Chapter 10 #2
Yeah, that would be a bad idea.
Ellis stared down at his phone, where he had texted back, . Okay then. He guessed he’d made a decision.
Chrissy came wandering over to him, leaned very close, and stared. “Bell?”
God, the cuteness. “Yes, baby girl?”
“Luff you.” She blew him kisses with her filthy little fingers, waved, and then ran back off to play in the water.
Good Lord and butter. That made him swallow a bit, because that was some honest shit. And it proved to him he’d done the right thing.
Ichabod came back out, two Fat Tires in hand. “Does this work?”
“Course it does. Thanks.”
Ichabod nodded to him. “I figure it’s too hot to work, and by the time you have to feed and everything tonight, the beer will be gone.”
They watched as Allie ran over to Chrissy and sprayed her off with the hose, fussing about the mud.
“She’s your finicky one, isn’t she?”
“Oh, yes. They’re all four very different.
Zane has got dark and brooding down like his dad did.
He’s gonna end up being like a corporate raider or something, I have no doubt.
” Ichabod opened his bottle and leaned back, the sun making love to that lean body, making him gleam.
“Michael. I’m voting veterinarian. He’s smart enough to do it and determined, and he loves the animals.
Allie’s gonna be a little mommy.” Ellis got a sheepish grin and a bit of a shrug.
“I mean if she decides when she grows up, she doesn’t want to, I won’t bitch.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not that dad, but she is very maternal, and I’m imagining happy days for my children when they grow up. ”
“And what about the little one?” Ellis asked. This was fascinating.
“She’s making mud pies. This is my child of my soul. This is the child who is going to further my artistic line and become a potter like me.” Ichabod waved his hands around, hair flopping, the silver glinting in the sunlight.
And Ellis lost it. Just boom, lost it. That was some funny shit right there. No question. “Well, you got yourself some opinions.”
Ichabod took another deep pull on his beer. “I do. They change a lot. Don’t get me wrong. Sometimes I have opinions that are absolutely horrible and one hundred percent not right.”
“You?” he teased. “No way.”
“Yeah. You know, I was gonna grow up to be— well, I wanted to be a doctor, then I wanted to be a dentist, and then I decided that maybe I could go be one of those warriors for the environment because that would be way easier and more fun than being a dentist. Then I thought, no, craft beers. Then I turned eight.”
Ellis sat there, his teeth in his mouth, staring at Ichabod “All right. I’m, with you so far. Why pottery?”
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know that I ever had a choice in what I did. As much as I joke, I did know without a doubt that I was going to be an artist.” Ichabod turned to face him more fully. “Both of my parents are artists. My sister is an artist.”
Oh, that was cool. “And where are they again?” Ellis was sure Ichabod had said, but he couldn’t drag it out of his brain.
“My sister’s in Santa Fe, and my folks are in San Francisco right now. Mom’s doing a residency at a studio there.”
Sometimes Ichabod talked, and Ellis realized how little he knew about lives that weren’t ranching. It was at once cool and lowering. “And so do they both do pottery?”
Ichabod shook his head. “My mom’s into textiles, and so is my sister.
In fact, that’s what Mom does. She teaches weaving, and my dad is fine artist—watercolors—so he can follow Mom around when she does all these in-studio projects.
He likes to find a park somewhere and paint and then come home and watch football.
Or basketball. Or baseball. Or hockey. Whatever’s on in the hotel. ”
“That’s fascinating. You’re very close, then?”
“Sure. I mean, we’re not in each other’s pockets.
We don’t talk every day or anything, but we’re not estranged by any stretch of the imagination.
We’re busy, and they love the kids. Of course, the kids love them.
” Ichabod stretched tall, and that belly made Ellis want to dive right in.
“I imagine they’ll stop by on their drive back to Denver when they’re done.
Unless Mom gets another position somewhere else.
She does love to travel. They can be gone from their little condo for months at a time. ”
“I don’t know how I would like that.”
“I bet you would hate it,” Ichabod teased. “You’re very grounded, not to be ironic. Tied to the land.”
