Chapter 10 #2
It had been one of the few times their daddy was home.
That night at dinner, Poppy had thrown a major tantrum about wanting a pirate ship.
The next day, Daddy had shown up at the river with his toolbox.
After studying the raft, he’d declared it unsafe for sailing .
. . at least in water. But it would be perfect for his sons and Princess Poppy to sail through the trees.
Thus, the treeboat had been born.
Of course, Daddy hadn’t stuck around long enough to do more than secure the main deck.
Huck had been responsible for bugging his brothers to help him build the other levels.
Like the house, the treeboat was sturdy but just as big a monstrosity with numerous levels and ropes, pulleys, and ladders for getting to them.
“A boat in a tree,” Camden said with awe.
Huck couldn’t help but smile with pride. He hadn’t done a lot with his life, but he had built a damn fine treeboat.
Camden came up out of his chair like his butt was a spring. “That is so cool! Can I see it? Please! Can I? Can I?”
“Sit down, Cam,” Cadee said. “I’m sure Huck and Poppy have better things to do than show you an old tree house that’s probably falling apart by now.”
The pride he felt fizzled, replaced with hurt. “It was built well, Cadee. You should know because you helped me build some of it.”
Camden turned to his mom. “You helped Huck build a tree house, but you won’t let me have one?”
Huck cringed as he realized that once again, he’d put his foot in his mouth. And what made matters worse was Poppy jumped in, talking around the donuts she was stuffing in her mouth like popcorn.
“You won’t let him have a tree house? Why not? Hell, we had the worst mama in the world, and we still got a tree house.”
“Poppy,” Huck warned. “Stay out of this.”
She shrugged. “I’m just saying that it doesn’t seem fair.”
“See!” Camden pointed at Poppy. “Even that girl thinks it’s unfair.”
Huck figured he needed to say something before Camden raced off like he had the other day.
“Calm down, Cam. I’ll be happy to build you a tree house.
” Since Camden’s face lit up and he started jumping around like he was on a pogo stick, Huck figured he’d done right this time . . . until he glanced at Cadee.
She looked like he’d just offered to put Camden on a spit to roast him.
“Thank you for the offer,” she said, even though she looked anything but thankful. “But I told Camden he’s not getting a tree house until he’s older.” She got to her feet. “Now wipe your mouth, Cam. We need to get to church.”
Camden stopped jumping and glared at Cadee. “But that’s so unfair.”
“I’m with you, kid,” Poppy said. “I had a tree house when I was five.”
“I’m almost eight!” Camden yelled.
Poppy looked at Cadee and toasted her with a half-eaten donut. “There you go.”
Now Cadee looked like she wanted to kill Poppy too. She shot them both glares as she placed a hand on Camden’s back and ushered him to the door. When they were gone, Huck ran a hand through his hair.
“Shit.”
Poppy nodded. “Yeah, that didn’t seem to go well at all.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “No thanks to you.”
“What did I do? I was just being a good auntie and taking the kid’s side. Besides, I don’t understand why he can’t have a tree house.” She finished off the donut. “I thought you said Cadee was a good mama.”
“Cadee is a good mama!” he snapped a little louder than he should have before he noticed Ada had come out of the kitchen and all three sisters were glancing his way.
“Cadee sure is a good mama,” Ada said.
Adele nodded. “A wee bit protective, but that comes from Cam being an only child.”
Arlene walked over with a coffeepot and started refilling their cups. “But if Cadee doesn’t find another man soon and have another child, Cam is going to end up like Sammy Copland. That man can’t wipe his butt without his mama’s help.”
Huck felt like he’d run into a street pole. “Cadee’s looking to get married again?”
“Well, I wouldn’t say she’s looking, but the entire town has been looking for her after that no-good college boy left her high and dry. We just haven’t found the right fit yet.”
“I thought Danny Reaves was the perfect fit,” Adele said as Huck tried to keep from having an out-and-out panic attack.
“Were you blind?” Ada said. “That man was horrible with kids. Brandon Willis loves kids.”
Arlene snorted. “Because he is a kid. He just turned twenty-one. Cadee needs a man not a boy.” She glanced at Huck. “You okay, honey. You look a little pale.”
He didn’t answer. He couldn’t. The thought of Cadee trying to find a husband and daddy for Camden had put him in a tailspin.
“He just needs to eat something.” Poppy answered for him. “Or he gets lightheaded.” She rammed a mini donut into his gaping mouth, forcing him to chew and swallow or choke to death.
Arlene nodded. “I’m the same way. I need to have a little something in the morning or I get all shaky. Y’all let me know if you need anything else.”
Once she was gone, Poppy leaned closer and spoke in a low voice.
“Not interested in Cadee, huh?” When all he could do was sit there and try to keep the donut down, Poppy sighed and sat back in her chair.
“Damn. Mama and Daddy really did a number on us, didn’t they?
All of us are emotionally fucked up. Which probably explains why Wylynn left me. I never could tell him I loved him.”
Huck shook his head. “I don’t love Cadee.”
Poppy snorted. “Which is why you don’t want anyone else loving her.” She looked at him. “But this isn’t about Cadee. This is about that cute little boy who has the chance to be better than we are. That’s if his daddy doesn’t pass on our baggage.”
He blinked. “What do you mean?”
Poppy leaned in closer. “I mean are you going to be a real parent or are you going to be like our daddy and only show up occasionally as entertainment? Because if that’s your plan, Huck, you should have never forced your way into Camden’s life.
Kids don’t want a daddy who acts like them.
They want a responsible adult they can count on to be there for them.
Not just to show up when it suits them and make special pancakes and buy them princess crowns, but also to discipline them when they need discipline, protect them when they need protecting, and love them like kids deserve to be loved.
And if you can’t do that for Camden, then leave him alone, Huck.
You don’t want to give him the emotional scars Daddy and Mama gave us.
And the same goes for Cadee. Don’t lead her on if you’re not ready to man up and be what she needs and deserves.
” She got up. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get more mini donuts since I had to force feed you one of mine. ”