Chapter 18
DEAN
Dad Company (But Sometimes Good Advice)
G. Singh: What do you do when the kids you’re watching start to throw bees at people?
Comments:
Robert Colt: Please remember rule one. Only real advice is needed here.
G. Singh: It’s real. Pic for proof. They’re scooping them up. With their hands.
Ryan Kim: OH.
Dean Briggs: Kids throw bees???? Like throw them? Is this what I have to look forward to?
Oliver Brian: I am a dad to three kids and this might be a first for me.
Robert Colt: Calmly tell them the risk associated.
G. Singh: Tried that. They told me to eat rocks and now I have a bee sting on my eyebrow.
G. Singh: Kids still have zero bee stings.
“Holy shit.” Wren’s eyes went wide when she walked in. “Did you finish the electrical?”
I stepped back from the wall I’d been working on. I’d not been able to sleep much over the weekend while waiting for Grace’s test results. I’d felt bad for calling out sick on Wren, so I’d come in during the night.
“Yeah, I did.”
“How the hell—” She crossed her arms. “Did you sneak in here?”
I only shrugged. “I wanted it done. And I felt bad for calling out on Friday.”
Wren hummed. “You had a good reason.”
I hadn’t given her much of one at all, but she’d still let me have the time off. It only made me feel worse.
Plus, my time here was wearing on me. I’d never tell Grace, but I hated that people were starting to recognize me and wave. I didn’t want to be a part of things here, but I didn’t want to leave her while she needed me either.
“You should be good to go now,” I said.
“Hang on,” she said as I walked past her. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right? Any . . . life changes?”
I stared at her like she’d grown a second head. She was sounding like Clyde.
“Good to know,” I said. “But I’m good.”
She sighed. “Okay, I see trying to be subtle isn’t working.”
“Subtle about what?”
“Dean, I know. About you and Grace.”
I froze. “You . . . know? Shit, does everyone? What the hell happened?”
“Calm down.” She put a hand up. “We had a girls’ night last night and Grace told us. We’re not gonna tell anyone else.”
“Oh,” I said. “Great. Are you here to yell at me for being with her?”
“I’m tempted,” she said. “But no. I just wanted to say that I thought it was nice that you took her to a doctor’s appointment that she was worried about. Something about a glucose test? She didn’t explain it to us, but I had a feeling she didn’t wanna talk about it.”
“She failed her first glucose screening, which means she could have gestational diabetes. She did a second one with a longer interval to see if she may have it.”
“Wow, you know a lot of detail.”
“I’m not half-assing this, you know.”
“You never half-ass work, so I figured. But I also know all of this isn’t for you. Sharing something with someone. Being tied down.”
She was right, this wasn’t normal for me.
And yet talking to Grace was easy. I’d told her we were starting with the basics, but ever since she failed her first glucose screening, it felt like we’d snuck right past that and were heading toward actually getting to know each other, something I should be struggling with.
Yet we were almost . . . friends.
I hadn’t made a new one of those since I met Clyde.
“Yeah, I’m working on that.”
“You do have support here,” she said, giving me a small smile. “I know we’ve always only talked about work, but if you need anything, I can help. I offered the same thing to Grace.”
It was nice of her to offer, it really was. But I didn’t see myself taking her up on that. I liked Wren, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that she didn’t want me messing up things in her precious town.
And I would, once people found out.
“Thank you, but I’ll mostly be focusing on work.”
“I might have some more,” she said. “Are you interested?”
I had an out. I could say no and leave and get a break from this town.
That would also mean leaving Grace when she needed me. Hell, even if this test came back okay, what else could come up?
I’d seen her house. It needed work, and she had a lot to do before the baby arrived. I wanted to find a way to get her to let me help with that.
“Yeah, I think I’m up for that.”
Wren perked up. “Really? So it’s not so bad here?”
“I didn’t say that. I have a reason to be here, remember?”
“Yeah, yeah. We’ll charm you.”
I highly doubted that, but I only shrugged. There was no reason to crush her hopes.