He chuckled, because it was true. “That was why I couldn’t be a rodeo man. I sucked at hauling my shit all over. I have to do it enough as a ranch man.”
“Well, maybe this can be something long-term for you.” Ichabod said it with is eyes on his beer bottle, his voice real casual like.
“I’d love that, honey. As long as y’all are here.”
“Well, until Chrissy kicks me out in sixteen years and she has a quorum from her brothers and sister, I’ll be here.” Ichabod smiled at him. “I’d like it, if you were here too.”
“I think I would too.” He clinked his beer bottle against Ichabod’s, grateful as hell that he hadn’t fucked this up. He’d been pretty damn worried.
“Hey, Dad?”
Ichabod glanced up at Zane, who was looming. “Whatcha need?”
“A ride to town later? I want to meet some friends at the coffee shop.”
“Friends?”
“Yeah, there’s a bunch of us on Insta. I want to meet before school.”
“Okay. From when to when?”
“They’ll be there from six to ten…”
“Okay. We can do that. Maybe you could go from like, six thirty to eight if you like them? That way I can get the girls to bed on time. Are we talking Aspen or Snowmass Village?”
“Aspen.” Zane grinned. “I know it’s a pain, but—”
“Hey, you asked. I’m super pleased. Does that work?”
“Yeah, that would be cool.” Zane’s cheeks went a little pink. “I mean, not too early so I look like a dork, but not too late for everyone else.”
“That’s what we’ll do then.”
“Thanks, Dad. You rock.”
Ichabod winked. “Cool. I’ll take everyone else to go have ice cream.”
“Yeah? Okay, cool.” Zane grinned, looking relieved. “Thanks, Dad.”
Dad, not Ichabod, Ellis noticed. Nice.
Ichabod put the rest of his beer down, unfinished. Impressive, given that they wouldn’t leave for four hours.
“You’re coming for ice cream, right, Ellis?”
“Oh, uh.” Should he say yes? He wanted to, but would that be weird for Zane?
“Don’t feel pressured, but you’re welcome. I’ll drop Zane off so he’s not mortified.”
“Oh, I would love to go, honey. I wanted to be sure it’s okay with Zane. So cool. I love me some ice cream.” He set his beer aside too. He would buy some more tomorrow.
“Ice cream?” The little girls had some good hearing, dammit. They came wandering up like two stray kitties.
“After a bath, a nap, and supper, you lot.” Ichabod winked, beaming.
Chrissy slumped to the ground. “All thems?”
“All that, yes.”
“Chrissy, you’re all muddier now!” Allie sighed, the sound so expressive.
“Mumbier!” Chrissy cackled and rolled in the grass.
“Oh, wow. That’s gonna be…”
Ichabod shook his head. “We’ll hose her down first.”
Allie stamped her foot. “She won’t learn, Daddy!”
“She’s just little, baby girl. She still likes to be dirty.”
“Some of us never grow out of it,” Ellis murmured.
“Why?” Allie stared right at him. “It makes me cry.”
“Well, honey, that’s something for you to avoid then. But for some of us, playing in the dirt is a way to be close to the earth.” Ellis grinned at her wrinkly nose. “But we can wash up before we hug you.”
“Okay.” She pursed her lips and pointed. “Daddy, get the hose and squirt the baby.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Ichabod put on his flip-flips and marched down to unhook the sprinkler so he could hose down Chrissy, who giggled madly.
She started doing a hula-jitterbug-hootchie-cootchie dance, and Ichabod began to sing for her.
“Ugh.” Allie headed into the house, wrapping her towel around her.
“She is something else,” Ellis managed through his laughter.
“She is. All of them are.”
“Yeah. Well. I should go do an early feeding so we can eat and then go, huh?” He grinned, the day having turned out so damn good.
“Sounds perfect. I’ll get the girls down for a nap.”
“I’ll meet you back here.” And he walked off, humming a Garth song under his breath and smiling wide.
Telling Ichabod everything had been the very best idea he’d had in ages.