Chapter 34 #2
I made my way into the small waiting area off the shop and was pleasantly surprised when I was hit with a blast of air conditioning.
That was new, too. This little area still needed a lot of TLC.
The peeling wood paneling on the walls and the scuffed, filthy linoleum flooring was the opposite of friendly.
Never mind the small holes in the walls the plumber had made to access pipes.
Or the very large hole they had to knock out to evict the possum family that had moved in.
I leaned against the counter. I needed a minute.
Or a month. I couldn’t rush in there like a bear was chasing me (the only time you’d find me running); I needed calm and collected.
This was simple. I’d stride confidently to Abe’s office and explain how toxic pageant culture was (which was true anyway).
Why expose her to all the catty comments and judgment?
(Also, true.) He’d agree and refuse to let Hallie enter.
Then, of course, I would follow suit in a show of solidarity. This plan was brilliant.
Megan’s dumb, smug face flashed in my mind explaining why Hallie wasn’t a pageant girl and then that look of complete horror when I announced we were both entering.
I’d felt that look in my soul.
With a renewed sense of purpose, I marched down the short hallway to Abe’s office. As I got closer, I slowed down when I heard the low rumble of his voice. The words were impossible to make out. I inched closer. The door was open so I leaned against the wall.
Don’t judge. You would have done it, too.
At first, I thought he was on a phone call, but I began to pick out a familiar word or two and I realized he wasn’t speaking to someone, he was reading aloud from a book I recognized.
Huh. I waited another minute and then knocked on the door. His voice halted.
“Yeah?” he finally called out.
I peeked into the office. “I’m sorry if I’m interrupting. Where you reading out loud?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. Pink tinged his cheeks like he’d been caught reading Fifty Shades of Grey. Nodding, he set the book The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe on the desk.
“That’s the book you’ve been reading with Hallie at bedtime, right?”
“Yeah.”
I waited for him to explain. He stared at me; I stared back.
Finally, I said, “That’s… weird.”
“I’m dyslexic.”
Not what I’d expected him to say. “I had no idea.”
“Funny. I had no idea until I was in my twenties.” He folded his hands and set them on the desk. “You know when you’re a kid and your teacher makes the whole class read red-robin style?”
I nodded.
“I hated it. Didn’t hear a word of what anyone else said. I was too busy trying to count the paragraphs and praying there weren’t any words I didn’t know. That was the worst. When there was a word I couldn’t figure out.”
My heart squeezed, thinking of Abe as a terrified third grader. “How did you find out?”
“I took a business class. There were a few weeks where we talked about budgeting and stuff. I’ve always been pretty good at math until it involved word problems. I bombed the first test. The professor asked to speak with me, and she asked if I was dyslexic.
I had no idea. I always thought everyone saw the words the way I did; I was just too much of an idiot to figure out how to read them. ”
“That must have been hard.”
“It helps explain why I struggled so much in school.”
“And that’s why you listen to audiobooks and you rather talk on the phone than text.”
He shrugged. “Autocorrect only works if you’re already a good speller. Which I am not. Hallie loves books and reading. Always has. Picture books were easy. Junie B. Jones was a piece of cake, but the books are getting longer now.”
“Oh,” I breathed. “So, you read the chapter out loud ahead of time to make sure you have it all down.”
“Yeah, and if there’s a word I need help with, I can look it up, listen to someone say it, take notes even. Then when Hallie and I read it together, I can worry less about the reading part and focus on the story.”
“That’s really smart. You’re a good dad, Abe,” I said softly. “And as someone who had a really bad dad, I feel like I have some experience here.”
The whole thing tugged at a piece of my heart I kept tucked away, the part of me that was still a little girl hoping her dad would show up but he never did. It hurt and made me hopeful all at once.
Oh, and I found it wildly attractive.
Because, of course, I had a crush on Abe Ramos.
He made it impossible not to. I knew it was just that though—a crush, something sweet and silly.
Nothing could or would ever happen between us.
If I hadn’t known that before, the car ride yesterday had cleared up any lingering doubts.
Maybe if I had my life together, it might be a possibility.
What did I have to bring to a relationship?
My giant jar of pickles, chocolate stashes, daddy issues, and black t-shirts.
It was a real mystery why more men weren’t beating down my door.
I also didn’t want to come between Abe and his family. He’d been without them for years. I wouldn’t be the person who caused more problems between Abe and his dad.
I was suddenly very glad this job had a time limit on it.
End of summer, Hallie would go back to school.
The shop would open, Hallie’s grandparents would return, and I would get back to…
whatever was waiting for me. I wouldn’t see Abe every day and the crush would pass.
He’d find someone else who had a stable job and a fully funded Roth IRA. Maybe I’d get invited to the wedding.
Was that my lot in life now? To attend the weddings of men I had history with?
“Dad.” Hallie raced down the hallway and slid to a halt in front of his office. Her previous dry shorts and t-shirt were sopping wet. “Jeff taught me how to power wash.”
“I can see that. Did any of the water make it on the floor?”
“Kind of.” She giggled and turned to me. “Did Dad fix your problem?”
I’d been so distracted that I’d completely forgotten why I’d marched myself into his office in the first place.
“What’s wrong?” Abe asked, his eyes moving between Hallie and me.
“Nothing,” I said quickly.
He cleared his throat and gave me a pointed look, one that said “you’re lying.”
I winced. “Okay, yes, I do need to talk to you about something.”
His gaze held mine for a long moment before he seemed to make his mind up about something. “Hal, let’s go get you cleaned up and in dry clothes and then we’ll go to Boscoe’s for burgers. How does that sound?”
“Yes!” Her tennis shoes made a squealing noise as she hopped up and down. “Um, do you think Iris can go with us?”
“Oh, it’s okay,” I said. “You go spend time with your dad.”
Abe turned smiling eyes on me. “My treat. We can talk then?”
“Please, Iris,” Hallie said. “They have the best chocolate shakes.”
I should absolutely say no. This was not how I created distance between us. And yet, for the second time that day, my mouth took over. Plus I really needed a dose of chocolate.
“You should have led with that. I never turn down chocolate.”