“Hey…it’s almost time for your daily call with your mom. Do you want to head inside?” I ask, waving my Kindle over my face to fight off the heat as the sun peeks through the trees and shines directly on me.
Everly holds a finger up as she finishes her page. Finally, she smiles and closes her book, looking like such a grown-up. “What did you say?”
“It’s almost time to call your mom.”
“Okay,” she says with a yawn and a stretch.
“Are you missing her a lot?” I inquire, feeling a bit nosy because I have yet to actually see Everly’s mom. Everly always FaceTimes her on her iPad in her room, and it seems intrusive for me to be around while they visit.
“Yeah, but it’s been nice spending time with my dad.” Everly rests her head on the back of the chair and sighs. “He seems less lonely with me here.”
I smile at that thoughtful remark. “What about your mom? I’m sure she’s lonely in Bulgaria, isn’t she?”
Everly shakes her head. “Her wife, Kailey, is out there with her. They do photography together.”
My brows lift curiously. I didn’t think Max was lying to me this past weekend about his two truths and a lie, but hearing Everly confirm the fact that her mom is with a woman is still not something I expected. “Have your mom and Kailey been married a long time?”
Everly rubs her eye and nods. “Since I was little. I was their flower girl, but I don’t remember it. I’ve only seen pictures.”
“That’s fun.” I chew my lip thoughtfully. “And your dad? Did he ever get married again?”
Everly’s lips smush together. “I wish. Then I wouldn’t worry about how lonely he is.”
“What makes you think he’s lonely?” I ask, watching her intently.
“Because when he picks me up on his weekends, he talks nonstop in the car all the way to his house.” She slaps her hands on the Adirondack chair with a little squeak. “Guess what happened at work? Who did you talk to at school? I had Michael make us fish sticks. Guess what Grandpa did? It’s too much.”
My shoulders shake with silent laughter at Everly’s exasperated body language. “I can’t picture this.”
“It’s like his brain has had no one to talk to all week, so as soon as I get in the car, he blurts out everything he’s thought of since the last time I saw him.”
“That sounds sweet.” My lips turn down as I picture Max sitting in this giant house all by himself just waiting for his time with his kid. It’s heartbreaking.
“It’s not bad, but I’d still like to find him a girlfriend this summer. I’ve never seen him with one.”
“Really?” I find this hard to believe.
“Yep.” Everly nods. “It makes me sad. And after spending so much time with him this summer, it will be really hard on him when Mom comes home, and I go back to her house. That’s why he needs a girlfriend.”
The thought of Max with another woman makes the hairs on the back of my neck tingle. It’s not something I would care to see, so hopefully, if Everly finds someone for him (I wouldn’t put it past her), it’s after I’m done working here. I shudder to think about him texting me to watch Everly in the evenings so he can go out on dates with a supermodel-looking female who gapes at me like I’m a zoo animal.
I clear my throat and coyly ask, “What kind of girl do you think your dad would like?” Hopefully, Everly isn’t as perceptive with me as she is with her father. I’m about as subtle as a freight train right now.
Everly smiles, a conspiratorial glint in her eye that I’m not sure I like the look of. “Someone smart, funny, kind, and sassy. And who can cook for him, so Michael doesn’t have to be here every night.”
Welp…I’m out of the running.
I’ve been surviving on lunch meat wraps and ramen in my tiny house for the past two weeks. Max offered food from his chef, but I stupidly told him no, thank you. I’m pretty sure I was staring at his ass when he said it, so I didn’t exactly have all my faculties in working order.
I smile warmly and waggle my brows. “Where will we find this magical woman?”
“I’m going to ask my uncle Luke tonight,” Everly answers like she’s been working on this plan for a while. “He’s taking me out tonight, and he’s had lots of girlfriends. Dad can maybe have one of his old ones?”
Oh, this sounds like a Mercedes Lee Loveletter original in the making.
Me: Can you possibly come up to the house for a moment? If you’re not busy?
Cassandra: Sure! Be right there.
Me: Come into my bedroom.
I wince as soon as I send that last text and my hands shake violently as I quickly try to fix my error.
Me: Everly is in here with me.
“Dad, just watch the video one more time,” Everly whines from her seat on my bathroom countertop. Her sundress is bunched up around her lap, and her bare feet are curled inside the sink as she holds the iPad up above her head for me to see.
The tiny red rubber band snaps on my fingers. “Dammit,” I mutter under my breath. “This little thing hurts!”
“You’re stretching them too much.”
“My fingers are too big for this, Everly,” I growl, my temper at a breaking point as I make eye contact with my kid in the mirror. “Why can’t we just leave your hair down?”
“Because Uncle Luke is taking me to dinner and a movie, and I want to have cool hair.”
I curse a million different words under my breath because what was supposed to be a night off every week has now turned into more work for me.
My brothers decided to start a weekly rotation of taking Everly out for an evening. The group text said something about teaching her how she should expect to be treated by men.
Like an eleven-year-old needs to know that already.
In truth, I think my brothers are just trying to get in some extra time with her while she’s with me all summer. She’s the only child in our family and spoiled rotten by all three of them and my parents. The best part, though, is that any one of them would drop everything they’re doing for Everly. Spoiled or not, it’s pretty great.
Except for the fact that now I’m being forced to teach myself how to do bubble braids. Who came up with this fucking hairstyle? It looks like it belongs in a sci-fi film.
A faint knock on the door has Everly and me calling out in unison, “Come in.”
Cassandra appears in the doorway of my master bath. She’s dressed in a pair of thin cotton shorts, a tank top, and a jean jacket that couldn’t even begin to button over her definitely more than a handful of breasts.
Breasts I really shouldn’t be looking at right now.
“Daddy can’t do bubble braids, Cozy. Can you help?” Everly wastes no time throwing me under the bus. “He’s really bad at this.”
I let go of Everly’s hair and toss the tiny rubber band onto the counter that’s littered with ones I’ve already broken. “These damn rubber bands suck.”
The corner of Cassandra’s mouth curls up as she holds my gaze. “I’m impressed you were even trying.”
“Believe me, I tried to talk her out of it.” I roll my eyes and shake my head. “I’m not bad with a curling iron as long as I wear that little glove it came with. But she could not be convinced.”