After I said my goodbyes, I was eager to be alone so I could get my head on straight. Wren’s conversation had me off kilter. Hell, the entire town did.
When I was alone in my truck, I finally checked my phone and saw I had a message from Clyde.
Clyde
You near Knoxville? I could take you out to eat.
I was immediately glad that I’d gotten my work done for the day.
I can be there in a little over an hour. Where do you wanna meet up?
Clyde told me to meet him at a deli, and I couldn’t deny that I was excited. It would be nice to get out of Strawberry Springs for a bit and feel more like myself.
He was waiting for me outside the door, foot tapping. When he saw me, he stilled and acted like nothing was wrong, but as we got our order, he glanced at me like I was a bomb waiting to go off.
“So,” he said before taking the first bite of his sandwich. “You gonna tell me what happened?”
“Yeah,” I said with a sigh. “But I should also apologize first for being vague.”
“Must be something big.”
“Yeah, it’s very big.”
“Please don’t say cancer. If it’s something like that, you’re gonna have me crying in the middle of this deli.”
“No, I’m not sick, and no one I know is either. But . . . someone is pregnant. Someone I . . .”
He paused in his eating, eyes wide. My heart hammered as I waited for his response.
“Oh. That certainly is big.”
“You and Mom both taught me to be safe. I wasn’t.” My eyes fell to the table. “I’m handling it. I know it’s mine and I’m trying to be there for her as much as possible, but she’s in Strawberry Springs, which is three hours away from Nashville.”
“Ah. That is quite a ways out.”
“You can yell at me if you want. I fucked up. Now I’ll have to adjust my schedule and figure out how the hell to be a father to someone when I live this far away.”
Clyde put his sandwich down and sighed. “What good is yelling gonna do?”
“I feel like it’s kinda what I deserve and it might make you feel better.”
“You know, I’ve done some reading, and when a kid fucks up, it’s better to be supportive than yell. This is shocking, and it’s gonna change a lot, but you seem to have a decent handle on it.”
“Now. I fucked up in the beginning, but I think I smoothed it over.” I sighed. “I just . . . My responsibilities are changing and I feel terrible about it. I enjoy our time together.”
“Yeah, but I’m not a selfish dick. I don’t keep you around just to go out to dinner after we work together. I also don’t keep you around because you’re always available. I keep you around because you’re a decent kid.”
“Can you still call me a kid when I’m gonna be a father soon?”
“Okay, slow down a little bit. I’ve called you ‘kid’ for almost a decade, so you’re gonna have to give me that one. Can’t handle too much change.”
Despite everything, I laughed. “I’ll let it slide.”
“So, what does this mean for you and this woman? Are you—”
I cut him off before he could suggest something I didn’t want him to. “Friends. I think we’re becoming friends.”
“You’re friends with a woman you slept with. That’s new for you.”
“A lot of this is, but it can’t be a bad thing to be friends with the person I’m sharing a child with.”
“I don’t disagree,” he replied, taking a sip of his drink. “A lot of things are changing here.”
“Are you still gonna keep me around?”
Clyde rolled his eyes. “You’re smart enough for electrical, but you’re still dumb as hell sometimes. Yeah, I’m keeping you around. I may not really know how to help you out because I never had kids of my own, but I can still be here. You need a friend, don’t you?”
“Oh, thank God.”
He reached across the table and patted me on the shoulder. “Everything’s gonna be fine. Now eat. I’m worried you forgot to take care of yourself while out in the middle of nowhere.”
I huffed out a laugh. “It’s not the city, I’ll say that much.”
“So, why are you staying there?”
“I need to get to know Grace, and pregnancy can be a little scary.”
Clyde slowly nodded, and I wondered what he was thinking. “So, the mom’s name is Grace? Got it. You got work out there?”
“For now, yeah.”
“A good place to stay?”
The hotel was basic, but it wasn’t great. I dreaded going back there, but I would make it work.
“Yep.”
“Then call me if you need me. I have a few things out here, and it sounds like that’s not too out of the way for you.” He eyed me again. “I was serious about eating. I’ve got a long day of work still and I’m starving.”