Page 188 of Santa Daddies

“She’s going to school to be a teacher.”

“Huh, not what she told me.”

I reluctantly writekidsin my column and add daycare underneath it. “What specifically does she do that’s kind? Other than making the goodie bags for me and the stockings.”

“She dropped everything to help when her friend was named guardian of a two-year-old.”

What the hell is he talking about?

Kace continues, “It happened last Monday… Her name’s Jolene.”

“Bullshit, Jolene was in the auction.” I’m staggered on so many levels.

“Thanks to Bellamie.”

I force my fingers to unclench the marker. “You better not be fucking with me.”

“Ask her.”

As I’m writing kindness in his column, I say, “I trust you.”

Kace gets up and when I’m finished writing, I see he’s waiting for me to hand him the marker. “Your turn in the hotseat.”

“I just needed to see if you knew anything about her.”

“I know.” He waves his fingers for me to hand over the marker, and after I relent, he reminds me to sit. “Three things that you love about Bellamie that aren’t physical attributes.”

“Actually, I was going to say her love of crafts and her kindness.”

“Maybe you were, maybe you’re cheating.” His humorous tone helps with my tension.

The important thing I had to find out was if he knew something about her, and he passed that test with flying colors. Can I come up with a clever answer like he did? “Okay… boldness, babies…”

Kace grimaces. “Basically the same as kids. I’m not sure if that’s acceptable.”

I ignore his taunt. No one can think of Bellamie without acknowledging her love of babies and kids. I pride myself for coming up with a third B word. “Belief.”

“Please explain.” Kace mimics me.

“She always believes there's a way. It gives her this positive outlook on life that makes her seem… it’s hard to explain.”

“Exactly… we can make lists, but there’s something special about her that’s hard to explain.” He writes my words under my name.

Seeing her reduced to six words feels petty. She’s so much more. But the test served its purpose. Not only did Kace providesolid answers, his tone revealed a side of him I’ve never seen–true interest in a woman.

I remove the page from the pad and look for a space on the wall. There’s no room with all of the stuff I’ve mapped out. I stick it on top of one of my sheets and return to the easel. “Okay, let's make a game plan.”

I writePlan Aacross the top of the next page then draw a stick figure wearing a skirt, followed by a stick figure wearing pants on either side. One of the pants figures gets the label ofLand one gets aK. I hesitate then add aBover the skirt figure.

“Obvious.”

Yes, it is, but I can’t give two figures a label and not the third. I make them hold hands, give them all smiles, then remove the page and stick it over one of my other plans on the wall.

The next page gets titledPlan B, which draws another snide comment from Kace. This one gets the same stick figures, but Bellamie is holding hands with Kace. I hurry to hang it up because I can’t bear to think about it.

A third page gets titledPlan C, where I get Bellamie all to myself. I don’t feel as good about this option as I expected.

AndPlan Dis Bellamie without us.