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“Sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
She turns back to Bug. “Are you excited?”
“Oh, yes. But mostly I’m excited about after. Dad promised me a movie and said we’d get a tent and sleep on the beach and then go hunting for sharks’ teeth at dawn. He’s a great dad.”
I raise my brows.
“It sounds like the perfect father-daughter date,” Sarah says. “Well, let’s get going, Bug. I’ll bet you’re going to look beautiful in your bridesmaid dress.”
As they leave, Bug turns to see my reaction. All I can do is shake my head knowing I’ve been railroaded by my own daughter.
Well fucking played, Darla.
I turn and walk back up the beach wondering where in the hell I’m going to find a tent.
Chapter Ten
Asher
Bug and I spend the afternoon with Marti and Charlie while Dallas and the other Montanas head to an island winery. I cherish every minute I get to spend with my sister and nephew. I’ve missed them a lot since they moved to Calloway Creek.
It’s been hard living so far away. Marti and I were rarely apart growing up. Mostly because I was the one who raised her after losing first our mom when Marti was little and then our dad when she wasn’t even as old as Bug is now. My sister has always been there for my daughter and me. She was my rock through the infertility treatments and miscarriages with Stella. She was the pillar of strength Bug and I needed through the divorce that followed.
Sometimes I think of moving closer. But Bug likes our house. Our neighborhood. Her best friend.
On the way back to our room to get ready for the evening’s festivities, we run into Allie’s brother Blake and his wife and daughter.
“Nice to see you,” I sign to Ellie, who, like Blake’s daughter Maisy, is deaf.
“Nice to see you,” she signs back. Then she looks at Bug. Blake interprets, “I like your hair. The blue suits you. Very pretty.”
“Thanks,” Bug says, always eager to get compliments on the unusual color.
I wave at six-year-old Maisy. “Hi, Maisy. Did you find”—I turn to Blake and ask him how to sign ‘sharks’ teeth.’ He shows me, and I complete the sentence.
Maisy smiles and signs back as Blake interprets.
Our conversation is short. Mostly because my ASL sucks, and Maisy hasn’t yet learned to read lips like Ellie. They trot off, all of them holding hands, Maisy sandwiched between her parents.
I look after them, thinking about the unique circumstances that brought them together. Blake didn’t even know he had a child until she was dumped on his doorstep a few years ago. It sure makes my problems pale in comparison. My life is a piece of cake if you put it up against what they’ve gone through. Not to mention what Dallas and Marti have overcome to get to this point.
Have I seriously been feeling sorry for myself when my biggest problem is that my hormonal daughter wants me all to herself?
Okay, maybe that’s not mybiggestproblem. The winner of that award might be that I have no idea how the woman I’m in love with really feels about me.
“Dad?”
“Mmm?” I tear my eyes away from the retreating happy family.
“Since when do you know ASL?”
“I don’t know a lot, but I learn what I can.”
I leave out the part where Allie has been teaching me a little bit here and there. And I definitely leave out the part where some of what she’s been teaching me has to do with dirty words. My thoughts instantly flash back to one specific time when I asked her to show me the sign for ‘sex.’ One sign led to another, and before we knew it, we’d had our own little version of ASL foreplay.
“How come?” Bug asks, suspiciously.
“Well, let’s see.” I start walking, contemplating the best answer. “Maybe because tomorrow, Aunt Marti will become Maisy’s aunt and Ellie’s sister-in-law.”