31. Hayden
Chapter thirty-one
Hayden
It’s Saturday, and I’m meeting up with the boys: Noah, my brother, Gabriel, Denton, and Victor, Noah’s best friend, at the golf course.
In their typical fashion, they’re already a few beers deep by the time I even pull up. And Victor, the notorious jokester of the crew, is wearing the dumbest outfit, complete with a hat with a poof ball on the top and loud, checkered pants.
“Morning,” he says after belching and crushing a can in his bare hands.
“Good morning, you misfits,” I call from the open window before parking in front of them, getting out, and retrieving my clubs from the back of the car.
Noah sneers and leans against his bag. “Bro, you look tired.” He has aviator sunglasses on, and he pulls them down on his nose. “Has someone been keeping you up all night?”
Instead of answering, I just ruffle the feathery hair that is sticking out of his visor.
But after getting all of my stuff sorted, I look up and realize that all eyes are on me.
“Come on, Cohen. Spill!” Gabe encourages.
“Now, now. If there are certain things he’d prefer to keep personal, I think we should respect—”
“Shut up, Denton!” the rest exclaim.
In response, he bows his head and rolls his lips in on each other.
While they may grow tired of Denton’s sensitive side, I appreciate it. “Let’s just get on the course, shall we boys?”
But after playing a few holes, it becomes apparent that the other three are not even close to growing tired of poking and prodding into my life.
After failing miserably to strike the ball off the tee, Noah cracks another can and teases, “Addie and Hayden, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
I roll my eyes. “That’s real mature of you. And I thought I was the little brother.”
He shrugs. “Exactly. You came out of the womb all mature and dense, so I had to take it upon myself to act accordingly. Every family needs an annoying brother. Trust me, it’s all been sacrifices that I’ve made for the greater good—and for the equilibrium of our family.”
I nod sarcastically. “Oh, that’s why you did it, huh? Wow. Thanks a million. I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to repay you.”
Later, the other goons continue to play badly, but Denton stays back away with me.
“Seriously, man. If you want to talk about anything, I’m here for you.”
I grab and rock his shoulder. “Thanks, Den. I appreciate it.”
He gestures towards the others who are, unsurprisingly, making asses out of themselves.
“And whatever you tell me, I promise I won’t share it with the peanut gallery.”
I know he’s good for his word. So, I finally allow myself to explode with information. I tell him about everything—Addie, Luna, the deal with Salvador, and anything in between.
“Wow.” He’s squaring off with the tee, and he lowers his hat on his forehead. “That’s a lot to take in, buddy. How are you doing with it all?”
As I watch him, I lean on my club. “Well, I’ve always had a thing for Addie. That’s no secret.”
Once he hits the ball, he gives me a goofy look. “No, really?”
“Yeah, yeah. I know. I’m hopeless when it comes to her. I always have been and probably always will be.”
“I’m sure that’s true. But what about Luna. That had to be more of a shock, no?”
“It was. I mean, knowing that I might be a father—” I pause and scold myself inside. “No, sorry. Knowing that I am a father . . .” I know that I need to stop being such an asshole. We may not have any positive paternity tests to prove that she’s mine, but I know she is. “Anyway.” I remove my baseball hat momentarily and scratch my head before putting it back down again. “That part has been a lot.”
“What’s she like?”
Oh, God. Talk about a million-dollar question. “She’s . . . she’s amazing.” Just the thought of her makes me smile like an idiot.
“Do you have any pictures of her?”
I have to stop and think about whether or not I do. Oh! Of course, the pictures from the zoo. We both have our faces painted, but I think that fact makes us look even more alike.
Pulling out my phone from my back pocket, I bring up the picture and show him.
“Whoa.” He puts his fingers on the screen to zoom in. “She’s got your eyes. That’s for damn certain, Hay.”
“I know.” That was the first part of her that really struck me.
“What are we talking about?” Noah asks, after storming over so quickly that Denton can’t even hand me the device back.
“It’s nothing—”
“Hey now! Who on earth is that little cutie?” He takes it and then laughs like a jackass—tongue out and all. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think this was your spawn, Bro. She looks just like you. Check this out, guys.” Gabe and Victor have also gathered, and he shows them.
“Yeah, definitely,” they agree.
Denton shoots me an apologetic look.
I knew then that the jig was up. “Well, that’s probably because she is my daughter.”
Gabe and Vic’s eyes get wide, while Noah’s jaw drops to the floor.
“No. I was just kidding.”
I shrug. “She’s mine.”
He takes the phone and looks again. “You mean, I’m an uncle.”
“You are.”
As he continues to peer at the photo, tears well up in his eyes. “She’s so cute. What’s her name?”
“Luna.”
His lip starts to quiver. “Luna? That’s such a pretty name.”
While Gabe and Vic have never been great with strong emotions, Denton jumps in and wraps his arm around my brother’s shoulders. “She’s pretty amazing, huh?”
Noah looks over and him and nods. “Wait,” he says, his attention focusing on me again. “That means she’s yours and . . .?”
“And Addie’s.”
“How old is she?”
“Seven.”
“Wow. I’m sorry.” He’s still choking up. “My brother is a dad. I can’t believe it.”
