Daphne
Daphne
I show up to Sweets at ten minutes until two.
I buy a donut, then sit in my car, waiting.
Playing a game on my phone, I watch the clock, scanning the parking lot every few minutes for Carson’s truck.
Getting here two hours early means I have loads of time to wonder what this is all about.
It also means I can wonder while eating a donut or two.
It’s nearly four when Fred walks up to the shop and tugs on the door. When he realizes it’s locked, he looks around.
That’s my cue.
I get out of my car and walk over. “Hi. Was it you who texted me?”
He nods. “I needed to talk to you. And I was hoping to get a donut. When Dad wants to talk about serious stuff, he always has something sweet for us to eat.”
“Does he know you’re here?”
He shakes his head. “But he’s not worried because I told him I’d be at Mason’s house.”
“Think we could talk while eating banana pudding?” I point across the street to the barbecue restaurant.
“Yeah. Can I ride with you?”
“I’m not letting you cross that busy street, Fred.” I text Carson before starting the engine.
Me: Fred’s with me. We’ll be at Rueben’s, the barbecue place.
Carson: Thank God. I’m on my way.
Me: Don’t speed. He’s fine.
Carson sends a thumbs-up.
Fred buckles his seat belt. “I already crossed that road once, and I was fine. I’m not little. I just turned thirteen.”
“You definitely aren’t little. But I would feel horrible if anything happened to you, so perhaps, I’m being a bit too protective.”
“Miss Poppy is like that. She lets Mason do lots of stuff, but sometimes she worries when we climb trees or play in the river.” He stares at me as I drive across the road.
“Would you rather talk in the car?”
“No. Let’s go inside. I’m just thinking about what I want to say.” He jumps out and runs around to the driver’s side and pulls open the door. “I do have a question.”
“What’s that?”
“Are you going to marry him?”
“Your dad and I aren’t dating anymore, Fred. Really. I’ve only texted him once just to see how y’all were.”
He yanks open the door and stands aside for me to enter. “But you love him.” It’s more of a statement and less of a question.
I give a slight nod. My love for Carson hasn’t faded in the weeks since our goodbye, but it feels very strange admitting it to Fred before saying the words to Carson.
“I think he loves you too.” Fred picks up three banana pudding cups. “Want one or two? It’s my treat. I have some birthday money.”
“One is plenty for me.”
“Cool. I’m definitely going to need two.” He pushes the tray up to the register and pays for our treat.
Then we take a seat in the far corner of the restaurant. Taking tiny bites of my pudding, I wait for Fred to speak his mind.
He’s bouncing his leg, which is making the entire table shudder. “I didn’t have a good mom. I mean, she loved me, I think. In her own way. And I never really had a dad until…” He stares into his pudding, then shoves a bite in his mouth.
“Until Carson?”
Fred gives a small nod. “I should’ve been nicer to you, but I was scared that everything would change. I wasn’t sure if you’d try to send me away.”
“I’d never do that, Fred. Carson loves you. I never wanted to come between you.”
“Like I said, I was scared. And when you held the snake that day, I knew I’d lost. I mean how was he not going to fall in love after you held a snake for him?”
I slap a hand over my mouth to hold back my laugh or sob.
At this point, I’m not sure what’s about to bubble out of me.
“I held the snake, hoping that it would make you like me. That you’d think I was cool.
” I roll my eyes at how stupid that sounds out loud.
“And it wasn’t a competition. It wasn’t about winning or losing. ”
“I know that now. But I was pretty upset about it, so I tried to be a really good kid so that I wouldn’t bother him. Then Mason gave me a hard time for moping, so I stopped hanging out with him. Mason kept telling me to give you a chance.”
I pinch my lips, trying not to cry.
“Uh-oh. Here comes my dad, and he looks upset.”
Carson rushes across the restaurant and stops beside us, his chest heaving. “I went to Mason’s, and you weren’t there. Why did you lie to me?”
