36. Beau #2
Adalyn…well…I don’t know when she learned to use scissors, but she did. And decided to take them straight to her hair.
“That’s right, everyone,” Asher says, barely keeping his voice upbeat with the tinge of frustration trying to break through. “Adalyn gave herself bangs.”
A chorus of “wows,” accompanied by wide eyes, goes through every single person in attendance.
Because…yeah. I don’t know exactly how I’d describe this new hairstyle of hers, but it’s…
uneven. And choppy. And, I mean, she’s four and gave herself bangs.
Who am I kidding? She looks like a mini horse got a hair cut with a weedwacker.
“Adalyn…you look….”
“She looks like something, doesn’t she?” Asher grits out.
“I look like something beautiful!” Adalyn exclaims. “Do you like it, Miss Shelby?”
“Do I like it?” Shelby asks back. Shelby, who has the worst poker face in the world. “Of course!”
I can’t help but smile as I watch my wife pick up Adalyn and twirl her around, big grins on both of their faces.
“I can do it to you too, Miss Shelby!”
“Well wouldn’t that be something,” Shelby says, trying to keep up the fake excitement in her voice. “How about I take the girl with the beautiful new haircut to get some treats?”
“Treat!” Adalyn squeals, and Shelby gives us a what the fuck look before taking Asher’s daughter out of earshot.
“Before anyone says anything, they were children’s scissors,” he says. “And I turned my back for a minute. Two tops. I was loading the goddamn dishwasher.”
We all start chuckling, but of course, it’s because it’s not our kid.
“Fine. Laugh it up. Just wait till your kids do something stupid.”
“It’s only kind of funny,” Gabi says. “Kids do it all the time. It’s normal. Are you going to take her to get it fixed by a professional?”
“Yeah. Tomorrow,” Asher groans. “I’ll take her to the quick hair cut place down the street from our house.”
“Absolutely not,” Gabi says, sprinting behind the counter and writing something down. “This is my hair place. I would trust every single one of these women with my life. You need someone who knows what they’re doing. So you’re going to go in there, tell them I sent you, and ask for the Bang Queen.”
“The Bang Queen?” Asher repeats, which I’m glad he did. Because did my sister say Bang Queen?
“Yes, they’ll know who you mean.”
Asher shakes his head, trying to give the piece of paper back to her. “Gabi, I can’t say the words ‘Bang Queen.’”
She rolls her eyes at Asher as we’re all, rightfully, snickering at this interaction. “You can, and you will.”
Gabi shoots her eyes over to me, Maddox, and Theo, who are all giggling like ten-year-old boys at the excessive use of the words “Bang Queen.”
“What’s so funny?” Gabi demands, hands on hips like she means business.
“Nothing,” Theo says, though him holding in his laughter isn’t going the way he wants.
“Y’all are ridiculous,” Gabi says with an eye roll, making us laugh even harder as Asher lets out a sigh I can tell has been a long time coming.
“Just when I think I’ve got this dad thing down, she does something like this,” he says, looking over to Shelby and Adalyn, who’s now showing off her new hairstyle to Kitty and Phyllis. “Chalk it up to one more reason why I’m a terrible father.”
“You are not a terrible father,” Maddox says, patting him on the back. “Gabi’s right. Kids do stupid shit. You’re going to go get her hair fixed tomorrow, and one day you’ll laugh about all this.”
“God I hope,” he says. “It’s days like these when I wonder if Hailey would know what to do. Because I’m pretty sure freaking out and making my daughter cry wasn’t the move.”
Shit, now I feel bad for laughing. This guy. He’s one of the good ones. Great ones, even. Steady. Loves his kid. One of the best friends a guy could ask for. Not to mention a hell of a cookie maker and hockey player.
But man…life hasn’t dealt him a fair deck. Married to his high school sweetheart, but it took them years to get pregnant. Then, they finally do, and Hailey dies when their daughter is still a baby. Life isn’t fair sometimes.
“You’re doing your best. And that’s what counts,” I remind him. “If it helps, at least it’s only her bangs. Could’ve been her whole head.”
“Exactly,” Theo agrees. “Hair grows back. Now, when she goes out and gets her first tattoo with Uncle Theo? That’ll be a different story.”
“You better fucking not,” Asher says, cracking a smile. “But hey, at least she’s entertaining everyone.”
We look to the center of the bakery’s dining area, and yup, there’s Adalyn, fucked up hair and all, twirling around and doing what seems to be the latest moves from her dance class.
The spin she does—which is only funnier and more adorable because of her hair sticking straight up—is met with a huge round of applause from the guests.
“Amazing, Addy!” I say, walking over and taking Shelby’s hand, pulling her in close so I can whisper, “Follow me.”
We slowly slip into the kitchen where, thankfully, we’re alone. I’ve talked to enough people. I need to kiss my wife.
“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”
“You being you,” I say, going back in for a little more. “This was… Thank you. No one has ever done anything like this for me. I love you, Belle.”
“I love you too, Big Boy.”
We stand in the kitchen of my and my sister’s bakery, not saying a word, just holding each other for a few seconds, and yet somehow saying it all.
The last few weeks have been insane with our travel schedules.
Since I won in Georgia, we’ve only seen each other for four and a half days.
We knew this was going to be the life. That April through September was going to be a lot of moments passing in the night.
But it really hit me this week just how much work it’s going to take for us to make sure we’re focusing on our careers, while also not losing focus of each other.
There are a lot of FaceTimes and texts. Nights in the past where I’d be hanging out at the hotel bar are now spent in my hotel room with room service and Shelby on my phone, the two of us recapping our days, and our rounds, together.
I always said if I was ever going to settle down, it would need to be with someone who fit into my life, and world, seamlessly.
The fact that I denied that it was Shelby for all those years is baffling to me.
She’s perfect for me. In every way. It’s barely been two months of being married, and I already can’t remember a time before her.
Well, I can. But I choose not to. There were a lot of fights I wish I could take back. Moments I’d like to erase.
But you can’t erase the past. You can only focus on the future. And that’s what I’m choosing to do with Shelby. Every day for the rest of my life.
“Do we really have to go back out there?” I groan, suddenly wanting to show my appreciation to my wife, but alone. Very alone.
“Yes, we do,” she says, pushing me back a step. “Do you know how hard I worked to plan this? I flew your parents here. Adalyn gave herself a special haircut for the occasion. We’re going to go out there, smile, eat some cake and lemon bars, and you’re going to like it.”
I laugh and pull Shelby back into me, needing to kiss her one more time before we make our exit. “How about this? We stay for another hour. And then, when we feel like the coast is clear and we’ve done all we can, I’ll give you the signal to leave.”
Shelby gives me a questioning look. “And what would that signal be?”
“I’ll dare you.”