“Hold on,” Gabe chimes in. “You really skipped from point A to point B here, my friend. We know you went to her grandfather’s funeral, but that doesn’t explain how you reconnected like this. What happened?”
The story is a long one, so I insist that we call it quits and head inside for some drinks by the bar.
Surprise, surprise. They all seem more than amenable to that suggestion.
So, we pack up and head inside.
“Start from the very beginning,” Victor jokes, clutching his hands below his chin and blinking slowly. “Don’t leave a single detail out.”
Denton scoffs at him and says, “No, but really.”
“Well, I guess it all started when Salvador met with me a while back and proposed a merger of our companies.”
Noah is in the process of eating a french fry, but it falls from his mouth. “You’re kidding? Just out of the blue?”
My thumbs circle around the bottle of beer before me. “Kind of. But also, not really. Our businesses are compatible, and when he told me he wanted to build luxury hotels, it just made sense to me.”
“Luxury—” Noah seems dumbfounded. “Why didn’t you ever tell me about this before?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t sure you’d care.”
“Care? Come on! I’m a Cohen too.”
“I know. But I was also cautious about airing it all out in case, well, in case it all failed.” For all I know, it still might. But at least I got Addie back and Luna out of the deal. That is success enough for me.
“What’s the status as of now?” Victor asks after swigging some of his gin and tonic back.
“I—I’m not entirely sure. We’re still waiting to hear back from the landowner. He’s this really religious guy who has made us jump through hoop after hoop. And he still hasn’t given us a solid answer. Oh, I suppose I should tell you, if you ever encounter him, Addie and I have been happily married for years. Got it?”
I look around and all the guys appear equally confused.
So, I snap my fingers in their faces. “Because of the religion thing, boys. Come on!”
“Oh. Right. I guess. Yeah. That makes sense,” Denton admits.
“Thank you.” Goodness gracious. Even with the most emotionally mature one of the bunch, it still feels like pulling teeth sometimes.
But then I chuckle to myself. “You’ll never believe the weird barbecue-Bible study he had us show up to at his cabin. It was bizarre. They were all really nice at first, but then the night ended with them conducting a prayer ritual that felt more like a slut-shaming session against Addie. I was so offended for her that we stormed off in a hurry.”
Noah chortles. “Isn’t that the funniest part of it all? In church, we’re taught to be accepting and loving of all. But yet, Christian people are sometimes the most judgmental of all.”
“Yeah. You can say that again.”
“But you have to remember,” Victor cuts in with an uncharacteristically sincere tone, “that’s not how God wants us to be.”
The rest of us exchange looks of surprise.
“Remember, Jesus was created in God’s image, and think of who his quote-on-quote ‘people’ were. Jesus was flocked and gravitated towards the lepers, the prostitutes, and all the other ‘broken’ people in society. To live like him, we need to be more like that.”
Then, as if he didn’t just say something incredibly profound—and true—he chucks back the rest of his beer and cracks an inappropriate joke about the well-endowed weather reporter on the screen ahead.
“Wha—” Denton seems to try to make heads or tails of the situation, but when he ultimately fails, he just hangs his head and laughs.
“Anyway.” After another beer or two, I’m starting to feel loose-lipped. So, I raise my bottle into the air and propose a toast. “To my daughter.”
The guys follow suit and clink their drinks with me and each other. “To Hayden’s daughter.”
“And to Addie!” Denton includes.
With a nod, I say, “I’ll definitely ‘cheers’ to that wonderful woman too.”
“So, when do I get to meet this niece of mine,” Noah asks. His level of intoxication is shown through his slurred speech and uncontrollable hiccups.
“Well.” I shove him to the side. “You’re certainly not being introduced like this.”
“Why not? She might as well learn who her Uncle Noah is right off the bat.”
“Yeah, no. Let’s wait a bit before she learns about the ‘lush’ side of her family.”
He splutters. “Who you calling a lush?”
All the other men laugh, and I join them.
“But in all seriousness, guys. I do need you to promise me something. Ready?”
They nod and listen closely.
“Good. I want you to promise me that if I ever—and I mean ever —act like the worthless piece of shit that our father was towards my little girl . . .” It feels so good to call her that. “You won’t hesitate for a moment to beat the absolute shit out of me.”
Silence falls upon them after that.
“Yo, guys! I’m serious. Noah, you of all people should understand where I’m coming from.”
When he finally looks up at me, there’s an intensity in his eyes. “You have my word, Brother. If I ever hear you yelling or threatening to hurt her,” the mere suggestion makes my skin feel prickly with rage, “I’ll personally lay you flat on your ass. Okay?”
“Gentlemen?” I know my brother would do a fair job on his own, but it won’t be enough. The punishment would require all of them throwing hands.
“You got it,” Gabe pipes up.
“Me too,” Victor agrees.
And then there’s Denton. Our prized sensitive soul. “Den? Come on?”
“I—”
“Den,” I persist. “All I need is your word that you’ll throw one swing right here.” I press my finger against my cheek.
“Fine. Yes. Yes, I’ll do that.”
“Thank you.”
“Can we get a few practice shots in now?” Noah jokes, breaking the ice around us.
I laugh but tease back, “You can try. But since I haven’t done anything wrong, I get to fight back.”
With that, he cowers back in his seat.