Fred points at me. “I wanted to talk to Daphne without you knowing, so I texted her from your phone and planned all this. I only told you I was at Mason’s so that you wouldn’t worry about me.”
Carson shakes his head and pulls Fred into a hug. “Please don’t ever do that again.”
“I didn’t mean to scare you. I promise.” Fred hands his unopened pudding to Carson. “You can have this. But you should sit next to Daphne.”
Carson slides onto the bench, then leans in and hugs me. “Thank you for texting me. I was out of my mind with worry.”
“I figured that might be the case.” I allow myself to melt into his arms for a second before pulling away. “Fred was telling me why he’s been upset.”
Fred sighs, then tips his head back. “I was mad because Daphne won when she held the snake. But then I kind of won when you broke up with her. Except I didn’t win. You always loved me. And you tried to tell me that.”
“Like I said, you are a priority for me, Fred. Not because I promised to take care of you. Not because you’re my nephew.” Carson taps the spot over his heart. “In here, you’re mine. And I’m here for you.”
It’s a good thing they have rolls of paper towels on the table because I can only hold back the blubbering for so long.
Fred pushes his half-eaten pudding out of the way and leans forward. “You love her too, don’t you?”
Carson laces his fingers with mine under the table. “I do.”
My phone buzzes, Rose’s picture plastered on the screen. She’ll have to wait.
Carson’s answer doesn’t seem to surprise Fred, but it has my insides all a flutter. I mean, I knew he did, but he said it. Out loud. To Fred. In public.
I’ll remember this moment forever.
Fred turns his focus back to me. “If you marry him, will you make us leave the ranch?”
He keeps talking about my marrying Carson, which Carson and I haven’t talked about. And then we broke up. But Carson loves me and is holding my hand, so I’m pretty sure we’re undoing the breakup.
“Are you kidding? I would never take you away from the ranch. That place is awesome.” I squeeze Carson’s hand.
Fred’s gaze drops to the table. “Most of the time when Mom got a new boyfriend, we’d have to move. Sometimes it was to a different part of the city. A few times, it was to a different state. I hated losing all my friends. And her boyfriends weren’t nice. Not to me or to my mom.”
“I’m not going to ask y’all to move. I will never try to replace your mom. And most importantly, I won’t ever ask Carson to send you away. I’m not sure what the future holds…” I swallow down the lump of emotion stuck in my throat. “But if I marry Carson, we’ll be a family, all three of us.”
Carson’s thumb is grazing the back of my hand, but I don’t look at him. If I do, I will burst into sobs, and I’m trying not to make a scene in a restaurant we frequent often.
“Okay.” Fred crinkles his nose and flashes a smile. “I have another important question.”
“What’s that?”
“Are you allergic to cats? Because I really want a cat, but I was waiting to ask Dad about getting one.”
Carson’s attention snaps to Fred. “I had no idea you wanted a cat.”
“Like I said, I haven’t asked. But I’ve wanted one for a long time.”
I’m really glad I’ve already mentioned wanting a cat to Carson so that he doesn’t think I’m just going along with the cat thing to be nice. “I’m not allergic. I’d love to have a cat, but my apartment complex doesn’t allow pets.”
Fred jumps up and runs over to grab a spoon. “Here, Dad. For the pudding.”
Carson uses his free hand to remove the lid. “What changed? Why’d you do this?”
“Dinner that night. I saw how you were looking at her. After y’all broke up, you acted like everything was fine, but you weren’t really.
I could tell. Plus, talking to her that night, I realized that Daphne’s actually nice.
And pretty. But not too pretty for you. At the pool party, I heard some of the ladies saying y’all were really cute together.
I just said that to you out of meanness, and I’m sorry. ”
“I forgive you.” Carson looks down at me. “I’m still not sure I completely agree, but I’m happy either way.”
