone’s dad. A dad when I was still a kid myself? I wasn’t sure how it would work. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to do it. So, I went to my parents for advice. I didn’t know how they would react or what they would think of me. But they just hugged me. Mom cried. And Dad told me that it was time for me to stop being a kid. One way or another, I was going to have to be an adult and make adult decisions. So, when Meghan decided to have the baby, I stepped up. I promised her that I’d be the best father possible to our child, no matter what happened between the two of us.
We made it work for a while. I finished my sophomore year of college and never went back to school. Instead, I got a job working for a construction company and busted my ass to take care of my daughter. Meghan and I didn’t last long as a couple after Ella’s birth. Not that we’d had much of a relationship to start with. When she came to me and told me she wasn’t cut out to be a mom and that she didn’t want to do it anymore, I was shocked. I didn’t understand how she could look at our daughter and not feel what I felt. I couldn’t wrap my head around it. But I kept my anger to myself. It wouldn’t help anything and anyway, I didn’t want Ella to have a mom who resented her existence. So, when Meghan offered to terminate her parental rights and move back to Washington to be near her family, I agreed.
If I thought being a parent was hard before, it was nothing compared to life as a single dad. Working, diaper changes, teething, tantrums, babyproofing; it was all so hard and so foreign. Luckily, I had plenty of help from my parents and even Cole. To my surprise, my little brother stepped into the role of doting uncle with ease and enthusiasm. He came home from college every chance he could to spend time with Ella and me. When he eventually dropped out of college, I was so pissed at him. It’s still the biggest argument my brother and I have ever had. But there wasn’t any reasoning with him once he set his mind to something.
He decided that college wasn’t for him. He wanted to settle down in Peach Tree and open his own bar and restaurant. It took a few years, but he'd eventually done it with Peach Fuzz. I helped with the renovations to the old, run-down building and Cole supplied the vision for what he wanted it to be. Now, the restaurant is more successful than even he’d anticipated. I’m proud of my little brother for all that he’s accomplished.
I don’t remember when he decided to move in with me. I just remember him staying over more and more and how convenient it was to have him around all the time. I finally started to feel like I had breathing room. Being Ella’s dad had become my only identity for those early years and while I don’t regret any of the time I spent devoted to her, it was nice to have a second person in the house to take some of the responsibility from me. Now, Cole’s been living with me for almost 5 years, and I don’t know if he’s ever planning to leave. Not that I want him to. But eventually, he’s going to want his own space, or he’s going to find someone to settle down with. For now, though, I’m happy with the arrangement we have.
By the time I hug Ella and my mom goodbye, I know I need to hurry if I want to make it to the job site on time. I hate arriving after my employees get there. It sets a bad example. I want them to know I’m going to work just as hard as they do, if not harder. Showing up when they’ve already been working for half an hour doesn’t really do that. I wish I had time to stop for coffee, but I’ll definitely be late if I do that. Maybe I can text Cole and have him bring some by later. That is, if he’s crawled out of whichever bed he ended up in last night. I shake my head as I pull out onto the highway. My baby brother might have grown up, but he’s still got some of that wildness in him.
Chapter 4
