AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Well, it’s not so much that it bothers me, as…” She bit her lip, not sure if she should go further. It wasn’t Billy’s fault that her father was a handful. He was just being thoughtful.
“Go on. I want to know.”
“Okay then. It’s my father. He asked me to stay away for a while, and it’s given me time to think about a lot of things. I spent my whole childhood dancing around his moods, trying not to annoy him while he was creating his next masterpiece. Then he’d surface and either be wonderful or head off to Deuces for a drink. Even now, he treats me like a…a kitten. Cute enough, but not especially important.”
She whooshed out a long breath. She’d never dared to say any of that to her father, and sharing it with Billy unnerved her. Dancing around people’s feelings was still her default.
Billy went quiet for a long moment. “I’m sorry. Obviously, he’s dead wrong. You are important, and you’re not a kitten. You’re more of a…”
She waited, bracing herself for some other annoying animal comparison. Mama bear, because of the boys? Porcupine, because she could send out barbs when she felt threatened?
“Phoenix,” he finally said.
“Phoenix? Rising from the ashes of a burned-down marriage?” She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. It was more complimentary than “kitten,” but it still defined her in relationship to her marriage.
“Not just that. Everything. The boys. And you built this great career for yourself out of your skill and talent. Remember when you were sure you’d be working at the donut shop when you were eighty?”
“That might have been wishful thinking,” she murmured.
He laughed. “See? You always managed to hang on to your sense of humor even in chaos. Especially in chaos.”
With her unconventional childhood, she’d learned that skill early. “We’ll see how it goes when we get to Archie’s.” Up ahead, she could see the opening in the trees where the driveway to Deuces began.
“One more thing,” Billy said as he turned down the driveway. “I hope you never dance around me like you did with your father. Whatever it is you need to say to me, you can always say it.”
She bit her lip, letting that sink in. “Communication, right?”
“Right.” They bumped down the gravel driveway to the roadhouse. “Listen, if you want me to drop you off so you can handle it on your own, I will. I can even leave you the truck. I’ll hitch a ride back.”
Her breath caught. Billy had really heard her complaint, and he wanted to accommodate her. This was why they worked so well as exes, she reminded herself.
“Thank you, but there’s no need for that. In this situation, the more the merrier. That sounds bad. It’s not going to be merry.”
“Jay-Z’s lyrics are pretty powerful,” he agreed, deadpan.
She made a face at him as they pulled up outside the bar. Scanning the parking lot, she spotted the fat-tired bike her father rode in all weather. He refused to burn any more hydrocarbons than necessary, which, among other things, meant that her childhood had been on the chilly side.
The bike was fitted with two panniers so he could do his shopping. When he needed bigger items, he attached a light aluminum trailer to the bike.
For a man in his early sixties, he was extremely fit. At least physically. Still, he was getting older, like everyone, so for his last birthday, Jenna had given him an electric booster. He’d scoffed at it, but she could see now that he’d actually installed it.
So maybe he did listen to her sometimes. Just not while she was present.
They both got out of the truck. Jenna wished she wasn’t wearing her nice interview clothes. The last time she’d talked her father down from a binge, she’d wound up with wine stains all over her favorite cashmere sweater.
“Want a different jacket?” Billy offered as she pulled on her wool coat. “I have a spare Twins workout jacket in the back.”
She shook her head “no,” not wanting to give anyone the wrong idea by showing up wearing Billy’s clothes.
After a pause to send Annika a quick text, she hurried inside Deuces, which was, blessedly, nearly empty. It didn’t generally fill up until Happy Hour, by which time she hoped to have her father safely in his bed. She was aware of Billy pacing behind her, letting her take the lead.
Sure enough, there was her father marching up and down the bar, a kilt swirling around his legs, an accordion under one arm.
At least it wasn’t the bagpipes. Sometimes, when he got weepy, he played those, sending all the birds in the immediate vicinity into panicky flight.
“I got ninety-nine problems,” he was declaring to the mid-afternoon drinkers hanging out at the bar. “But a ditch ain’t one.”
A ditch? Jenna felt a bubble of laughter well in her throat. One thing about her father, he got absurdly goofy when he’d had too much to drink. Ordinarily, he didn’t talk much beyond the essentials. When he had some wine in him, he wouldn’t shut up.