“Then, after the dinner, I talked to Mason about it. He said that I had to choose what I wanted to do, but he liked seeing his dad happy. Poppy made him happy. I hadn’t thought about it like that. I really do want you to be happy, Dad.”
“Thank you.” Carson looks from me to Fred. “You arranged all this to get me and Daphne back together?”
“Yeah. I’m the reason you broke up. So I felt like I needed to figure out how to get y’all back together.” Fred scoops out the rest of his pudding, then eyes Carson’s. “Are you ever going to eat that?”
Carson pushes it across the table. “What was your plan? Because according to what you’ve said, you didn’t think I’d show up here.”
“I was going to have Daphne drop me off at Mason’s, then go to our house and wait for you. And she was supposed to have donuts, but I didn’t know the shop closed before school let out.”
“That was your plan, huh?” Carson chuckles. “I was just going to walk into the house and see Daphne waiting for me and everything would be magically better?”
He nods. “Romantic, isn’t it? Mason said that his dad flew to New York and showed up at Poppy’s hotel. But neither of y’all have a hotel.” Fred focuses on me. “Will you care if I don’t call you mom?”
“I’m fine with that. You can call me Daphne.”
“Cool. I might change my mind, but my mom is still my mom. Even if she wasn’t great.”
“She’ll always be your mom, Fred. Forever.” I reach across the table and pat his hand.
He wipes his face. “Y’all can drive me to Mason’s house now.” His eyes widen. “Mason didn’t get in trouble, did he?”
Carson shrugs. “I raced out of there, so I’m not sure. Poppy was pretty upset.”
Fred yanks out his phone and taps on the screen. “My plan wasn’t all that great.”
“It’s the thought that counts.” I blink, trying to clear mist from my eyes, and tears slide down my cheeks.
Carson brushes them away. “I’ll park your car in the lot across the street. We can ride out to the ranch together. If you have time to come to the house.”
“I have time. Shoot, I’ll make time.”
He kisses my forehead. “I’ve missed you.”
“Same.”
Fred clears his throat. “Could you drop me off before y’all do that stuff? Please.”
Carson tousles Fred’s hair. “Let’s go.”
I slide my hand into Carson’s. “I’ll drive across the street, and y’all can pick me up. It’ll give you two a chance to talk without me around. And it’ll give me a chance to update Rose. She’s been blowing up my phone.” I have five missed calls from my friend.
“Sounds like a plan.” Carson walks me to my car and opens the door.
I fight the urge to give him a quick peck. “Fred’s been watching you. When I drove him over here from across the street, he rushed around and opened my door. It was sweet.”
“Glad to hear it. But you should get in the car because I’m a heartbeat away from kissing you, and that might embarrass Fred. And I’m trying not to do that. Besides, I really want to get to the house because we have quite a bit to talk about.”
I run a finger down his buttons. “You mean about what Fred asked you?”
“Yes. That’s definitely part of it. I’m hoping that since you held my hand and want to come to the house, it means that you’ll give me another chance. That’s what I want to talk about.”
“I absolutely will.” Once I’m buckled in and the engine is running, I call Rose on speaker. “Hey. Sorry it took me this long to give you an update.”
“I was losing my mind!” She laughs. “Calling five times might’ve been a bit excessive, but I had a good feeling about today. Did Carson profess his love and tell you he wants you back?”
“Not exactly like that, but in a roundabout way, yes.”
“And Fred is okay with this?”
“It was his idea. I have a wild story to tell you, but it’ll have to wait because I’m going to ride with Carson and Fred to the ranch. Carson and I have things to discuss.”
“Things!” Rose squeals. “Call me after. No matter how late it is. Actually, if it’s after eleven, just text me. I don’t want to wake Dallas.”
“I’ll text you.” If I have my way, I’ll be at Carson’s until very late. After more than a month apart, I want nothing more than to be snuggled in his arms for hours. Talking. Laughing. Kissing.
Definitely kissing.