2. Hayes
Chapter two
Hayes
If someone had told a younger me, that at twenty-eight I would be a single dad and own not only my own home, but also two businesses, I would have laughed in their face. My mom woke up one day and decided that she didn’t want to be a wife. Didn’t want to be a mother. My dad did the best he could; he was always working to provide for us, but it was never enough. Our clothes were purchased from Goodwill, and our food was off brand everything. Growing up, there was always a part of me that hoped that my long-lost mom would come back and beg our forgiveness, but she never did .
It’s her loss.
While I worked from the ground up to make a name for myself, my sister is a talented clothing designer, opened up her own boutique in our small town, and just bought her own home. When I started working as a teenager, I started setting money aside for my sister who was already interested in anything to do with clothing. She would beg me to buy every gossip and fashion magazine so she could make mood boards. Yeah, I know what a mood board is. I know a lot of shit that I really don’t want to, thanks to my sister. I guess it will all come in handy when my daughter gets older.
When I found out that I was going to be a dad, I will admit that I panicked. I was living in Phoenix working for a world-renowned car restoration company and had a very loose relationship with a bartender. I was busy, she was busy. It worked. We would go months in between seeing each other, when one day she showed up at my work with a pregnancy test. She swore up and down that it was mine, that she didn’t have the time to sleep with anyone else, and I believed her. Imagine my surprise when she continued to speak, and it was like déjá vu. She was just like my mother. She didn’t ever want to be a mom, and if I didn’t want the baby, it would be going up for adoption. There was no way that my baby was going to be put up for adoption, so I called my uncle, and a plan was put into place.
Somehow, I convinced my daughter’s mother to temporarily relocate to my hometown while she was pregnant. She did not do so without complaint. I went back to work at my uncle’s mechanic shop and paid for everything until she gave birth. I even gave her money when she left, and she signed her rights away. I haven’t heard from her since. Shortly after, my uncle decided that he was ready to retire, and I bought the business from him. He had opened the shop thirty years ago, and my aunt was ready to travel.
It’s amazing how quickly time flies. One moment, I was on a high, just finishing the restoration of a Chevelle, and the next, I became a dad, bought a business, and a house. It was pure chaos.
“Hey, boss man, don’t you need to be getting out of here?” I look up from working on this month’s expenses, and find Travis, my newest mechanic, standing in my doorway. I hired him as an apprentice as a favor to my dad. My dad came to me and said that he had a friend from work and his nephew was moving to town and was looking for work. Travis was described to me as a quiet, standoffish kid, that loves cars and just needs a chance. Seeing as I was Travis when I was a teenager, I couldn’t say no. I’m not shocked often, but this kid has shocked me. He graduated from high school last year, so I wasn’t expecting much. But he is always early for his shift, always picks up hours when needed, and has taken to the work quickly. He has even started to come out to my house on Sundays to clean up the shop I have there. I decided to have a restoration business at my house since there isn’t any room at this building, so I put up a temperature-controlled Morton building to house that side of things.
“Shit. Yeah, I need to go pick up Rosie and get to Cash’s before he starts blowing up my phone. Thanks, man.” I log out of my computer, grab my keys and cell, as it pings with an incoming text.
Cash
This is your friendly, not so friendly reminder that you are supposed to be at my house.
Cash
Don’t make me send Shelby out to find your ass.
I bark out a laugh, because I have no doubt that my friend’s spitfire of a wife would come into my shop and pull me out by my hair if I miss their son’s birthday party. They didn’t want to have the party on a Monday night, but too many people were out of town over the weekend, so they decided on a more low-key party. I never understood kids’ birthday parties until I had my own child. Thankfully, Cash and Shelby were there to help me because I had no idea what I was doing.
Leaving the shop now, headed to pick up Rosie from Tess. Be there soon.
Do you need me to pick up anything?
What I have also learned when my daughter came into the world, you always forget something. Or you go to get a fruit snack because you now also eat like a child, and the box is empty. So…I now buy in bulk. I’m that guy.
Cash
Nah…Shelby went overboard this year to make up for the party being on a Monday.
Once I’m in my truck I send my sister a text letting her know that I am on my way, and with one last look at the shop, I head over to pick up my whole world. Once my daughter was set in my arms, my whole world changed. I wanted to be a better man for her. To show her how she should be treated. On the quiet nights, after Rosie is asleep, I often find myself wishing that I could give her a mother. It’s not my daughter’s fault her mother didn’t want anything to do with us.
A few minutes later, I am parking in my sister’s driveway. She just purchased this small craftsman style home a couple months ago. I helped her refinish the floors and paint before she moved in. Tess is five years younger than me, but she has always carried herself as someone that is older. Among many things I quickly learned when my daughter was born, was acknowledging that I couldn’t do it all alone. My dad and sister have been a huge help, along with Cash and Shelby. I try to make sure that I am done working by six every night, which means my days are constantly busy.
They weren’t kidding when they said it takes a village.
“Daddy!” I just got out of my truck when my five-year-old comes barreling out of the house. Her red hair is now in two French braids, courtesy of her aunt. I still haven’t mastered braids, no matter how many YouTube videos I watch.
I crouch down to wrap Rosie up in a hug, wondering at what age she won’t be as excited to see me. “Hi, princess, your hair looks beautiful!” We have been working on the proper way to accept compliments. We were in the grocery store a couple weeks ago, and an elderly woman stopped us to tell Rosie how beautiful she was. Instead of saying thank you, my daughter simply replied, “I know,” and walked away. That was slightly embarrassing.
“Thank you, Daddy! Aunt T did them for me. She said you are hopeless at doing my hair.” That gets a full body laugh from me, because my sister isn’t wrong.
“Little lady, now that we got your hair out of the way, are you supposed to open anyone’s door and run out it? Remember, we wait for an adult to answer the door. Every time.” I hate to reprimand her, but this topic I won’t budge on. The safety of my number one person is always going to be my priority.
Rosie is saved from answering when my sister hurries out of her house carrying the backpack I dropped Rosie off with and the present she wrapped for me. “Hi there, brother. Sorry about the door, I had it locked earlier. Per the request of the queen over there, we had salmon Caesar salads for lunch. She asked for a snack about twenty minutes ago, but I reminded her where you two were going.”
“Thanks, sis. And thank you for doing her hair, since we all know I’m not good at it.” That earns me a grin, she knows it’s all in good fun. I’ll be the first one to admit that I need some help in the hair department. “You know you can come with us. Cash says Shelby went overboard; they won’t care. ”
“Thanks, but I’ll have to sit this one out. I need to get to work on my next collection, it’s a bit different than my usual. Tell everyone I said hi.” She gives Rosie a hug and runs back inside and is back at my side in no time handing over another gift. “Please give Shelby the bag, I made Crosby and Saylor fall outfits. The wrapped gift can go on the gift table.”
After another round of hugs, Rosie is secure in her seat, and we are headed to the party. Cash only lives a couple of minutes from me, and ten from my sister. To be fair, it doesn’t take long to get anywhere in Pine Creek. Cash moved into his childhood home when his parents passed away and he took guardianship of his younger sister.
Lennon. The girl I shouldn’t often daydream about. My best friend’s little sister. She hasn’t been back home in a couple years, but she is some big wig reporter now, with a boyfriend. It’s past time that I let this infatuation go. There are only four years between us, but I wasn’t going to make a move until she was eighteen, and by that time, she was getting ready for college and I was moving to Arizona.
“Time to party, Daddy!” Rosie screams from the back seat. Where she heard that saying, I have no idea. I don’t remember the last time I partied, and I know my sister doesn’t have time for that either.
“Let’s go party, princess.”