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4
“Daddy watch!”Bree demanded as she jumped on the built-in trampoline in his Uncle Sean and Aunt Rosalie’s backyard.
“I see you, Peanut.” Glenn nodded as he sipped the beer his uncle had handed him on his way out to the backyard.
Glenn lowered into a deck chair and looked around.
When they drove up, he’d noticed that his aunt and uncle had updated the house which had always reminded Glenn of the Eight is Enough house. It was a large white colonial with green shutters. The show had been one of his mom’s favorites, she always watched the reruns on Nick at Night. The exterior was still painted white, but the shutters had been swapped out for cedar shake, and the windows panes and front door were now black.
The updates to the exterior of the house were not the only ones they’d made, Glenn noted. When he’d visited as a kid, his cousins had had a tree house, which was still there. But it was now joined by the trampoline his daughter and her cousins were jumping on that was built into their grass area, there was a pool and spa off to the right, and the real showstopper was an extravagant cedar swing set complete with two slides, a rock-climbing wall, teeter-totter, rope ladder, and a zip line.
It was a kid’s paradise. Which he was sure was exactly what they’d been going for. Family was everything to his aunt and uncle and they had four grandchildren and one on the way. Or at least one. His cousin Amy had twins that were Bree’s age, Peyton and Paige and he’d just found out at dinner that she was expecting again. His cousin Jake also had two kiddos that were close to the same age but not twins. He and his wife Tessa had thought they couldn’t have kids, so they started the adoption process and then found out that, surprise, Tessa was pregnant. So, they had two kiddos, a son Connor and daughter named Sienna.
His aunt and uncle treated his brother’s kids as their grandkids as well. Gabe’s son Jonah was a teenager and his wife Adriana also had twin girls that he’d adopted, Laney and Lexi who were a year older than Bree, Peyton, and Paige.
When he was growing up on the southside of Chicago, it had just been his brother and parents. That was the only family he’d had. No cousins. No grandparents. Nothing.
This felt like a different world.
Here in Hope Falls, his daughter would be surrounded by family, something she’d never had before. His parents both passed away nearly a decade ago when he was in his mid-twenties. His dad died from a freak accident, he’d fallen in the shower and hit his head. Then, four months later, his mom passed from complications of diabetes. The truth was, he believed that his mom died of a broken heart. She never recovered from the loss of his dad.
Gabe had been the only family Glenn had left in Chicago and then, four years ago, his little brother moved to Hope Falls leaving him alone. Glenn had seriously considered following his brother, but that was right at the time that Zoe had come back into their lives. Glenn chose to stay where he was. He figured if there was a chance that Bree could have a relationship with her mom, he couldn’t rob her of that even if Zoe hadn’t been ready for the responsibility when Bree was born. But now things were different. In her new line of work, she would be traveling up to nine months out of the year. Glenn could make his home base anywhere.
As far as Bree was concerned, this was a summer break. But the truth was, after only being here for a few hours, Glenn was seriously considering making Hope Falls his home. Ever since he’d retired his gloves, he’d felt out of place. Restless. Lost.
He just wasn’t sure if he could ever feel settled in a small town. Or if he’d miss the city too much. But that might be a sacrifice he was willing to make for Bree.
The screen door opened, and his Aunt Rosalie came out wearing a wide smile. Being around his uncle and aunt was a lot like being around his parents. His father had also married a fiery, spunky immigrant. His mom was Cuban, and his aunt was Italian but they both shared a lot of the same characteristics. They were both loud, fun loving, devoted to their families, and wanted to feed him all the time.
“It’s so good to have you here,” his aunt said as she lowered down into the seat next to him. “Are you sure you two don’t just want to stay here while you’re in town? We have plenty of room.”
“Thanks, Aunt Rosalie, I appreciate that, but I already found a short-term rental.”
As sweet as his aunt’s offer was, there was no way he would impose on them. He knew that they loved having their grandchildren at the house as much as possible, but living full time with a six-year-old was a lot. Plus, he got up early every morning to work out and didn’t want to interrupt their schedule.
“So, how are things with Zoe?” His aunt asked with a single raised brow.
“Good.” His entire family had been wary when Zoe had come back into their lives. He understood their concerns and listened to their opinions, but at the end of the day, he’d had to do what he thought was best for Bree. And that was to have her mom in her life.
When Zoe found out she was pregnant, she hadn’t been ready to be a mom and wanted to give the baby up for adoption. Glenn had convinced her to let him have full custody, which she agreed to. She gave birth, signed away her rights, and Glenn became a full-time single dad.
Then, right after Bree turned two, Zoe contacted him, said she’d made a mistake and asked if she could see her daughter. Glenn knew that Zoe wouldn’t have come back unless she was ready to take on the responsibility of being a mother. So even though he had no legal obligation, he’d allowed her to see Bree. At first, it was visits that he’d supervised. But after about a year, he’d allowed her to take Bree overnight. And for the past three years, they’d shared custody, splitting their time pretty evenly.
With her new job, that would be impossible to continue. But he would do whatever he could to accommodate Bree seeing her mother.
“What about you? Any special ladies in the picture?” His aunt grinned.
“Yep. One.” He tilted his beer bottle toward Bree who was currently trying and failing to do a backflip.
Aunt Rosalie swatted him on his arm. “You know that’s not what I mean.”
“I’ve got my hands full with that little lady.”
“You don’t have to be a monk just because you have a daughter, you know.”
He begged to differ. That’s exactly how he’d lived for four years now and there had been no complications in his life. He would do anything, sacrifice anything, if it meant a better life for Bree.
“You know there are a lot of nice girls here in Hope Falls. I’m sure Nikki, or Amy know some friends who—”
