Page 69 of A Country Kind Of Love

Andrew Harris plonks himself on the edge of her bed. “How are you feeling,sweetheart?”

“About turning twenty-four?”

“Sure.”

“Erm... old.”

He chuckles. “Old? How do you think I feel?”

“Really old?” Peyton smirks.

“Correct.” He waits for her to fill the silence, but she doesn’t. “You don’t seem yourself.”

“I’m fine, Dad.” Fine is the wrong choice of words. Nobody is ever fine.

“Are you homesick?”

Peyton loves her dad. She loves her brothers. She loves her neighbourhood back in Huntington, but she also loves her independence.“Not quite.”

“You can always come home you know? James has turned your room into a gym, but I’ll kick him out on his ass; you just say the word.” Her dad isn’t joking. James is one squat away from being forcedto move out.

“Still being a pain in the ass, huh?”

“He decided he wanted to start skateboarding againlast week.”

Oh dear.

Nothing ever ends well where skateboarding is concerned. Peyton still has the scar on her kneeto prove it.

“Oh.”

“Yeah, he came tumbling off the board trying to avoid Mrs. Dibble’s dog and ended up in Bryan’sfront yard.”

“Not Bryan!” Peyton’s hands shoot up to her mouth dramatically.

“He ruined Bryan’s large pink Dahlia. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to explain to your neighbour why your twenty-six-year-old son just ruined their precious flowers?”

Peyton bursts out laughing. “I can picture his face.”

“If me and your mom hadn’t had you, we’d have been seriously concerned there was something wrong withour genes.”

“Everyone knows I’m your favourite, Dad.”

He holds up his hands. “I’m notdenying it.”

Peyton swirls around in the small desk chair she purchased from HomeGoods. It fits perfectly in the corner as an unintended extension of her wardrobe.

“How are things goingwith Cleo?”

“They’re not anymore.”

“Oh. Sorry.” Andrew rubs at the back of his neck. Peyton doesn’t tell her dad a great deal when it comes to her relationships. He’s a typical dad; he gets uncomfortable. Once he stopped being able to use, “I don’t know; ask your mother”, as his go to response it was downhillfrom there.

“What happened?” he asks through gritted teeth.

“Do you want the shortened version?”

“Yes, absolutely,” he jokes.